"It's the end of Vice France ", announced its editor-in-chief Paul Douard on Twitter, Monday, February 27. After fifteen years of existence, "the office will close by the end of March ", specifies the journalist in a series of messages published on the social network. According to his indications, Vice Media France has 30 employees.
"The American parent company has decided to end the French branch like other countries in recent years," said Justine Reix, journalist in charge of the pure player company.
For the record, the Vice TV France channel, launched in November 2016 and distributed exclusively in Canal+ offers and on myCanal, was discontinued in November 2021 (Satellifacts, October 25, 2021).
This announcement comes as Nancy Dubuc recently announced her withdrawal from Vice Media Group, of which she had been CEO for five years (Satellifacts, February 26). The Vice group has been exploring the possibility of a sale since the fall of 2021, after having abandoned its plan to go public. It was looking for investors at the beginning of the year and forecast a 15% cost reduction in 2023 via layoffs (Satellifacts, January 31).
Launched in 1994, Vice Media group concentrates its activity around five pillars : an international content creation network (vice.com), a TV and cinema production studio (Vice Studios), an international network of television channels (Vice TV), a news division and a creative agency (Virtue).