There must be something about the air in Cannes that brings out a certain positivity.
Vice Media arrived at the Cannes Lions advertising gathering in June with HBO having cancelled Vice News Tonight and Disney having written off its investment in the company.
But, speaking with Beet.TV, the outfit’s international and global chief revenue officer was full of optimism about the road ahead.
“We will announce soon the new home for that Vice News content,” Delport said. “I mean, (it is) multimedia-awarded (by) Peabody, and (is) the biggest newscast for the young audiences in the US.
“We want also Vice News to become more international because we don’t need less Vice News, but more Vice News – in the world of fakery, to have trusted sources, the highest journalistic standards, and (to) deliver, every, day 30 minutes of premium news, it’s something that we need.
“And, with elections coming all over the world, not just in the US, you need more and more that kind of immersive reporters from a great newsroom.”
Vice News Tonight’s incredible 2017 film on white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, received a 2018 Peabody Award, after also receiving Emmy, Polk, Scripps Howard, Gracie and Sidney Hillman awards.
One thing seems sure – Vice Media is diversified enough at this point that it can react to a changing and challenging media environment.
Delport says the company produces 1,5000 pieces of content every day in 25 languages, has clocked 1,000 hours of original Viceland originals – 900 hours of which has been licensed by the UK’s Channel 4 – and productions for Sky, Amazon, Netflix and more soon.
For him, it is all about tapping the spirit of a can-do generation to fix what may be broken.
“The world is young,” Delport says. “Don’t feel that the world is broken and that disruption is the end of the end. No, no. It’s the beginning of the beginning.
“Take that optimistic lens and look at the world as an array of limitless possibilities.
“The new generation that is coming is just crying for that. They want to fix the system. They want to have that positive impact.”
You are watching Beet.TV’s coverage of Cannes Lions 2019. For all of our Cannes coverage, please visit this page. Thank you to the sponsors of our festival coverage, which are Amobee, Innovid, Nielsen, RTL AdConnect and Teads. Special thanks to Hearts & Science for hosting Beet.TV for the Festival.
