A&E and Vice hope that you still like conventional TV
You may be devoting a lot of your viewing time to streaming services, but A&E reckons that you still have a soft spot for old-school TV. Its parent company A+E Networks is teaming up with Vice to launch Viceland, a 24-hour TV channel aimed right at that all-important youth demographic. They're largely leaning on Vice's edgy reputation to draw you in -- the initial shows include Gaycation and Weediquette, and Spike Jonze is overseeing the channel. However, they're also acknowledging the realities of an era where DVRs and online video are commonplace. Viceland is planning to run fewer ads during prime time, and there are hints of "innovative monetization strategies" that won't simply involve wave after wave of commercials.
The channel makes at least some sense. Vice has its roots online (good for spreading the word to a younger crowd), and it's no stranger to making long, attention-grabbing video. However, there's a question as to whether or not this is really going to make you forget about Netflix for a while. The median age of an American broadcast TV viewer is hovering around 54 -- while that could reflect the lack of youth-friendly shows, it suggests that the intended audience might not care much about TV in the first place. Viceland may have to give you a really, really good reason to tune in when you could just as easily wait for its shows to appear online.
[Image credit: Hutton Supancic/Getty Images for SXSW]
