Setback is largely due to the struggling Viceland cable-TV channel
Vice Media, working to stabilize its executive ranks, endured a substantial revenue miss last year and is trying to fend off shareholders pressing for an exit.
Vice, whose $5.7 billion valuation makes it the most valuable new media company, missed its 2017 revenue target of $805 million by more than $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
That setback, largely due to the struggling Viceland cable TV channel, comes as co-president Andrew Creighton, who was placed on leave after sexual-harassment allegations surfaced in a New York Times report, is unlikely to return to his post, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Creighton led the company’s advertising business, but could be given other roles within the company among other possible outcomes, these people said.
Mr. Creighton, who has denied the allegations, didn’t respond to requests for comment. A Vice spokesman said the company’s review of the matter is continuing.
Vice has also been working to fill out its top executive ranks to give more support to its co-founder and Chief Executive Shane Smith, who is focusing on long-term strategy and on making content, according to people familiar with the matter. The situation with Mr. Creighton is a complicating factor in that effort, one of the people said.
www.wsj.com/articles/vice-media-confronts-tv-woes-amid-leadership-troubles-1518003121
Mr. Creighton, who has denied the allegations, didn’t respond to requests for comment. A Vice spokesman said the company’s review of the matter is continuing.
Vice has also been working to fill out its top executive ranks to give more support to its co-founder and Chief Executive Shane Smith, who is focusing on long-term strategy and on making content, according to people familiar with the matter. The situation with Mr. Creighton is a complicating factor in that effort, one of the people said.
www.wsj.com/articles/vice-media-confronts-tv-woes-amid-leadership-troubles-1518003121
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