After a month and a half, Viceland is pulling the plug on “Vice Live,” its weeknight live show, due to low ratings.
“Vice Live” aired Monday through Thursday from Vice’s Brooklyn headquarters, originally launching as a two-hour nightly showcase of all things Vice. Viceland later cut the show to one hour a night, but “Vice Live” never managed to catch on in pop culture. The show premiered on Feb. 25 to just 77,000 viewers, making it one of cable’s least-watched shows in primetime.
The final episode of “Vice Live” aired last Thursday. Viceland president Guy Slattery announced the cancellation to staffers on Monday. A spokesperson referred Variety to an internal memo sent by Slattery.
“For the past two months, ‘Vice Live’ has been doing it live from our Brooklyn HQ four nights a week with an unpredictable, beautifully crazy show that has showcased the best of Vice and shined a light on some of the hottest emerging talent in the worlds of comedy, music, television, and food,” Slattery wrote in the memo. “The show demonstrated the power and potential of One Vice and now we have added to our world-class production capabilities in Vice HQ, which can be used by any and all our Vice content teams.”
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“Vice Live” was hosted by a panel of four up-and-comers: comedian/actress Marie Faustin, Houston-based underground hip-hop artist Fat Tony, comedian/director Sandy Honig, and writer/comedian Zack Fox. In his memo, Slattery added that contributors including Vice Digital’s Dee Nasty (“Worse Weekend Than You” and “Dee on the Street”) and Taji Ameen (“One Star Reviews”) will develop those segments as their own shows, while Vice plans to expand A$AP Twelvyy’s “A$AP Sports Desk.” Additionally, Viceland will aim at developing new projects with hosts Fox, Faustin and Fat Tony — while Honig, who is developing a project outside Vice, “knows the Vice doors are always open to her,” he added.
“Vice Live” was meant to fill the void left by Viceland’s previous nightly show, “Desus & Mero,” as those hosts moved to Showtime. Executive producer Jeremy Hutchins (“106 & Park”) and director Joe Perota (“Last Week Tonight,” “The Chris Gethard Show”) oversaw the series, along with Viceland’s Nomi Ernst Leidner (“Gaycation”), Jeff Sammon (“Desus & Mero,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) and Catherine Whyte (Viceland’s head of production), who were also executive producers.
As “Vice Live” leaves the air, Slattery pointed out that Viceland still boasts shows including “Bong Appétit: Cook Off” and “Dark Side of The Ring,” and the upcoming “Jasper & Errol’s First Time,” “Danny’s House,” “Donkmaster,” “How to Rob a Bank,” “Fine Young Criminals” and new episodes of “Most Expensivest.”
“Thanks to everyone on the ‘Vice Live’ team for their hard work and to everyone across the company for their support and creativity as we continue to bring unique perspectives and voices to television that can’t be found anywhere else … and keep taking big, bold experimental swings that only Vice would dare to do,” Slattery added in his memo.