‘Vice News Tonight’ HBO Debut Pushed Back

Vice News Tonight, the half-hour nightly newscast on HBO, debuts Oct. 10, two weeks after its original premiere date. It will air weeknights at 7:30. Josh Tyrangiel, executive VP of content and news at Vice, told reporters the delay is related to testing the newscast on a range of platforms.

Tyrangiel, and Vice News Tonight, are intent on shaking up TV news. The program will replace the anchor and news desk “for a reimagined and wide-ranging toolkit of formats and storytelling capabilities that seek to resonate with an increasingly social and mobile audience,” said Vice.

“We think a news show can play a big role in viewers’ daily lives, but it has to be on their terms,” says Tyrangiel. “We’ve tried to think about our audience with every choice we’ve made–from the kinds of stories we cover and the format in which we present them, to the platform on which they’ll be watching and how touch-enabled screens can enrich our storytelling. We really believe there’s room for a modern, flexible-format show that helps our audience understand the world. And we can’t wait to debut.”

Vice News has bureaus in Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and Dubai. Borrowing from its own cable and online network, and its weekly Vice newsmag on HBO, the newscast “will regularly experiment with storytelling formats, tools, length and talent to deliver the most credible and impactful newscast possible,” said Vice.

Vice News Tonight is executive produced by Tyrangiel and Madeleine Haeringer.

Last month, Tyrangiel said, “The nightly news hasn’t changed its format in 60 years, whereas the way most viewers–particularly younger viewers–consume information has changed dramatically.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.