Latest news with #AdamStotsky
The Verge
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Posted Jun 16, 2025 at 6:30 PM EDT
The 'fucking clown show' has a new ringmaster. Out at Vice Media: former CEO Bruce Dixon. In: new CEO Adam Stotsky, 'A lot of the sort of messy stuff has been cleaned up,' Stotsky told The Wall Street Journa l. We'll see about that — when I wrote about Vice last year, there was still plenty of mess under Dixon.
New York Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Vice Media hires former NBC marketing exec for CEO role as it plans studio-focused turnaround
Adam Stotsky, a longtime NBCUniversal executive, has taken the helm at Vice Media and plans to lead a turnaround focused on the embattled media conglomerate's studio and advertising divisions, according to a report on Monday. Under his lead, the counterculture media group will focus on its original documentaries, dramas and podcasts – like its popular British crime drama 'Gangs of London' or film 'Bama Rush' about the sorority recruitment process at the University of Alabama. The focus is on 'storytelling that can build a long-term, profitable and sustainable media brand in today's landscape,' Stotsky told the Wall Street Journal. 3 Adam Stotsky at the YouTube Streamy Awards in 2022. Getty Images Bruce Dixon, who served as chief executive at Vice since February 2023, will leave the company. He executed layoffs and focused on cutting costs during his time at Vice, which was acquired by Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management after it filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Dixon last year announced plans to stop publishing content on and sell assets like Refinery29, its media site geared toward young women, and British fashion magazine i-D. 'A lot of the sort of messy stuff has been cleaned up,' Stotsky told the Journal. Now Vice, which was founded in 1994, is profitable and looking to transform its studio business into a major revenue stream, according to Michael Lang, Vice's executive chairman and president of Lang Media Group. Stotsky has spent about three decades working in entertainment television, serving as chief marketing officer at NBCUniversal and later as president of Esquire Network and then E! Entertainment. More recently, he led Dick Clark Productions, which is now owned by Penske Media, and helped Religion of Sports, the sports media venture founded by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra, raise $50 million in an equity round. 3 Vice was acquired out of bankruptcy by Fortress Investment Group and other lenders. Getty Images That doesn't mean Vice expects smooth-sailing from here on out. 'It's going to be really tough for us to compete against Instagram, TikTok and YouTube,' Lang told the Journal. 'So we're going to create great content for digital platforms, but we're not going to be in the digital platform business itself.' The CEO shake-up follows the hiring of Amy Powell, a former Amazon and Paramount executive, to serve as president of Vice Studios. 3 Adam Stotsky at the Billboard Music Awards in 2022. Getty Images for MRC The company also plans to expand its Virtue ad agency's presence in Europe and focus on news podcasts, like 'Shane Smith Has Questions,' hosted by Vice co-founder Shane Smith. Vice has also pushed several new sports series, like 'Calipari: Razor's Edge,' a partnership with Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions about basketball coach John Calipari's first season at the University of Arkansas. It has a new series expected to launch this September called 'NFL Playback,' which adds fresh commentary from celebrities and players, like Manning, to classic games.
Wall Street Journal
21 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Vice Media Hires Former NBCUniversal Executive for Studio-Focused Turnaround
A longtime NBCUniversal marketing executive is taking over as chief executive of Vice Media, aiming to build up the company's studio and advertising arms after a tumultuous few years. Vice, the edgy media company founded in 1994 and known for countercultural stories and documentaries, will continue to focus on 'provocative storytelling,' incoming CEO Adam Stotsky said. He also wants 'storytelling that can build a long-term, profitable and sustainable media brand in today's landscape.' That means more franchises along the lines of its British crime drama 'Gangs of London' and 'Bama Rush,' a documentary on the sorority rite of passage. Fortress Investment Group and other lenders acquired the embattled digital publisher after it filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and pursued a series of cost-cutting efforts. Vice has since refocused its business, shedding assets including Refinery29 and i-D magazine and laying off staff. 'A lot of the sort of messy stuff has been cleaned up,' said Stotsky, who spent nearly two decades at NBCUniversal, including as president of E! Entertainment and Esquire Network. He also recently worked with private equity-backed entertainment companies including Religion of Sports, a sports media venture founded by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra, and Dick Clark Productions, which is now owned by Penske Media. Bruce Dixon, who had been Vice's CEO, is leaving the company. Vice's business has several arms: Vice Studios, a scripted and unscripted television production studio; Vice Sports; cable network Vice TV in partnership with A+E; and its advertising operation, which includes Vice Commercials and ad agency Virtue. 'It's going to be really tough for us to compete against Instagram, TikTok and YouTube,' for ad revenue said Michael Lang, Vice's executive chairman and president of Lang Media Group. 'So we're going to create great content for digital platforms, but we're not going to be in the digital platform business itself.' Lang said Vice is now profitable, and in the next three years he expects Vice's studio business to be a major driver of the company's revenue. Amy Powell, a former executive at Amazon and Paramount Television, was recently named president of Vice Studios. He said Vice is expanding its Virtue ad agency's presence in Europe, and he is looking to do more with podcasters in the news space, citing the 'Shane Smith Has Questions' video podcast as an example. Smith is the co-founder of Vice and editor in chief of Vice News. Vice has also partnered with Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions on series including 'Calipari: Razor's Edge' about basketball coach John Calipari's first season at the University of Arkansas, and the forthcoming 'NFL Playback,' which looks back at classic games with commentary from celebrities and players, including Manning. Write to Isabella Simonetti at
