VICE Media Doubles Down With Executive Hiring

In a move to double down on its business, Vice Media has appointed publishing veteran Richard Beckman as its first chief revenue officer.
The former Conde Nast executive started on Thursday and reports to Vice co-president Andrew Creighton. He joins the edgy, brash media brand while it’s in the midst of a transformation into an established player. Vice, which began as a free magazine in the 1990s, today is valued at $4 billion and is on track to make close to $1 billion this year due in large part to a string of deals including with HBO and Canada’s Rogers Communications.
Beckman told The Hollywood Reporter “Vice is the fastest-growing company in the media landscape. Their connection to great passion points across a wide array of categories and their unique relationship with millions of constituents as a rainmaker — it’s like waving the dinner bell for a piranha.”
Within the last year, Vice — which is backed by A+E Networks, 21st Century Fox and Technology Crossover Ventures — has struck a $100 million deal with Rogers to produce content for TV, smartphones and desktops and picked up a multi-year deal with HBO to launch a daily newscast. The company is also said to be working with A+E Networks to rebrand the H2 cable channel as a Vice network.