Viceland: One of the WORST television channe rebrands EVER!

Welcome to The Chronicles of Trevor, the only blog where a young man typing on a keyboard is considered a modern marvel!

Today, I'm talking about one of the WORST cable channel rebrands in the history of American television. I'm tackling the rebrand of H2 into Viceland (now known as Vice TV).

This happened 8 years ago today, on February 29, 2016. 

H2, or History 2, as the brand is known today, in the countries it is still broadcast in, was a subchannel of the History Channel dedicated to showing classic shows from the network, such as Modern Marvels, and original programming, like Thingamabob. It is more well known for its reruns of Ancient Aliens, the show that brought us this classic meme:

I have some good memories of watching H2 with my brother Justin. We used to watch its reruns of Modern Marvels, and were always entertained by the stories of the things mentioned on the show. My favorite episode focused on Tabasco hot sauce, the history of its parent company, and the process of how the famous condiment is made. I also remember watching Thingamabob, and enjoying the creations that the host made. He was kinda like Spencer from iCarly, in a way.

The concept for Viceland came through a joint venture (a company founded and owned by two or more companies) of A&E Networks and Vice Media. A&E would later acquire a 10% stake in the company. Vice is a media company known for its news site and YouTube channel, and its documentary series on HBO. They are a popular source with mid-generation millennials. After A&E acquired its stake in Vice, they decided to launch a new TV channel for new original content (HBO's Vice series wouldn't air on the new channel, since it was still running, and the content would be too inappropriate for basic cable).

What did air on Vice's new channel was lifestyle reality shows like F*** That's Delicious, Balls Deep (later renamed B. Deep), The Pizza Show, The Ice Cream Show, and Huang's World. There was even a program called Action Bronson Watches Ancient Aliens, a show that rubbed salt in the wounds of those who loved H2 and it's enriching and entertaining programming. 

Other than that, their branding is generic.

I wish I were a fly on the wall at the Vice Marketing Department Meeting.

Guy 1 : *takes a hit* We need a look for our new TV channel, what should we do for it?

Guy 2: *points at his Microsoft Word document*

Guy 1: Brilliant!

It uses a black on white color palette, with a generic font. (Helvetica, used on logos like American Airlines and CVS, and on Apple devices prior to iOS 9; I do like the font, but the monochrome colors of the branding is what ruins it.)

Also, the channel is 50% run by Disney! Yup, the Disney! I'm sure Walt wouldn't have approved of this. But keep in mind, this is the same company that defaced one of the greatest movie studios of all time.

And since Vice Media has recently filed for bankruptcy and is on the verge of going out of business, I could see this as a chance for A&E to bring back the H2 channel in the US.

Thanks for reading!