Vice TV General Manager on Why the Network Is so Into the ’90s Right Now and Plans for a ‘Dark Side’ FAST Channel
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business WriterJune is ’90s month on Vice TV. But based on its recent programming decisions, it could be argued that the cable network is currently in a perpetual state of ’90s month.With the debut of “Dark Side of the 90’s” Season 2 on Tuesday and the July 12 premiere of Nacelle Company’s docuseries “Icons Unearthed: Star Wars,” Morgan Hertzan, Vice TV executive vice president and general manager, tells Variety his team’s goal with this content is to reach the Gen X audience through its seemingly endless love for the era.“Obviously, a lot of media has focused on millennials, a lot of media is focused on the ‘Greatest Generation,'” Hertzan said. “We’re young for a cable network, we’re pretty young median age, as cable goes.
And we really have that Gen X audience and they love when we do stuff like this. So we decided, let’s lean into that. Let’s do more ’90s content, more nostalgia content for Gen X.” Vice TV is also developing what Hertzan describes as “a variety show or a game show, it’s kind of a little bit of both,” that is “centered around nostalgia” and includes a “really high-profile person” as its host.In the meantime, “Dark Side of the 90’s” Season 2 will give Gen X-ers looks back at the rise of tabloid TV, “Cops,” the case of Mary Jo and Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher, “The Real World,” and MMA and UFC.But in catering to the Gen X audience that knows these topics all too well, Vice TV is also able to tap into aspects of culture that are “truly iconic” for people who weren’t even born until after the decade ended.“The ’90s was one of the last moments before true media disintermediation,” Hertzan said.
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