VICE Media announced a major expansion across much of Eastern Europe in partnership with Antenna Group, a key expansion that will allow the company to continue its lead in serving youth audiences everywhere.

VICE will launch new editorial and production operations to create and distribute its unique programming across Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia. These operations add to VICE’s already broad reach in Eastern Europe, including significant presences in Greece, Serbia and Romania.

Shane Smith, co-founder and CEO of VICE, said: “VICE has found an incredible market in Eastern Europe. Why? Because young people there want the kind of content that matters to them—whether it’s news or lifestyle or documentary—framed in the way they see the world. And very few outlets are offering it to them. Antenna Group is the perfect partner to work with because they’re experts on the nuances of the local media landscape, and they completely get what we do here at VICE.”

Theodore Kyriakou, shareholder and chief executive of Antenna Group, the international media and entertainment organization, said: “Our partnership with Vice is a real success, this media company has a unique appeal and acts like a magnet in attracting young audiences. We bring complementary strengths and have built large audiences quickly. Through our Amplifier unit, we provide a one stop shop for digital companies that want to expand into Eastern Europe and scale up quickly and successfully.”

VICE and Antenna Group first partnered in 2014 with the launch of VICE Greece. The joint venture created local video-production operations that work around the clock to create local news, culture and lifestyle programming, for broadcast on linear TV and online. This local content has covered a broad range of subjects, from hard news like the European debt crisis and the plight of Syrian refugees, to culture and lifestyle programming covering Athens nightlife and the daily life of young Greeks.

The partnership has seen a huge rise in unique users, with a multi-platform reach in Greece among 18-34 year-olds of 29%. VICE now produces a daily TV show and it has produced eight 45-minute specials for the network.

A similar venture between VICE and Antenna Group launched November 2014 in Serbia and saw its TV audience for 18-34 year olds peak at 33%. As in Greece, the venture was profitable in its first year.

VICE content has now aired across the region on four of Antenna’s TV channels: Antenna TV (Greece), Prva TV (Serbia), B92 TV (Serbia), Prva TV (Montenegro). From 2014-2015, 175 hours of content were aired on FTA television in the regions where VICE and Antenna Group partnered. In the same period, these regions also produced 220 hours in total of video content, including local and licensed, and more than 8,200 articles in local languages.