Season 2 of HBO's Original Series VICE Premieres on TMN GO and HBO On Demand, March 14

- Season 2 of VICE premieres on HBO Canada on Friday, March 21 at 11 p.m. ET/MT -
- Hosted by Canadian Shane Smith, Season 2 correspondents include Vice Media's Suroosh Alvi, Rocco Castoro, and Thomas Morton, author Ben Anderson, Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker Fazeelat Aslam (HBO's SAVING FACE), artist David Choe, and filmmakers Vikram Gandhi (Kumaré) and Gelareh Kiazand (And the blue sky) -

"VICE has made an indelible impression on viewers tired of the familiar nightly newscasts and curious about the world at large." - Alex Strachan, Postmedia News

TORONTO, Feb. 27, 2014 /CNW/ - HBO's original series VICE returns for a second season on Friday, March 14 at 11:30 p.m. ET/MT on TMN GO and via On Demand platforms of participating service providers. The series makes its television broadcast premiere on Friday, March 21 at 11 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada. Hosted by Canadian Shane Smith, founder of the revolutionary new media company Vice, the Emmy Award^®-nominated series smashes barriers of decorum to cover groundbreaking stories from around the world. HBO Canada is a multiplex channel of Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) and Bell Media's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada).

Always unorthodox and at times irreverent, VICE takes viewers around the globe as its correspondents cover stories often overlooked by traditional media outlets. When reporting on today's most pressing issues, from anti-government rebellions and hotbeds of terrorist activity to conflict and corruption, VICE uses an immersive documentary style to bring a unique perspective to the events shaping the future. In Season 2, the series investigates a broad range of topics, which include travelling to international locations to report on everything from rampant U.S. military waste, corruption in Afghanistan, extortion, torture, killing in Rio's favelas, and terrorist training in Dagestan.

** Media Note ** - Download photos at http://mediacentre.corusent.com or BellMediaPR.com/Network/HBO-Canada.  

In the Season 2 premiere of VICE, the U.S. has spent nearly $100 billion on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, the most spent on any country in history. But John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, has found that much of that money has been wasted, misused, and has even fallen into the hands of the Taliban. Shane Smith heads to Afghanistan for a tour of American taxpayer dollars gone down the drain. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro is working hard to remedy its reputation as a drug and murder capital in time for the upcoming World Cup and Olympics. The Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) has been charged with pacifying Rio's slums (favelas), but BOPE's military occupation of increasing numbers of favelas has been criticized as heavy-handed. Some corrupt members of the BOPE, together with ex-police, have formed militia gangs of their own and are controlling many favelas by sinister means, openly extorting, torturing, killing, and making criminals disappear.

Click here to watch a trailer for Season 2 of VICE.

This season also sees the addition of new award-winning correspondents to the series' roster. Along with Shane Smith, correspondents include VICE media co-founder Suroosh Alvi; conflict-zone journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author Ben Anderson; Academy Award^®-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Fazeelat Aslam (HBO's SAVING FACE); VICE media editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro; artist David Choe; filmmaker and producer Vikram Gandhi (Kumaré); Iranian photojournalist and filmmaker Gelareh Kiazand (And the blue sky); and longtime VICE correspondent Thomas Morton.

Founded in 1994 by Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi (Cowboy Capitalists), Vice now operates in 35 countries worldwide and attracts millions of viewers and readers to its network of online channels dedicated to music, fashion, travel, news, and sports. Vice's international digital platforms and magazine are Gen Y's most popular and entertaining source for news, part of a global media powerhouse that also includes a television production studio, a record label, an in-house creative services agency, and a book-publishing division.

VICE is executive produced by Bill Maher (HBO's REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER), Shane Smith, Eddy Moretti (Fishing Without Nets), and BJ Levin (SKIN TO THE MAX). Fareed Zakaria (FAREED ZAKARIA GPS) serves as consulting producer.

In Eastern Canada, episodes will be available on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand.

In Western Canada, episodes will be available in High Definition on HBO Canada HD and On Demand, via mobile and online with participating service providers.

About HBO Canada
HBO Canada brings Canadians HBO's current slate of signature dramatic and comedic programs, together with new and never-before-seen programming including comedy series, live specials, sporting events, behind-the-scenes content and titles from HBO's extensive library - all in an uncut and commercial-free environment. HBO Canada is offered in high definition on HBO Canada HD and programming is accessible on TMN GO, on demand and online where available by service provider. For more information, please visit www.hbocanada.com. In Eastern Canada, HBO Canada is a division of Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. In Western Canada, HBO Canada is offered by Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada).

About Movie Central
Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B), a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

SOURCE: Movie Central

For The Movie Network (Eastern Canada):
Jessica Charbonneau, 416.956.8638 or [email protected]

For Movie Central (Western Canada):
Danielle Sefton, 416.479.6094 or [email protected]