ITV

Tag: MTV Networks

  • Melissa Tinker joins Cartoon Network Enterprises as VP

    MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific has appointed Melissa Tinker as vice president of its licensing and merchandise division, Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE).

    Tinker brings over 15 years of industry experience focused on crafting licensing strategies for brand expansion, and was instrumental behind the success of many kids‘ and family entertainment brands.

    In her new role, she will be reporting to Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific senior VP and MD, Entertainment Networks Sunny Saha.

    “Melissa is joining the CNE team at a time of unprecedented growth for our business in Asia. With Melissa‘s proven track record within the industry, CNE will be taken to even greater heights as she identifies innovative partnerships that create more opportunities for brand engagement,” Saha said.

    Tinker will assume the leadership of CNE‘s regional licensing & merchandise strategy, planning and network collaboration for Turner‘s franchises such as Ben 10, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball and The Powerpuff Girls.

    Tinker‘s appointment coincides with CNE‘s expansion across the region that includes branded learning centres and themed destinations in addition to the growth of traditional categories of toys, apparel, home entertainment, publishing and lifestyle products.

    “I am delighted to be joining Cartoon Network and to be working alongside such a dynamic and experienced team. I see endless opportunity with such powerhouse brands and the exceptional content Turner has to offer. I am very much looking forward to developing regional initiatives to support the franchise partners and introducing new partners to the business,” said Tinker.

    Prior to this, Tinker was with Chorion, Australia for six years, where she was Sr VP of Licensing, Asia Pacific.

    She has also worked with Haven Licensing where she managed a portfolio of Universal Studios, MTV Networks/Nickelodeon and ACP.

  • BloombergUTV biz head Deepak Lamba quits

    BloombergUTV biz head Deepak Lamba quits

    MUMBAI: Deepak Lamba has resigned as business head of the English business news channel BloombergUTV.

    Lamba had joined the channel in January 2010.

    Highly placed sources in the company informed Indiantelevision.com that Lamba has put in his papers and will be serving his notice period till the end of this month.

    It is learnt that Lamba will remain in the media space, and joining a media conglomerate with a larger role.

    Prior to BloombergUTV, Lamba was with MTV Networks India as director of Viacom Brand Solutions.

    He was unavailable for comment till the filing of this report.

  • Rajiv Lulla is NDTV MetroNation CEO

    Rajiv Lulla is NDTV MetroNation CEO

    NEW DELHI: NDTV has appointed Rajiv Lulla as the CEO of its city channel network NDTV MetroNation. Lulla replaces Sanjay Nigam who was heading NDTV MetroNation.

    Lulla comes in from Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Texas where he was working as senior VP. He has worked in various places that includes Stanford University, CBS Radio and MTV Networks.

    Nigam will be handling other verticals of the group, a NDTV spokesperson said.

    Commenting on his appointment, Lulla said: “The foundation for MetroNation is laid and going forward we will now actively leverage rich local content across cities, develop stronger relationships, serving our local audiences and advertisers.”

    NDTV’s first city-specific channel for Delhi and National Capital region (NCR) has been on air since September 2007.

  • Nickelodeon unveils virtual community playground ‘Nicktropolis’

    Nickelodeon unveils virtual community playground ‘Nicktropolis’

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom Inc.’s MTV Networks, has launched new kid-targeted virtual community titled Nicktropolis on 30 January. It promises to offer visitors multi-media experience giving them an opportunity to engage in a virtual world filled with web-based activities.

    According to an official release issued by the company, (at Nicktropolis, available at http://www.nicktropolis.com/ or through http://www.nick.com/), kids will have their own virtual community where they will have the opportunity to play games, watch video, explore Nickelodeon-branded and original environments, interact with other kids or Nickelodeon characters in real time, and create their own personalized 3D rooms.

    “Virtual worlds like Nicktropolis are part of our strategy to bring immersive, relevant entertainment experiences to our audiences wherever they are, and to build communities around our content across every kind of platform,” said MTVN chairman and CEO Judy McGrath. “The virtual worlds we’ve been building across our networks give the fans of our brands the high level of interaction they want with one another, and with the content itself.”

    Kids enter Nicktropolis by assuming an “avatar” that they design and personalize, choosing from an array of hairstyles, skin tones and clothing styles. Once a user selects a destination, the avatar appears in the particular environment and can move around simply by clicking where he/she wants to go.

    “Nickelodeon has a deep connection with kids, and Nicktropolis is built from our knowledge that kids’ interest in social networking is all about gaming,” said Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami. “Nicktropolis serves as a one-of-a-kind multimedia virtual entertainment playground for kids that allows them to watch video from our immense library of programming, play games, interact with our characters and safely communicate with each other through controlled chat.”

    The site offers a 3D environment consisting of four main areas containing multimedia experiences, gaming, and opportunities to personalize their space, create video play lists of their favourite Nickelodeon content, and interact in a safe, community environment. Additionally, the company states that Nicktropolis incorporates numerous safety features to ensure kids’ virtual playground experience is as safe as possible. Participation in Nicktropolis relies entirely on the anonymous registration system, which does not allow kids to divulge personal, identifiable information, adds the release.

    Nickelodeon’s Nicktropolis is MTV Networks’ latest move in serving its audiences through original online and wireless content across all of its brands. This follows from Nickelodeon’s latest research study, Living in a Digital World (2006), which found that 86 per cent of kids 8-14 are gaming online; more than half (51 per cent) are watching TV shows and videos online; 37 per cent are instant messaging and 12 per cent are participating in chat rooms.

  • MTV networks COO Michael Wolf quits

    MTV networks COO Michael Wolf quits

    MUMBAI: There seems to be no end to the executive departures at Sumner Redstone’s Viacom Inc. A day after Gail Berman resigned as president of Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, putting in less than two years in the organization, MTV Networks president and chief operating officer Michael Wolf is also leaving Viacom’s MTVN.

    Wolf left McKinsey to join the media group’s transition to the digital age but is leaving barely a year later.
    According to the company’s website, Wolf and MTVN president of affiliate sales and marketing Nicole Browning will be leaving the company.

    Wolf led the company’s business and technology operations, including advertising sales, affiliate sales and marketing, business and strategy development, business and legal affairs, finance, information systems and technology and production operations.

    Browning oversaw the distribution activities of MTV Networks including MTV: Music Television, MTV 2, mtvU, MTV Tr3s, MTV World, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Spike TV, Comedy Central, Logo, TV Land, Noggin/The N, CMT, VH1 Classic, The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, and BET Networks including BET, BET Gospel, and BET J.

    Earlier last week Wolf had revealed to the media that there was a “gap in perception” in the market about Viacom’s internet activities. He also added, ‘We’ve been able to accomplish a huge amount in the 15 months I’ve been here’. During his tenure, Viacom acquired a slew of internet gaming and film startups, including Xfire and Atom Entertainment.

    Wolf’s departure had been a subject of speculation since Redstone, Viacom’s chairman and controlling shareholder, ousted Tom Freston in September 2006 from his post as chief executive and replaced him with board member Philippe Dauman.

    It was widely believed that Freston, one of the MTV founders, was blamed for the company’s failure to acquire MySpace, the popular social networking site, and the perception that the cable group was being eclipsed by a new generation of youth-oriented media companies.

    In early 2006 Viacom’s research maven Betsy Frank exited the company after nearly a decade. Company sources pointed out that they would be working with Frank on a consultancy basis over a number of projects. MTVN president ad sales Larry Divney also stepped down on 1 April but would continue to be exclusive consultant to the network on their various projects.

    This is the latest in a long line of top ranking executive exits at Viacom’s MTV Networks which in hindsight could now be said to have begun with the resignation of MTV COO Mark Rosenthal in 2004 following Judy McGrath’s promotion to chairman and CEO of MTV Networks.

    The company’s January 2006 split from CBS has led to a huge upheaval in its top management ranks. Wolf’s departure is the latest in this series. MTVN will begin searches for a new COO and a new head of Affiliate Sales and Marketing immediately it has said.

  • Bennett Media Worldwide licenses select library programming to Microsoft for Xbox 360

    Bennett Media Worldwide licenses select library programming to Microsoft for Xbox 360

    MUMBAI: Bennett Media Worldwide (BMW) has licensed select productions from its vast library of high-definition programming to Microsoft Corp. for the company’s Xbox 360.

    Included in the programming slate from Bennett are series like Bikini Destinations, The Wild Side, and The Extremists.

    BMW is the latest programming supplier to launch content on the Xbox 360 platform, joining a stellar list of entertainment distributors that includes CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS Inc.), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

    Together, the content companies are responsible for delivering an initial line-up of more than 1,000 hours to the vast community of Xbox 360 gamers, asserts an official release.

    Bennett Media Worldwide president Paul Rich said, “With Xbox 360, Microsoft is leading the way in integrated game playing with entertainment and at the same time building a unique bridge for producers to connect directly with this extremely important consumer marketplace. We are delighted to be a part of this exciting new entertainment platform.”

  • Bob Bakish appointed president, MTV Networks International

    Bob Bakish appointed president, MTV Networks International

    MUMBAI: Viacom veteran Bob Bakish has been appointed president, MTV Networks International (MTVNI), reporting to Bill Roedy, who will retain oversight of MTVNI in addition to his global role as vice chairman, MTV Networks.

    In the newly-created position, Bakish will take on day-to-day management responsibility for MTVNI, including the local and regional operations across Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, as well as International functions and business units. Reporting to Bakish will be the managing directors of the key regions and MTVNI Chief Operating Officer Alex Ferrari, who will continue in his current role.

    A 10-year veteran of the company, Bakish is currently Viacom’s executive vice president, operations and Viacom Enterprises, responsible for strategic planning, business development, Famous Music, Viacom Plus and IS&T. Bakish also heads up the company’s cross-divisional marketing council. MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom Inc.

  • MTV Networks names global digital media team

    MTV Networks names global digital media team

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom has announced a new global digital media executive team. The central team will provide strategic guidance to the company’s portfolio of multiplatform brands, driving cross-brand initiatives and sharing best practices in operations, technology, and distribution. The team will report to MTV Networks Global Digital Media president Mika Salmi and partner hand-in-hand with digital leaders at MTVN’s brands and business units.

    The team will help guide MTVN’s brands in digital distribution expansion, product development and technical support, and cross- brand programming, informs an official release.

    The global digital media team from throughout MTVN includes the following executives, Global Digital Media executive VP Operations Denmark West, MTVN Games and Interactive Media Group EVP and GM Nicholas Lehman, Global Digital Media EVP and creative director Kenny Miller, Digital Media Technology senior VP and chief technology officer Nick Rockwell, MTVN Mobile Media senior VP Greg Clayman and MTVN Global Digital Media senior vice president, online distribution and partnerships Jason Witt.

    Rockwell will continue to report to Viacom and MTV Networks chief information officer Joe Simon. Clayman and Witt will continue to report to MTVN affiliate sales and marketing president Nicole Browning, adds the release.

    “Our digital brands demonstrate the kind of innovation and creativity that have always been signatures of MTV Networks,” said MTVN chairman and CEO Judy McGrath. “Mika Salmi and his new team have the expertise to harness that collective power and deliver first-rate content across any and every screen.”

    “We’re all about connecting audiences with our content — and each other — through immersive environments that span TV, online, and wireless,” said Salmi. “With this team in place, we’re poised to deepen our audience connections, reaching them wherever they are, whenever they want, and on whatever screen they choose.”

    The company claims that the formation of the Global Digital Media team furthers MTVN’s strategy of developing brands that engage, empower and connect diverse and highly targeted consumers with culturally relevant creative content and unique experiences across every platform.

  • MTV Networks creates MTVN Entertainment Group for adult male audiences

    MTV Networks creates MTVN Entertainment Group for adult male audiences

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom, has announced the formal creation of the MTVN Entertainment Group, a multi-platform portfolio featuring the company’s adult- directed and male-skewing brands, including Comedy Central, Spike TV, TV Land, AddictingClips.com, Atom Films, IFilm, GameTrailers.com and XFire.

    This combination of television, online, broadband, user-generated content and gaming platforms positions the MTVN Entertainment group to serve a range of adult demos and collectively deliver scale with the male 18 to 34 year old demographic, informs an official release.

    “The individual brands in the Entertainment Group have significant growth potential in their own right, but we can now position them to aggregate and deliver men and adults across all platforms and on a scale rivaling other players in our industry,” said MTVN Entertainment Group president Doug Herzog.

    “The MTVN Entertainment Group creates a portfolio of television and digital brands that can collectively deliver under-served demos through killer content like comedy, gaming, video, news and information, and some classic TV, too,” said MTV Networks Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath. “Formalizing the Entertainment Group under Doug organizes us into three focused portfolio groups and highlights our overall strategy to provide the communities that form around our brands and content with immersive, multi-platform entertainment experiences.”

    The MTVN Entertainment Group brands deliver original content across television, online, and wireless to highly targeted male and adult-focused audiences. By targeting expanded demographics across its brands, the MTVN Entertainment Group offers advertisers more ways to reach their consumers, and gives MTVN the potential to establish additional revenue streams.

  • MTV Networks’ Music & Logo Group launches ‘hyper-programmed’ online verticals

    MTV Networks’ Music & Logo Group launches ‘hyper-programmed’ online verticals

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks’ Music and Logo Group have announced an aggressive development of more than 20 “hyper-programmed” online experiences or vertical channels, that are web content plays designed for the interactive, on-demand environment.

    The channels, many of which have been in development for months, will debut in the first and second quarters of 2007 and will enable their users to explore and engage in their personal interests, obsessions and topics of choice by covering a range of subjects including: music genres and sub- genres, celebrity fashion and style, personal growth and faith and spirituality, among others, informs an official release.

    Delivering on a two-way proposition, audiences will be able to actively “hyper-program” a number of these vertical channels themselves through next- generation web tools that allow users to help discover, curate, edit and upload content. MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo will seek to acquire, partner on or organically develop the properties, depending on the topic.

    A number of verticals under development will serve as companion sites to existing popular television franchises and focus on relevant topics that resonate with their fans. For instance, a vertical built around VH1’s “Web Junk 20” is geared toward serving as a guide and daily source of viral videos, while others will be stand-alone creative propositions, without television companions, informs an official release.

    Earlier this year, as an experiment in this direction, VH1 launched a stand-alone site bestweekever.tv. As a companion vertical to the popular “Best Week Ever” TV franchise, this new site offers a selection of pop culture nuggets and includes a host of exclusive mobile and video content in real-time. The site also allows users to create their own front page gossip by uploading their own video and news.

    Similarly, this past fall, MTV launched ‘Virtual Laguna Beach’, an entirely stand-alone virtual world tied to the TV series, and a first of its kind. Additionally, in June Logo acquired three stand-alone sites, AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com and 365Gay.com independently complimenting Logoonline.com and serving the gay, lesbian bi and transgender audience, adds the release.

    “These serve as successful models for a new interactive, hyper-programming approach and represent the next phase in the evolution of media for consumers, from broadcast networks to cable channels and now to hyper-programmed verticals,” said MTV Networks’ Music and Logo Group president Van Toffler. “Just as MTV networks blazed new territory by establishing linear cable networks built around specific interests and lifestyles, we are now developing new online experiences around niche topics that resonate with our current audiences, as well as those subversive web surfers.”

    “These verticals can be viewed as ‘front doors’ into the wide spectrum of passionate and specific interests that reflect our audiences’ tastes and desires,” added Entertainment for the MTV Networks Music Group president and Logo president of Brian Graden. “Each project gives us a unique and liberating opportunity to indulge the unique aspects of Web 2.0 technology in an effort to do what we’ve always done well, super-serve niche audiences.”