ITV

Tag: mtvU

  • MTV president Stephen Friedman quits; Discovery’s Sean Atkins steps in

    MTV president Stephen Friedman quits; Discovery’s Sean Atkins steps in

    MUMBAI: After a seven year stint, MTV president Stephen Friedman is stepping down from his post. The move comes in the wake of ratings drop that MTV’s parent company Viacom Inc. is witnessing on many of its channels.

     

    Soon after Friedman announced his resignation, Viacom said that it had appointed Discovery Communications general manager and executive vice president of digital media and strategy Sean Atkins as MTV’s new president. 

     

    Atkins will be overseeing all creative and business operations for the youth entertainment brand and its sister networks, MTV2 and mtvU. He will report to Viacom Music and Entertainment Group president Doug Herzog.

     

    MTV’s programming co-heads, executive vice president and head of scripted development Mina Lefevre and head of reality programming and executive vice president of series development Lauren Dolgen will report directly to Atkins.

     

    “Sean is smart, creative, passionate, and remarkably energized about the sea change at hand in our industry. The strength of MTV lies in its ability to constantly reinvent, and Sean’s forward-thinking, versatile leadership will ensure our brand and business continue to evolve and deliver for our audience,” said Herzog.

     

    With experience at Discovery, HBO, and Yahoo!, Atkins has held leadership positions across development, digital media, production, strategy, marketing, product development, and consumer products. He was a driving force behind Discovery’s 2012 acquisition of millennial-focused Revision3, among the first strategic acquisitions of a multi-channel network by a major media and entertainment company.

     

    Prior to joining the digital media team, Atkins ran the West Coast for Discovery Studios, Discovery Communications’ full-service production studio that develops and produces original programming.

     

    Atkins joined Discovery from HBO where, as senior vice president of digital media. Previously, he was head of programming and development at Yahoo! Entertainment. Before that he was acting-COO for Vulcan Programming. He served concurrently as executive vice president of A. Smith & Co, overseeing development and production for the company. Previously, Atkins also held positions with Warner Bros., Mediaconnex and Disney.

     

    Meanwhile, in his parting note via an internal memo, Friedman said, “After 18 years, including seven at the helm of MTV, it reminds me of what originally inspired me to work here. When I was hired to create the pro-social department, I was told, ‘Your job will be to use MTV’s superpowers for good.’ While I had personally experienced the cultural power of MTV, it wasn’t until I started working here that I understood the true power behind the brand. Those ‘superpowers’ originate with you. Each of you brings your own calling, your own desire to take risks and make new history.”

     

    Speaking about his next move, he added, “Having been blessed to work with you and be part of this remarkable brand for the better part of my career, I am leaving to return full time to what tempts my soul to rise. My next adventure will be focused full time on giving back, on social impact, and on applying what I’ve learned from MTV about the power of brands and storytelling to create positive change. What MTV understood at its inception, a growing part of the world is now actively pursuing. We’re in the midst of a boom of mission driven companies that are redefining business while tackling some of the biggest social challenges we face.”

  • MTV US using search for a video game concept to spread awareness of Aids menace

    MTV US using search for a video game concept to spread awareness of Aids menace

    MUMBAI: mtvU, which is US broadcaster MTV’s college network and the Kaiser Family Foundation have announced the “Change the Course of HIV Challenge.

    This is a competition offering college students digital tools to reduce the spread of HIV/Aids among young people in the US. The challenge asks gamers, activists or any student with a great idea to propose a viral, Web-based video game concept to help raise awareness about HIV/Aids among 15-24 year olds in the US and to promote personal action in response to the epidemic.

    The winning individual or team will work with mtvU and the Kaiser Family Foundation — which are committing $75,000 to the development and marketing of the game — to see their idea realised. mtvU GM Stephen Friedman, says, “No undergrad in school today has known a world without HIV/Aids and a new young person someplace in the world is infected every 15 seconds GM. Through this challenge, we hope to inspire college students to use the power of online gaming to engage their peers, re-awaken them to the magnitude of this deadly virus and effect prevention.”

    Kaiser Family Foundation VP and director, entertainment media partnerships Tina Hoff says, “The competition is designed to help us reach young people in a different and engaging way to help inform them about HIV/Aids and spur action. As HIV remains the great public health challenge of this generation, it’s essential to find new and creative ways to engage and inform young people about the epidemic.”

    The two parties are looking for innovative, interactive concepts for video games that will spread rapidly online. Proposed projects should raise awareness about HIV/Aids among young people in the US, identify ways to stop its spread, and address the silence, stigma and discrimination surrounding the disease.

  • MTV, Verizon Wireless launch live music series ‘MTV Live’

    MTV, Verizon Wireless launch live music series ‘MTV Live’

    MUMBAI: MTV and Verizon Wireless announced a new event series titled ‘MTV Live’ featuring live artist performances from the big names in music. The monthly series will be recorded in front of a live audience at the Hard Rock Café in New York and will be presented as a multi-platform program across MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Tr3s, MTV.com and on MTV Mobile on V CAST.

    ‘MTV Live’ powered by Verizon Wireless will premiere the first episode on 6 February at 11:30 pm with a commercial free performance by Fall Out Boy.

    Artists Nas, Akon, and Gym Class Heroes have been booked for future shows.
     
    ‘MTV Live’ will be specifically customized for each screen. In-show features will include a live text-to-screen element that will allow Verizon Wireless subscribers to submit comments and shout-outs from their cell phones that will appear as a crawl across the bottom of the screen in real-time during the show.

    Additionally, video footage shot on cell phones during the performance will be edited into several of the platform offerings. MTV Mobile on V CAST will feature exclusive performance content from each show and will also offer artist interview segments. “MTV Live” will be available online at http://www.mtvlive.mtv.com/.
     
    “MTV Live is a new way for us to connect music fans with their favorite artists by incorporating a wide variety of on-air, online and on-mobile elements throughout every show,” said MTV President Christina Norman. “This partnership with Verizon Wireless enables us to make the biggest footprint for the artists across multiple screens and really bring the live performance experience to our audience on different devices.”

    “MTV and Verizon Wireless are two powerful brands, with significant relationships in this rapidly changing music landscape,” says MTV senior vice president integrated marketing Tim Rosta. “This program will result in a strategic alliance that will amplify these relationships and bring new music to a larger audience.”

  • 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.

  • MTV Networks’ MtvU to acquire online student newspaper network Y2M

    MTV Networks’ MtvU to acquire online student newspaper network Y2M

    MUMBAI: MtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network and a division of Viacom Inc., has announced an agreement to acquire Boston-based Y2M, the parent company of an online advertising network of 450 campus newspaper websites.

    Adding Y2M to MtvU and to MTV Networks’ overall portfolio is another step in MTVN’s strategy to super-serve its audiences with relevant and innovative content, and to be a leader in the digital space.

    Following MTVN’s recent purchases of XFire, Gametrailers, IFilm and Neopets, this acquisition demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to being a premier multi- platform media company across every screen consumers use.

    The network reaches over five million college students via 450 online campus papers — the most powerful local media brand on campus — which serve as definitive on-campus information hubs, providing local news, sports, weather, event listings and much more.

    “This acquisition is in line with our business strategy of moving
    forward in the digital space and continually expanding our online portfolio of music, gaming, news and entertainment,” MTVN chairman and CEO Judy McGrath says. “Bringing MtvU and Y2M together is another avenue for us to be everywhere our audiences are, deepening our relationship with them and connecting them across every platform and device, all the time.”

    According to an official release, MtvU and Y2M will together create stronger multi-platform offerings, giving advertisers the most effective and comprehensive methods to connect with college students on-air, online, on the handset, in print and on campus. MtvU’s national advertisers will benefit from an increased ability to develop targeted, localized campaigns, and Y2M’s advertisers can capitalize on MtvU’s industry-leading expertise in emerging media platforms such as broadband video and mobile phones.

    Additionally, the combination of Y2M and MtvU will provide editors of student papers in the College Publisher network the ability to easily include rich media and a whole suite of new features on their online sites without impacting the editorial or design independence of each paper’s staff. New features that will become available to affiliates include enhanced community functionality, a vast library of emerging music, and the means to create university-specific online networks. MtvU will also offer the student papers access to the network’s base of more than 120 top-tier advertisers, enabling new ad sales and revenue sharing opportunities.

    “MtvU and Y2M complement each other perfectly — as the definitive college television and online student paper networks — and together, these two mediums are powerful connectors to college students across every touch point,” MTV president Christina Norman. “We can now provide new, innovative, turn-key methods for our advertisers to reach this powerful demographic and continue to find new ways to super-serve the college market.”

    “Student publications are the lifeblood of college campuses, and we’re looking forward to supporting them with new tools and advertising opportunities — empowering them to expand their offerings and audience, as well as improve their financial performance,” said MtvU GM Stephen Friedman. “Y2M’s unmatched network and stellar team are a welcome addition to MtvU and together we’ll unlock a myriad of new opportunities for college students and universities nationwide.”

    “The combination of Y2M and MtvU will advance the mission of college newspapers across the country and enhance their commercial opportunities with regional and national advertisers. Together, this will strengthen our ability to serve the unique needs of our 450 university newspaper partners, the 7,000 student journalists who rely on our publishing and hosting technology, and the two million registered online subscribers in the College Publisher network,” said Y2M president and co-founder John Fees, “We are extremely optimistic about the potential this holds for our college newspaper partners, Y2M and MtvU.”

    MtvU has grown rapidly since launching in early 2004, increasing distribution more than 35 per cent and tripling the size of its advertiser base.

    The network has also proliferated on multiple platforms, becoming the first MTV Networks channel distributed in its entirety on broadband and increasing on campus events to more than 300 a year. This transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2006.