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Michael Bloom, Greg Clayman, Dan Hart, Tina Imm and Benjamin White Join MTVN Music and Digital Group Led by Jason HirschhornNicholas Lehman Promoted to SVP of Strategy & Operations
MTV Networks Music Group President Van Toffler today announced key new additions
to the management of MTV Networks' Digital Music and Media Group. Five leaders
in the digital industry including: Michael Bloom, Greg Clayman, Dan Hart, Tina
Imm and Benjamin White have joined MTVN and will help direct the company's rapidly
expanding digital and interactive businesses headed up by Jason Hirschhorn,
Senior Vice President of the Digital Music and Media Group. Adding further expertise
to the team, Nicholas Lehman has been promoted and will take on a broader role
as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations for the Digital Music and
Media Group.
"We have truly hit the talent jackpot with each of these media innovators.
They will play a key role as our company continues to serve our audiences on
every level and on every platform whether it's television, online, digital,
wireless or gaming," said Toffler.
In making this announcement Toffler, added, "they all bring an incredible
set of skills, experience and creative vision that will complement our stellar
interactive media group. Under Jason's and Nick's leadership, and with this
new team and the people who create MTV, VH1 and CMT everyday, we're perfectly
poised to produce compelling and original content for the digital marketplace,
as well as offer users the best music and entertainment experience out there."
As part of MTV Networks' initiative to be on the cutting edge in every media
its audiences use, Toffler has charged the group with connecting and entertaining
a community of consumers across multiple digital platforms. The focus will be
on creating new, original content and experiences that use technology in revolutionary
ways for each brand, including online, broadband, wireless, and interactive
television. Hirschhorn, who reports directly to Van Toffler, will spearhead
these efforts with the support of fully dedicated teams for the MTV, VH1, CMT,
Comedy Central and the soon to be launched LOGO brand. These brand teams will
deliver on a broader MTVN digital media strategy, tailored and interpreted for
each of the brands' unique audiences.
With his promotion to Senior Vice President of Strategy & Operations for
the Digital Music and Media Group, Nicholas Lehman will now oversee the product
groups, business operations, strategic planning and partnership development
for the MTVN Digital Music and Media Group. In this new role, he will manage
the digital music, online games, wireless and e-commerce businesses with platform
dedicated teams that work across the group's multiple brands. Having held a
number of positions at MTV Networks, most recently, VP of Interactive Business
Development, Lehman launched new interactive businesses in the wireless and
digital music spaces, and has forged strategic partnerships with a broad variety
of digital media partners such as Microsoft, AOL, Virgin Mobile and Verizon
Wireless. Before joining MTVN in 1999, Lehman worked as a strategy consultant
for Bain and Company in New York, Moscow and Boston, specializing in the telecommunications
and consumer products industries.
"Nick has played an integral role in MTV Network's digital strategy and
been instrumental in extending our brands and driving our audience connection
in the wireless and digital platforms," said Hirschhorn. "With his
innovative thinking and our team in place, we'll continue to redefine how people
use digital media to interact with their favorite entertainment, music, artists
and brands."
With the addition of these brand and category experts, MTV Networks is stepping
up its commitment to create industry leading digital media properties and services.
Michael Bloom, Vice President, Digital Music, will lead MTV Networks' digital
music business across the company's music channels (MTV, VH1, CMT), and will
be responsible for the overall strategy, programming and product development.
Michael joins MTV Networks with extensive experience in entertainment and digital
media. He previously served as Vice President, AOL Music & Media Products,
where he developed groundbreaking new services such as Radio@AOL, AOL MusicNet,
and the AOL Media Player. Previously, he built and led a number of successful
Internet technology companies, including iAmaze (acquired by America Online)
and Stockpoint (now part of CBS MarketWatch). Michael spent his early career
as a record label executive and movie producer.
Greg Clayman is Vice President, Wireless Strategy and Operations, where he
will be responsible for creating a seamless wireless content strategy for the
music and comedy brands. He is co-founder and former Vice President of Marketing,
Sales, and Business Development for Upoc, a leading wireless media, marketing,
and community provider with a heavy entertainment and youth focus. Clayman has
worked with MTV Networks in the past, helping to develop MTV's Global Brand
Equity Study while he was Vice President of Brand Strategy at the Sterling Group,
a brand strategy firm.
Dan Hart has been named Vice President, Online Games Strategy & Operations
and will be developing video game multimedia editorial offerings and online,
interactive game experiences for MTV Networks' audiences. Dan returns to Viacom
from Yahoo! where he served as Senior Director/General Manager of Yahoo! Games
from 2001. During his time at Yahoo! Dan nearly tripled the games site's audience
and established Yahoo! Games as the #1 ranked online games site while pioneering
Yahoo! Games entrance into digital distribution and launching several premium
service products. Prior to Yahoo!, Dan was Vice President of Planning and Development
for New Media at Viacom where he worked with the company's senior executives
to define and implement Internet strategy for Viacom and its divisions.
Bloom, Clayman and Hart are all based in New York and report to Nicholas Lehman.
Managing the VH1 and MTV digital media brand teams will be Tina Imm and Benjamin
White. Imm will serve as Vice President, Digital Media for VH1 where she will
manage the full scope of VH1's online business including programming, production
and product development. She is based in New York and will dually report to
Jason Hirschhorn and VH1 President, Christina Norman. With a background in publishing
and new media, Imm most recently worked as a consultant for Ignition Media,
where she provided strategic business, sales, and marketing plans for media
and publishing companies. From 2001 to 2003, Imm served as Chief Operating Officer
for Complex Media LLC, where she co-launched Complex magazine and Target Corporation's
Bullseye magazine. Prior to that, from 1996 - 2001, Imm co-founded and served
as Chief Operating Officer of youth culture portal Platform Network, (Platform.net).
Benjamin White has been named Vice President of Digital Media for MTV, where
he will be responsible for managing the full scope of the MTV brand's digital
business including programming, production and product development. He will
be based in New York and dually report to Jason Hirschhorn and Van Toffler (in
his current capacity as head of MTV in addition to MTVN Group President). White
joins MTV with an extensive background ranging from new media, to publishing,
to film and music. Most recently, he co-launched and served as Editor-in-Chief
for Complex magazine, along with the Target Corporation's Bullseye magazine.
In 1996, he co-founded the youth culture portal Platform Network (Platform.net),
which attracted investors including Sony, Warburg Pincus and Chase Capital,
he also co-founded Tagworks, a new media development company that worked with
AOL, BMG, Conde Nast and more.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA - News, VIA.B
- News), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across
all media platforms. MTV Networks, with 100 channels worldwide, owns and operates
the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2,
VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT,
NOGGIN, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a
package of 13 digital services, all of these networks are trademarks of MTV
Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer
products businesses and its more than 80 interactive properties worldwide, including
online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has
licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its
programming services can be seen worldwide.
Source: MTV Networks Digital Music & Media Group
