Names Samantha Cooper as Executive Vice President of Distribution
Partnerships, Deena Demasi as Executive Vice President of Distribution
Marketing
Andrew Borak, Sheri Weidner Advance to Senior Vice President while
Josh Clark and Richelle Clements Join the Distribution and Business
Development Team
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Viacom today announced four internal appointments and two new additions
to its Distribution and Business Development group as the company
continues to execute on its strategic plan to strengthen its
distribution partnerships.
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Samantha Cooper, Executive Vice President of Distribution Partnerships, Viacom (Photo: Business Wire)
Samantha Cooper and Deena Demasi have been elevated to Executive Vice
President, and will continue to report directly to Tom Gorke, EVP, Head
of Distribution and Business Development. Demasi will also report to
Dario Spina, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Viacom Velocity, which
will help bring full-service content solutions to super-serve Viacom's
partners.
In addition to leading the team responsible for negotiating and securing
all linear and digital distribution deals across domestic Viacom media
networks, Cooper will work to deepen the company's commitment to more
client-centric relationships with distribution partners. A seasoned
executive with extensive experience and relationships in the cable
distribution industry, Cooper most recently served as Senior Vice
President in the Distribution Sales group. During her 20-year career at
Viacom, she has been a strong advocate for the company's brands and a
powerful force behind its expansion across cable, satellite and telco
providers. She has also led Viacom's digital content distribution deals
with subscription video aggregators, electronic sell-through providers
and other emerging content distributors.
As EVP of Distribution Marketing, Demasi will continue to guide content
distribution marketing, communications and client experience for Viacom
and its brands, and will expand her work with Viacom Velocity and other
internal stakeholders to help re-envision the company's distributor
relationships. A senior member of the Content Distribution team since
2004, Demasi previously served as SVP of Content Distribution Marketing.
In that role, Demasi was charged with developing strategic marketing
initiatives to drive awareness for Viacom's portfolio of brands,
partnering with distributors to market their services and advance their
goals, guiding TV Everywhere messaging, and leading the renewal
marketing strategy.
Said Tom Gorke, "These moves ensure we have the right management team
and structure in place to evolve Viacom's approach to our content
distribution partnerships. With leaders like Sam and Deena now fully
empowered to execute our strategic initiatives, I am confident we can
cement Viacom as the go-to provider for our partners who seek more
innovative and flexible opportunities to serve their customers and
expand their business."
Along with the appointments of Demasi and Cooper, Viacom has named
Andrew Borak as SVP of Distribution Marketing, reporting to Demasi, and
Sheri Weidner as SVP of Distribution Partnerships, reporting to Cooper.
Borak will be responsible for Viacom's integrated marketing strategy
with its existing and emerging distribution partners to drive awareness
for Viacom's portfolio of media brands. He previously served as Vice
President of Content Distribution Marketing since 2012. Weidner will
take on greater responsibility in leading negotiations and strengthening
Viacom's relationships with an expanded account portfolio of linear and
digital distribution partners. She assumes the position of SVP after
serving as Vice President on the Content Distribution Sales team since
2010.
Viacom is also bolstering the Distribution and Business Development team
with two key hires. Josh Clark joins the department as SVP of
Distribution Partnerships after previously serving as Vice President of
Programming at DISH Network. In that role, he led negotiations for
broadcast and cable network rights across satellite and OTT platforms.
Prior to DISH, Clark held positions in digital distribution and business
development at NBC Universal. Additionally, Richelle Clements has been
hired as SVP, Deal Finance, a role in which she will lead distribution
deal analysis, financial strategy and analytics. Clements previously
worked at Credit Suisse where she was a Director in the Technology,
Media and Telecommunications Group of the Investment Banking Division.
About Viacom
Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling
television programs, motion pictures, short-form content, apps, games,
consumer products, social media experiences, and other entertainment
content for audiences in more than 180 countries. Viacom's media
networks, including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Spike, BET,
CMT, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., Logo, Nicktoons, TeenNick, Channel
5 (UK), Telefe (Argentina) and Paramount Channel, reach over 3.9 billion
cumulative television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures is a
major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.
For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com.
Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom's blog at blog.viacom.com and
Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/viacom.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170615005710/en/
Viacom Inc.
Alex Rindler, 212-846-4337
Senior Manager,
Corporate Communications
alex.rindler@viacom.com
Or
Finsbury,
on behalf of Viacom Inc.
Matthew Glasser, 646-805-2063
matthew.glasser@finsbury.com
Source: Viacom
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