Former Facebook Executive to Lead BET Digital
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
BET Networks today announced that it has appointed Kay Madati as
Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. Madati, a former
Facebook executive, will lead the teams responsible for all aspects of
digital, social and mobile strategy and oversee operations, content
creation, technology and product development across the suite of BET
Network's digital platforms. He will report to Debra L. Lee, the
Chairman and CEO of BET Networks, and will be based in Los Angeles.
BET Networks today announced that it has appointed Kay Madati as Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. (Photo: Business Wire)
Madati will oversee BET Digital, the interactive arm of BET Networks.
BET Digital's platforms include BET.com, a leading Internet source for
entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Mobile, which provides
apps, ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices;
Centric.tv, the online home for CENTRIC; and BET Video On Demand (VOD),
one of the largest On Demand services providing African American content.
"Our audience fully embraces technology and lives on multiple screens.
We are thrilled to welcome Kay to the team, and look forward to his
expertise and strategic leadership in the fast-paced world of digital
and social media, as consumers continue to turn to BET to discover
what's hot and what's next," said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and CEO, BET
Networks.
Madati, whose career spans national and international digital and social
media roles, was most recently the Head of Entertainment and Media on
the Global Marketing Solutions team at Facebook Inc. His team helped
position the company as a key strategic partner for digital and social
solutions with film studios, TV networks and entertainment companies.
Prior to joining Facebook, Madati was the Vice President of Audience
Experience at CNN Worldwide, where he helped to integrate social media
into CNN's daily programming across multiple platforms. Madati also held
marketing and operations roles at Octagon Worldwide and BMW of North
America.
"BET Networks is a global brand, with a trendsetting audience, and an
unrivaled leadership position in the digital and social space. I am
excited and energized to unlock more ways for our audience to watch,
share, stream, download, and fully engage with all of the network's
award-winning content," said Kay Madati. "We are in the midst of an
unprecedented shift in consumer content consumption and media habits,
and I am honored to join BET at a time when we are well poised to
redefine digital, mobile, and social TV experiences."
Madati holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from
Georgetown University and serves on the boards of several non-profit
organizations. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the W.
E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at
Harvard University and serves on President Obama's Advisory Council on
Financial Capability for Young Americans.
About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the
nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and
public affairs television programming for the African-American audience.
The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can
be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom
and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer
brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading
Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news;
CENTRIC, the first network designed for Black women; BET Digital
Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for
cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection
of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and
video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management
and production company with festivals and live events spanning the
globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for
wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the
United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for
global distribution. Follow us on Twitter: @BET_PR.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140904006396/en/
BET Networks
Gina Stikes, 212-664-7403
Gina.Stikes@bet.net
Source: BET Networks
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