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Paul Ward Named Executive Vice President, Primetime Acquisitions and Strategy, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group

Posted on: Monday, 30 June 2008, 12:02 CDT

NEW YORK, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Ward, an 18-year veteran of MTV Networks, has been named to the newly formed position of Executive Vice President, Primetime Acquisitions and Strategy, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. The announcement was made today by Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, to whom he will report.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080630/NYM104 )

In this new position Mr. Ward will oversee program acquisitions for the primetime and overnight Nick at Nite programming block. He will partner with all Kids and Family Group departments, including programming, on-air promotions and ad-sales, to devise strategies that continue to build upon Nickelodeon's growing equity with parents and further developing its position in family entertainment in primetime. Mr. Ward was a member of the Nick at Nite team from 1990 to 2006.

"Paul will be a key member of our team as Nick at Nite continues its evolution from its original mission as an adults-only destination to one that is inclusive of kids and serves the first generation of Nickelodeon families currently coming of age," Ms. Zarghami said. "He will help us identify and acquire new primetime programming and will help put a long-term strategy in place. We will use Paul's skills as thinker, writer, strategist and marketer to further hone Nick at Nite's creative voice to this audience."

Fueled by the success of acquired shows such as George Lopez, Home Improvement and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Nick at Nite has generated its highest ratings in more than two years. It recently announced the acquisition of Everybody Hates Chris and Family Matters and event programming including the Worldwide Fido Awards and My Family's Got Guts.

Mr. Ward comes back to Nickelodeon and the MTVN Kids and Family Group after serving as Senior Vice President of Communications for TV Land, where he oversaw and managed all facets of publicity, media relations and pro-social efforts for the network. Part of the team that launched TV Land in 1996, Ward served on the network's Strategy team and was responsible for all communication strategies related to original programming, acquired programming, TVLand.com, and on- and off-air branding. He was instrumental in the creation and execution of several high profile projects, including the annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV, and the recurring TV Land original productions of "TV Guide and TV Land Present: 100 Most ..." Off-air, Ward fostered numerous TV Land collaborations with the Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio) and helped generate national media exposure for the "TV Land Landmarks" initiative, which honors some of televisions' greatest icons with life-sized statues of Hollywood notables including Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and others.

Mr. Ward had served as Senior Vice President of Communications for both Nick at Nite and TV Land since 1999, before becoming solely dedicated to TV Land in late 2006. Previously, he held several positions of increased responsibility since originally joining Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite as a Publicist in 1990. Prior to that, Ward was an Account Executive for A.B. Isacson Associates, a Manhattan-based business-to-business public relations firm.

A graduate of Seton Hall University, Ward and his wife, Nancy Stone, reside in New Jersey with their three sons.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080630/NYM104AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN10PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Nickelodeon

CONTACT: David Bittler, +1-212-846-5263, or Marianne Romano,+1-310-752-8208, both for Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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