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Richard Gay Named Executive Vice President, Strategy and Operations for MTV and VH1

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 17:00 CST

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Richard Gay has been named Executive Vice President of Strategy and Operations for MTV and VH1, announced today by Stephen Friedman, General Manager of MTV and Tom Calderone, President of VH1. Mr. Gay previously held a similar position for VH1 and CMT. In this newly created role, he will work closely with VH1's and MTV's leadership respectively to manage business functions, drive planning and strategic initiatives and execute a broad range of operational activities. He will have a dual report into Mr. Friedman on MTV affairs and to Mr. Calderone, for VH1, and will continue to be based in New York.

In his business role, Richard will partner with Mr. Friedman and Mr. Calderone to coordinate and liaise with the various internal business and strategic departments for the two brands including finance, legal, ad sales, content distribution, information technology and human resources. As part of his strategic responsibilities, he will help spearhead budget and long range planning at the brand level. He will also work closely with the MTV Networks Program Enterprises Group, as well as the digital groups, in extending MTV & VH1 into new businesses. Finally, in his operational role, Mr. Gay will work to identify potential external partnerships, alignments and acquisitions, working in tandem with Viacom and MTVN on broader opportunities.

"Richard has been an integral member of my team at VH1 and I'm looking forward to continuing working with him to drive our core business forward and to extend the VH1 brand in bold new ways," said Mr. Calderone. "He not only coordinates several of our internal functions with extreme finesse, but has been instrumental in identifying and executing several partnerships and deals that have truly benefitted VH1's strategic goals."

"As I step into my new role as head of MTV, I am excited about working closely with Richard to break new ground across the board," added Mr. Friedman. "He is collaborative, strategic and extremely entrepreneurial, all traits you would want to have for an executive in this role as we work to position MTV moving forward."

Mr. Gay will also continue an active role in the growth and planning of several of VH1's and MTV's sister networks including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, MTV Hits and MTV Jams.

In his previous role as head of Strategy and Business Operations for VH1 and CMT, Mr. Gay worked with the senior management across VH1 and CMT to develop new production and business models in the rapidly changing media environment, drove the budget and planning processes at the brand level, and was responsible for shepherding several business alliances. He oversaw the sale of the Caribbean service Tempo for VH1 and was integral in securing a deal with Walmart to showcase the CMT and VH1 Classic brands in the music sections of several of their stores across the country.

Given he will be adding on MTV duties to his VH1 role, his CMT responsibilities will now be assumed by Suzanne Norman, SVP, Business Operations and Strategy for CMT.

Before joining MTV Networks in 2002 Mr. Gay was a Partner at Booz Allen Hamilton (now Booz & Co.) in the firm's Global Media and Entertainment. During his tenure there, he served a host of clients, working across industry sectors including media conglomerates, cable networks, book publishers, newspaper companies, TV content producers and more.

Recently, he was named one of New York's "40 Under 40" by both Crain's Magazine and Multichannel News and has been profiled in several publications including Black Power Inc.: The New Voice of Success which explores the impact of race on the post-Civil Rights generation. He has also been honored with NAMIC's (National Association for Multi-Ethnicity In Communications) Next Generation Leader Award.

Mr. Gay is currently a Trustee of Second Stage Theater, an off-Broadway theater company, The New York Institute for Special Education and is an executive committee member of The Westchester Clubmen. He received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and earned his M.B.A. and Public Management certification from Stanford University.

He and his wife, Cynthia, reside in New Rochelle, NY with their 3 daughters and 2 sons.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 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/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 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

Source: PR Newswire

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