STEPHEN K. FRIEDMAN PROMOTED TO PRESIDENT OF MTV
April 6, 2011 - New York, NY - Van Toffler, President, MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, today announced the promotion of Stephen K. Friedman to President of MTV. He had previously served as General Manager, a position he held since the fall of 2008. In this role, Friedman oversees MTV, the world's premier youth entertainment brand and all of its screens, including MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, MTV Hits and MTV Jams.
"Since Stephen took over the helm at MTV 2 � years ago, he has done an incredible job helping spearhead the reinvention of the MTV brand for millenials," said Mr. Toffler. "He has always placed the audience first, whether it's creating a new pro-social campaign or leading the charge at mtvU and now MTV, his instincts and thinking have always led us to tap into exactly what the audience is looking for, resulting in great creative and business success."
During Friedman's tenure, MTV has earned five consecutive quarters of growth during which the network has launched such landmark series as "Jersey Shore," "Teen Mom," "16 & Pregnant," "The World of Jenks," and "Life as Liz," along with making bold forays into scripted with "The Hard Times of R.J. Berger" and the upcoming "Teen Wolf." He and his team have successfully redefined what the MTV brand means to today's audience through new research strategies, bold marketing campaigns and strategic partnerships which offer MTV's sponsors a visceral connection to the millennial audience.
With a renewed commitment in serving as the premier driver of youth culture, MTV has also experienced some of the best ratings in years for its marquis tent pole events, the "MTV Movie Awards" and "Video Music Awards," as well as growing the audiences for MTV2 and accomplishing double digit growth for mtvU. Additionally, MTV.com just closed out its best year in 2010, increasing traffic across the board for unique visitors, number of visits and streams. Keeping close to his pro-social roots, Friedman has also charged his team to continue building upon MTV's reputation for impactful campaigns, including the most recent, "A Thin Line," designed to help combat digital abuse among young people.
Previously to his being named General Manager of MTV, Friedman was the GM of mtvU, the channel dedicated to college students which he helped launch in 2004. During his tenure there, mtvU's distribution grew more than 70% and advertisers quintupled. He also helped mtvU launch the Emmy Award winning Sudan campaign to fight the genocide in Darfur and the Peabody Award winning Half of Us campaign to help raise awareness of mental health issues on college campuses nationwide.
He joined MTV in 1998, to found MTV's Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs department, during which he created the Emmy Award winning Fight for Your Rights campaigns, along with helping manage the political campaign, Choose or Lose.
Before joining MTV, Friedman served as Director for the PEN American Center (the international writers' human rights organization). He continues to be based at Viacom's New York City headquarters and reports directly to Mr. Toffler.
About MTV
MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy�, Grammy� and Peabody� award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is the leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
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