TBS & TNT Announce Network Strategy and Innovation Team

David Beck and Jesse Redniss to Lead Team Focused on Accelerating Marketplace Transformation of TBS & TNT

Turner's TBS & TNT have created a new business strategy unit dedicated to accelerating the popular networks' marketplace transformation under Kevin Reilly, president of TBS & TNT and chief creative officer for Turner Entertainment. To lead this new team, Reilly has tapped David Beck and Jesse Redniss, the co-founding partners of BRaVe Ventures, a leading strategic advisory and investment firm specializing in the technology, media and entertainment "(r)evolution."

Through a strategic acquisition of BRaVe's advisory business, Beck and Redniss, along with key members of their BRaVe Ventures team, will join TBS & TNT as the new Network Strategy and Innovation Team, which will work across both network brands to identify forward-looking strategies and build new businesses. Beck and Redniss will serve as Chief Strategy and Ventures Officer and Chief Innovation Officer, respectively, reporting to Reilly.

"We have benefited from the expertise of David and Jesse in both business development and consumer experience over the past year," said Reilly. "With the guys now exclusively in our corner we can accelerate the evolution of TNT and TBS into dynamic omni-channel brands distinguished by top-notch content, as well as premium experiences and consumer connections."

Turner has had an ongoing relationship with BRaVe Ventures for the past two years, working on a number of major initiatives. They have participated in the development and launch of Turner's new eSports league, ELEAGUE, which airs on TBS; the ad sales data tool Turner Ignite; and the social media optimization tool Launchpad, among others.

"We founded BRaVe with a clear vision to help companies navigate the rapidly evolving and confusing entertainment ecosystem," said Beck and Redniss. "Turner's leadership is both aggressive and fearless in their approach to dealing with these challenges. After spending the past two years deeply entrenched with their teams and helping them define their vision, we couldn't be happier with this outcome. The speed at which Turner is bringing change to the marketplace is unprecedented, and our goal is to ensure that TBS & TNT reach tomorrow first."

The creation of the Network Strategy and Innovation Team comes in addition to tremendous success in the initial phases of the TBS & TNT Network programming brand evolutions under Reilly. Since the beginning of the year, TBS has launched five of cable's Top 20 new series, including Angie Tribeca, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Detour, Wrecked and, most recently, People of Earth. TNT's evolution began this summer with the successful launch of Animal Kingdom, one of cable's Top 10 dramas in Q3 2016. Both networks' evolutions continue this month with the debut of Good Behavior on TNT and Search Party on TBS.

With TBS and TNT leading the way, Turner has been at the forefront of both investing in creative content and improving the viewing experience. In addition to the new series coming to the networks, Turner has begun a company-wide initiative to reduce the ad load in new programming. Animal Kingdom was the first such series with fewer commercial breaks, adding approximately 10 minutes of program time to each hour.

Prior to BRaVe, Beck drove a broad range of growth and change initiatives at Univision, having created the Office of the CEO. He also served as SVP & Head of Social Media, where he developed Univision's enterprise wide strategy and built a team that earned 25 awards for events including the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Latin Grammy Awards and 2012 U.S. Presidential election town halls. Prior to Univision, he was with leading global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, where he worked with companies such as Comcast, American Express, and top tier Private Equity firms on growth strategy, M&A and turn-around/change management. He received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his BA from Tufts University.

Redniss is an Emmy(R)-nominated and Shorty Award-winning storyteller who has become a leading voice in defining and reinventing the future of TV. From his use of innovative technologies to his talent to meld marketing and show-running for a winning recipe, Redniss has been on the front lines from all angles. In addition to spending more than eight years as senior vice president of digital at USA Network, where he spearheaded the network's digital, social TV, TV Everywhere and second-screen initiatives, he managed technology innovations, monetization strategies and content development for the brand. Just prior to co-founding BRaVe Ventures, he was also the chief strategy officer leading media relationships at Spredfast. Among his accolades, Redniss was named to Multichannel News' "40 under 40" list of executives to watch in the digital world. He was also the recipient of TV of Tomorrow's 2013 Ind ividual Leadership Award. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for PromaxBDA.

About TBS & TNT

TBS, a division of Turner, is basic cable's #1 network with young adults and home to five of the year's most popular new comedies on cable: Angie Tribeca, The Detour, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, People of Earth and Wrecked. Upcoming comedies include Search Party, The Guest Book and Tarantula. The network also presents exciting competition series, such as the upcoming Drop the Mic, and late-night comedy in the form of CONAN, sta rring Conan O'Brien, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. In addition, the TBS lineup includes popular comedy hits like Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory and 2 Broke Girls; blockbuster movies; and live coverage of Major League Baseball's regular and post-season play, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and ELEAGUE, Turner's brand new eSports gaming league.

TNT, a division of Turner, is one of cable's Top 5 networks with young adults and home to cable's most popular slate of original series, including Animal Kingdom, Good Behavior, The Last Ship, The Librarians, Major Crimes and the upcoming Will, Foreign Bodies, The Alienist, Tales from the Crypt and The Race Card. TNT is also the cable home to popular shows like Arrow, Grimm, Supernatural, Hawaii Five-0, Bones and Castle; primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards(R), the iHeartRadio Music Awards and the AFI Life Achievement Award; and championship sports coverage, including the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Turner, a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, sports, animation and young adult multi-platform content for consumers around the world. Turner brands and businesses include CNN/U.S., HLN, CNN International and CNN.com, TBS, TNT, TCM, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, FilmStruck, Super Deluxe, iStreamPlanet and ELEAGUE.