I should have saluted our friend Fred Graver for starting his blog, like it wasn’t enough that he started Best Week Ever. So then he had to go and mention me…twice! I’m such a loser that he shamed me into it.
If you start following his blog you’ll not only find Fred to be a funny guy (he started his career at the National Lampoon and David Letterman) but also one of the smartest, most insightful media thinkers you’ll meet.
I started my career in television building the on-air promotion team at MTV in 1980. Imagine my surprise when today’s New York Times story about MTV Networks featured two graduates of that department (it’s extremely unusal for media executives to come out of promos). CEO Judy McGrath joined while I was still around and MTV pres Christina Norman several years later. The other power is JMTV Family pres Cyma Zarghami, a colleague from Nickelodeon’s promo department, and our rabbi at Nick ever since. An amazing team for any company, and one we’re proud to be associated with. Read about them, you’ll see how lucky we (and you) are.
Left to right: Christina Norman, Judith McGrath, Cyma Zarghami
[big]Viacom Resting Its Hopes for the Future on an Old Hand at MTV Networks[/big]
By BILL CARTER
At MTV Networks, the only thing as unsettling as last month’s ouster of Tom Freston as chief executive of the networks’ parent, Viacom, was the uncertainty about what his departure would mean for a management team he had personally built over 20 years.
The chief questions surrounded the future of Judith McGrath, the chairwoman of MTV Networks, who succeeded Mr. Freston as leader of the collection of Viacom’s highly popular and highly profitable cable channels.
“I think the first thing that everybody thought was, ‘Oh God, now what?’ ” said Doug Herzog, the president of the MTV Networks entertainment group, which includes Comedy Central. “Our thoughts turned to Judy.”
