ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth group announced additional changes to its senior management team on Tuesday, finalizing the division’s executive reorganization in the wake of the merger between Viacom and CBS Corporation last month.
Among those taking on new roles are Nina L. Diaz, who is taking on an expanded role as president of content and chief creative officer; Keyes Hill-Edgar, who is stepping into the newly created role of chief operating officer; Tanya Giles, who expands her role as general manager to include head of content strategy; and Liza Burnett Fefferman, who has been promoted to executive vice president of communications.
Two executives will depart the company as part of the transition: Steve Albani, senior vice president of communications for Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land, and Mike Greco, executive vice president of content strategy and business planning, MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo. They follow MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo General Manager Amy Doyle, whose departure was announced earlier on Tuesday.
Last week, ViacomCBS shuffled oversight for several of its networks, the latest in a larger reorganization effort following the close of the merger between Viacom and CBS Corporation in December. Pop TV, previously under the Showtime umbrella at CBS, was moved under McCarthy’s oversight, and Bellator MMA was moved under Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza. Previously, BET Networks was moved under the oversight of ViacomCBS chief creative officer David Nevins.
Amid the continued restructuring, Comedy Central’s Sarah Babineau and Paramount Network’s Keith Cox were promoted to expanded roles within Viacom and Jonas Larsen’s exit from the company was announced.
Read McCarthy’s memo announcing the changes below.
Hey Everyone,
Building on last week’s brand leadership announcements, I’m excited to share our unified senior management team for the Entertainment & Youth Group. Please join me in congratulating these exceptional and seasoned executives, with whom I am honored to be working alongside to harness our full collective strength and maximize our full creative potential:
- Brianna Cayo-Cotter will lead the combined Social Impact teams as Senior Vice President, where she will oversee our campaigns and initiatives across the suite of brands.
- Nina L. Diaz will take on an expanded role as President of Content and Chief Creative Officer where she will be leading creative efforts in the development and producing of all content across our portfolio as well as all casting and talent development.
- Keyes Hill-Edgar will be taking on a newly created Chief Operating Officer role, where he will oversee business planning, operations and strategy as well as serve as our lead working across ViacomCBS with our Corporate partners in BALA, Finance, Production, Strategy and Distribution.
- Liza Burnett Fefferman has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Communications, where she will lead the combined communications and press teams across our group and continue to co-lead MTV Documentary Films with Nina.
- Keri Panichi Flint will lead the Entertainment & Youth production management group. Keri will oversee all production for our content and will partner with Megan Ring on the third-party scripted studios content. Keri will continue to report through corporate production with a dotted line into Nina.
- Tanya Giles expands her General Manager role to include Head of Content Strategy and Programming, here she will lead content strategy, programming, research and insights. In addition, Tanya will oversee our group’s efforts in maximizing IP expansion globally as well as best monetize our content with our Corporate partners in Sales, Distribution and Pluto.
- Jacqueline Parkes broadens her role as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Digital Studios where she will lead all brand strategy, marketing creative, media buying and asset development for our marketing group, as well as oversee all digital efforts in partnership with VDS, including social media & digital original content. Jacqueline will also now oversee all consumer event execution.
- Laurel Weir will lead the Entertainment & Youth Research and Insights team. Laurel will continue to report through our Corporate research group and will maintain her dotted line into Tanya.
- Barbara Zaneri will continue in her cross-brand leadership role as Executive Vice President, Global Program Acquisitions, running the Company’s centralized Content Acquisitions Group. Barb will report to me while leading the content acquisition efforts across all platforms including linear, streaming, on demand and pay.
Additionally, Josh Line, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Creative for Comedy Central, Paramount and TV Land will be moving to an exciting new opportunity within the ViacomCBS family which will be announced soon.
Finally, as part of this transition, two senior executives will be departing the organization and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their many contributions to our teams and brands:
- Steve Albani, Senior Vice President, Communications for Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land. Across more than two decades that included 300+ episodes of “South Park,” three hosts of “The Daily Show,” and one Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, Steve’s strategic leadership helped establish Comedy Central as an important voice in the cultural and political conversation and helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in comedy – Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Key & Peele, and Trevor Noah, to name but a few. His out-of-the-box approach greatly contributed to Comedy’s evolution as a multiplatform powerhouse and elevated the brand exponentially. More recently, he helped set the new narrative for Paramount Network, positioning it for a breakout year in 2020.
- Mike Greco, Executive Vice President for Content Strategy and Business Planning, MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo. Mike has been instrumental in leading the music group brands in maximizing our growth, developing programming strategies and content filters to best anticipate market shifts. Mike’s holistic approach to platforms and keen understanding of our audience helped fuel our growth across all platforms including 30 new channels on Pluto. He has been a strong and dedicated leader for his team and a great partner for the music group’s senior team. Thank you as always, for your hard work, support and continued focus during this transition.
Best,
Chris