In her new role, Riley will have sales responsibility for the company's Music and Logo Group, which includes MTV, MTV2, mtvU, VH1, VH1 Classic, Palladia and Logo. Riley will provide the strategic connection between Viacom's Music and Entertainment Ad Sales group and the Music and Logo Group brands it supports. She will work closely with channel leadership to drive ad sales strategy and products that are consistent with each brand, its content and its overall goals. Riley will foster collaboration among Ad Sales, Integrated Marketing, Programming, Scheduling and Digital to develop marketing solutions that leverage the company's creative and cross-platform capabilities in full to achieve client objectives. Based in New York, Riley will report directly to Jeff Lucas, Head of Sales for Music and Entertainment at Viacom.
"Our Ad Sales team and its marketing solutions are at their best when they're fully aligned with the creative content of our brands across every screen," said Lucas. "Martha is a big picture, innovative thinker who knows how to get the most out of our content for our clients in a way that resonates with our audiences."
Riley is a twenty-year veteran of Viacom, and during that time she has worked extensively with the company's Music and Logo Group brands. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Sales for the Music Group, with responsibility for New York-based ad sales across MTV, MTV2, mtvU, VH1 and Logo. Earlier, Riley was Director of Sales for MTV2. She joined Viacom as a Sales Planner in 1993.
In his new role, Schuurmans will oversee the creative execution of branded content for the company's Music and Entertainment Ad Sales portfolio, which includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Comedy Central, Spike TV and TV Land.
Schuurmans will report to Jeff Lucas, Head of Sales, Music and Entertainment at Viacom Media Networks and partner closely with Dario Spina, Executive Vice President, Viacom Velocity Integrated Marketing, who will continue to be the strategic and client lead on all Music and Entertainment integrated marketing campaigns. Schuurmans will remain based in the company's New York headquarters.
"Our custom content business has grown exponentially over the past few years, as more and more advertisers seek to harness the creative power of our brands and connect with our audiences in unique, authentic ways," said Lucas. "Niels is one of the most energetic and versatile creative minds at Viacom and we are very excited to turn him loose for our clients, who can continue to expect the most innovative and unexpected work from our team."
In his new role, Schuurmans will supervise the development of partner creative on linear, digital and cross-network campaigns. He will oversee creative product in areas including video production, graphic design and copywriting. Schuurmans will collaborate closely with the Programming, Connected Content and Marketing teams at each of the Music and Entertainment networks to best leverage their creative voice, assets and capabilities.
Most recently, Schuurmans served as Executive Vice President, Consumer Marketing and Executive Creative Director at Spike TV. At Spike, he was a driving creative force behind the Spike brand, guiding its evolution to a premier entertainment destination. Schuurmans helped refine the brand filter around the network's original programming, its MMA partnerships with Bellator and the UFC, and its veteran focused pro-social campaigns including Hire A Veteran and the Spike Salutes initiative. Prior to his arrival at Spike, Schuurmans was Senior Vice President and World Wide Creative Director at Nickelodeon.
Additionally, Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB and VIA) has announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of US$0.30 per share on both its Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend will be payable on Tuesday 1st April 2014 to stockholders of record at the close of business on Friday 14th March 2014.
Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form video, apps, games, consumer products, social media and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 160 countries and territories. Viacom's media networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, SPIKE, Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA, reach approximately 700 million television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio, is a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.
For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom's blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/viacom.
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