New MTV president Sean Atkins continued to add to the new team leading the network.
Jacqueline Parkes, longtime chief marketing officer at Major League Baseball, is joining MTV as executive VP of marketing and creative.
Eli Lehrer, previously senior VP and head of nonfiction programming at Lifetime, will oversee MTV2 as executive VP.
Atkins joined MTV earlier this year from Discovery Digital Networks and is trying to make the iconic network relevant again to young viewers who appear more interested in online forms of entertainment. At its upfront last month, Atkins revealed a programming strategy that aims to have more programming inspired by music on the network, including its first live concert series in years.
Fixing MTV is crucial for Viacom, whose revenues have been sliding and pushing its stock to record-low levels at a time when its controlling shareholder's, 92-year-old mogul Sumner Redstone, grip on the company is potentially slipping because of challenges in court and by shareholders.
Atkins has been recruiting a team to change MTV's fortunes.
"Jacqueline is a bona fide game-changer whose transformational brand leadership and fan engagement bridged pro baseball's storied past with its innovative future. Her vision and experience will be invaluable as we reinvigorate MTV," said Atkins.
"Eli is one of the sharpest, most versatile and well-respected creative executives in the business. We're thrilled to give him a homecoming to Viacom and a great canvas for his talents at MTV2," Atkins said.
Two Viacom veterans are also taking new roles at MTV. Kristin Frank, formerly executive VP of connected content for MTV and VH1, become executive VP of strategy, revenue and operations at MTV. And Erik Flannigan, formerly executive VP at Viacom's Music & Entertainment Group, is joining MTV full time as executive VP of music/events strategy and development.
In March, MTV hired Michael Klein as executive VP of original content and Laurel Weir as senior VP of strategic insights and research.
