Richard Gay has been tapped for the newly created role of executive VP, strategy and operations, for MTV and VH1, reporting to MTV general manager Stephen Friedman and VH1 general manager Tom Calderone.
Previously in a similar role at MTV Networks' VH1 and CMT, Gay will work with Friedman and Calderone to coordinate with the company’s various internal businesses and strategic departments, which include finance, ad sales, legal, content distribution, human resources and information technology. He will also help spearhead budget and long range planning at the brand level, and work to find potential external partnerships, alignments and acquisitions while working with Viacom and MTV Networks, as part of his operational role.
“Richard has been an integral member of my team at VH1 and I’m looking forward to continuing working with him to drive our core business forward and to extend the VH1 brand in bold new ways,” said Calderone, in a statement. “He not only coordinates several of our internal functions with extreme finesse, but has been instrumental in identifying and executing several partnerships and deals that have truly benefited VH1’s strategic goals.”
Said Friedman in a statement, “As I step into my new role as head of MTV, I am excited about working closely with Richard to break new ground across the board. He is collaborative, strategic and extremely entrepreneurial, all traits you would want to have for an executive in this role as we work to position MTV moving forward.”
