TCA: Former ESPN Exec Keith Clinkscales to Head Revolt TV

Complete Coverage: TCA Summer Press Tour 2013

Beverly Hills -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' upstart cable
network Revolt TV has hired former ESPN executive Keith Clinkscales as its CEO,
officials announced Friday during the Television Critics Association summer
press tour.

Clinkscales, formerly senior VP of ESPN Enterprises
and head of content development for the sports network, oversees Revolt, which
will feature music-themed content targeted to urban millennials. Revolt TV, one
of the new minority-owned networks selected for broad distribution by Comcast
as part of the FCC's conditions for the MSO's acquisition of NBCUniversal,
is expected to launch in October with 25 million households. The network
already has distribution deals with Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable.

Combs told an assembled group of TV critics during a Revolt
TV breakfast event here that said he wanted to initially buy an existing
Comcast channel, but settled to launch his own service. He says the network
will target millennials that don't have an outlet for music news and
entertainment on cable.

"There wasn't anything on television that was
engaging and spoke directly to what was our number one interest, which is
music," he said.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.