Viacom, continuing to make management changes, named Sarah Levy as COO of its Global Entertainment Group, a new post.
Levy had been COO of the Viacom Kids & Family Group and COO of Nickelodeon. In her new role she will oversee the operations and strategy for cable networks including MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike, CMT, TV Land, Logo and Viacom's International Media Networks.
She will also manage the group's production management and operations, digital strategy and business development, research and content & programming enterprises units.
She reports to CEO Bob Bakish and will have a role in guiding content distribution, finance, business and legal affairs, and human resources across the networks.
"Viacom is committed to making the changes necessary to enhance performance, and we are deeply focused on increasing coordination and collaboration across our individual brands," said Bakish. "Aligning these network operations under Sarah represents an important step forward to becoming a stronger and more integrated organization. In Sarah's nearly 20 years at Viacom, she has established a strong track record of success, and has been a key leader at Nickelodeon, helping to drive the network's long-range strategy and the continued dominance of the brand across every screen and revenue stream."
Bakish was elevated from interim CEO last year after Viacom's controlling shareholders, the Redstone family, backed off from plans to combine Viacom with CBS, which it also controls.
The cable networks have mostly been plagued by lower ratings, leaving the company with lower revenues and profits.
"I am excited to take on this new role and look forward to working closely with Viacom's extraordinary operations teams," Levy said. "By taking a holistic view of our networks and establishing a unified and complementary strategy, we will capture the many opportunities that exist to optimize our portfolio for the benefit of our company, distributors and audiences."
