Contacts: Jennifer Zaldivar Vanessa Reyes TV Land TV Land 212/846-8964 310/752-8081 [email protected] [email protected]
MELISSA BEAR NAMED VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS FOR TV LAND
New York, NY, July 30, 2007 – Melissa Bear has been named Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs for TV Land, it was jointly announced today by Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and George Cheeks, Executive Vice President and Co- Chief Deputy General Counsel, MTV Networks.
In her new position, Bear will oversee contract negotiations for all original programming, acquired programming and new business ventures for TV Land. Additionally, she will serve on Jones’ management team, which provides strategic leadership and direction for the channel and its multiplatform operations. Bear, who most recently served as Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs for VH1 -- TV Land’s sibling in MTV Networks, a division of Viacom – where she was instrumental in providing business and legal counsel for a variety of contract and legal matters including the high-profile original shows Celebrity Fit Club, Strip Search, Surviving Nugent and the Emmy-nominated documentary DMC: My Adoption Journey, among others.
“Melissa’s impressive credentials and strong industry connections are a powerful testimonial to her business acumen and top-shelf negotiation skills,” explains Jones. “Melissa’s expertise will surely be put to use as we super serve our baby boomer audience and grow the TV Land brand in new directions while continuing to make our network a prized asset in the MTV Networks family.”
Upon graduating from the Whittier College School of Law in 1993, Bear began work as a litigation associate at Sherman & Sherman in Los Angeles, focusing on business and commercial litigation. From there, she went to Viacom Productions, to work in television business affairs. Afterward, she became director of business affairs at Columbia TriStar Television, where she oversaw writer, producer, director, talent and rights agreements for scripted television series and television motion pictures. She later consulted in business affairs for various studios and networks, including Paramount Television and USA Network. -more-
Page 2: Melissa Bear
In 2001, she moved back to hometown of New York and continued to consult in business affairs for Classic Media and MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon, Spike TV and VH1 divisions. In 2005, she was named Vice-President of business affairs for VH1 and VH1 Classic, handling development and production for both scripted and non-scripted television programming as well as program enterprises and ancillary products.
Bear is a graduate of Newcomb College at Tulane University and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, Brian Landau.
TV Land and all related logos and titles are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Now seen in over 87 million U.S. homes, TV Land’s program mix features popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind – the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features all-time Classic hits like All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza.
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
About Viacom Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics. Offering programming and content for television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom’s world-class brands include MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 120 networks around the world), BET Networks, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, DreamWorks and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at www.viacom.com.
# # #