MAGNUS KASTNER JOINS VIACOM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA NETWORKS AS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF VIMN NORTHERN EUROPE
BERLIN/NEW YORK – 18 December 2013 – Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a division of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), announced today that Magnus Kastner has been named Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the company’s Northern European business.
In this role, which he will assume in February 2014, Kastner will oversee all of VIMN’s brands and businesses across Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, as well as Iceland. VIMN’s brands and businesses in the region include MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VIVA, VH1, TMF, a suite of digital media services, and Mobile Brand Licensing, which provides an MTV-branded mobile phone experience to subscribers in partnership with mobile operators. Kastner will report directly to Bob Bakish, VIMN’s President and CEO, and will be based in Berlin. He succeeds Dan Ligtvoet, who left the company in September, and Willem Schelling, Chief Operating Officer of VIMN North, who served as interim Managing Director after Ligtvoet’s departure.
Mr. Bakish said: “We’re thrilled to have Magnus join our team at Viacom International Media Networks, as he has a long history of success in guiding and growing businesses across Europe and the Middle East. In his previous management positions, he provided strong, strategic vision and leadership that drove the organizations to several major commercial and creative wins, and we know that he’ll bring that great experience and expertise to VIMN as the head of our Northern European business.”
Mr. Kastner said: “Returning to Viacom feels like coming home after all these years. It’s an honor to join the VIMN North team, and I’m looking forward to working closely with colleagues, partners and clients to build on the momentum the VIMN brands and businesses already have in the region.”
Before joining VIMN, Kastner was President of Rotana Media Services since 2011. Rotana, a market- leading media company based in Dubai, is home to television networks, radio stations, movie studios, ad sales house, print publishing and digital licensing across the Middle East and North Africa region. Prior to that, Kastner was Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Discovery Networks Germany, Austria and Switzerland from 2006 to 2011, based in Munich. From 2002 to 2006, he was Managing Director at Optimum Media Direction (OMD) based in Hamburg, Germany, and from 2000 to 2001, he was Managing Director of Sales and Marketing at Yahoo Germany. He also previously held sales roles at SevenOneMedia, as well as at MTV Europe and MTV Germany.
Kastner holds a degree in business administration and international business from University of Frankfurt (J.W. Goethe Universtät), along with diplomas from University of Cordoba (Argentina) and INSEAD (France).
# # #
About Viacom International Media Networks Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), is comprised of many of the world’s most popular multimedia entertainment brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Channel, VH1, VIVA, COLORS, Game One and Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más. Viacom brands are seen globally in more than 700 million households in approximately 170 territories and 37 languages via more than 200 locally programmed and operated TV channels and more than 550 digital media and mobile TV properties. Keep up with VIMN news by visiting the VIMN PR Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/VIMN_PR. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com, blog.viacom.com and the Viacom Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.
Contacts: Julia Phelps, VIMN (New York), [email protected], +1 212 846 5288 Colin Lenz, VIMN (Berlin), [email protected], +4930700100134