Stephen K. Friedman has been promoted to general manager of MTV - meaning he'll oversee the day-to-day operations and strategic development of the MTV brand across its various platforms (including MTV.com, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, MTV Hits and MTV Jams). The new gig comes as a reward for helping to grow mtvU, the network's college-centric brand for the past five years, overseeing its acquisitions of properties like RateMyProfessor.com and College Media Network; and boosting both its distribution and advertiser base. Friedman served as EVP and GM of mtvU, and he'll continue to manage that division in addition to tackling the new responsibilities.
Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.
Mediaburn Election Topic 2: U.S. Savings, Pension Reform This week and likely into the next we'll be bringing crucial topics into the media focus. And now is certainly the time to "bring them." The first election related topic, brought up yesterday, was Energy Innovation. Today, we highlight U.S. Savings and Pension Reform. - Gary
"American workers lack pension security, beyond Social Security, because individual commercial retirement accounts are tied to the volatility of finance markets, are inadequately funded, have poor net-of-fees returns, and do not pay a guaranteed rate of return for the rest of a retiree's life," said Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at The New School for Social Research and author of "When I'm Sixty-four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them."
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The New York City Economic Development Commission has a plan to increase employment for consultants: hire a team of them to produce the "NYC Media Scenario Series," at minimum, a year-long look at the media industry in New York in these uncertain times. NYCEDC, as stated in the RFP, "seeks to understand how the City and the private sector can work together to maintain NYC's position as the leading center of the media industry as the sector goes through the dramatic transition to digital production and distribution." One area of concern: the city's less than 25 percent market share when it comes to new media, while the West Coast and Boston are "perceived to be preferred." Proposals are due Nov. 18.
The effort was first reported by the New York Observer, which has a lot of background about how important the industry is to the city (including in real estate, which is important to the Observer). We're posting the whole 119-page RFP for detail gluttons but a couple of notes before you dig in:
-- NYCEDC wants a series of workshops and roundtables with industry leaders throughout 2009 "to identify the key drivers of change and uncertainty in the industry and describe 3-5 challenging and interesting scenarios of how the future might unfold."
-- How much will it cost? Wish I could tell you. I asked the press officer on duty and was told to look at the RFP. Been there, done that and the answer is "NYCEDC will agree to pay to the Consultant an amount not to exceed a Maximum Contract Price to be negotiated between NYCEDC and the Consultant based upon its response to this RFP." (Dick Wolf's next franchise: Law & Order: RFP featuring people who go insane reading these.)
Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!
