• by Wayne Friedman , October 31, 2016

As a part of an overall restructuring, Viacom has announced company 20-year veteran Bob Bakish will be acting president/CEO of the company, succeeding Tom Dooley who had a temporary role in the post.

Dooley had been appointed interim president/CEO of Viacom in August. He replaced longtime CEO Philippe Dauman after a public corporate fight between Viacom and controlling shareholder National Amusements.

Dooley will be departing the company, with Bakish starting in the new post on November 15. Bakish is also being appointed to the new role of president/chief executive officer of the Viacom Global Entertainment Group -- a new business unit.

Viacom Global Entertainment will combine Viacom’s International Media Networks with the company’s existing Music and Entertainment Group which has MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike and Logo. Two other networks are now joining the group, TV Land and CMT.

One other major change: Viacom’s Kids and Family Group will now be the “Nickelodeon Group.” BET Networks will continue to operate as a separate group.

Bakish started with Viacom in 1997, holding a number of senior executive positions. Most recently, he had been president/CEO of Viacom International Media Networks and before that, in the same post at MTV Networks International since 2007.

Bakish has been responsible for the company’s entire international business operations. Viacom has more than 200 TV international channels reaching a 3.9 billion subscribers.