Digital Media Visionary Bolts MTV

Just as MTV Networks begins an upfront expected to focus heavily on its new digital platforms, the Viacom unit is losing a guiding force in its new media strategy. MTVN Chief Digital Officer Jason Hirschhorn is leaving the company after six-plus years.

Hirschhorn, who will shift to a consulting role as he exits the company, will be replaced by Nick Lehman, executive vice president of digital media, on an interim basis. Hirschhorn, who reported to MTVN Chairman/CEO Judy McGrath, was named to his current c-suite post late last year. Going forward, he plans to pursue an undisclosed new media venture.

Hirschhorn's crowning moment might have come at MTVN's recent upfront presentation, which carried the theme "Feed the Need" and emphasized MTVN's abilities to reach consumers on a whenever-wherever basis. Much of that accessibility--be it via broadband channels, mobile phone connections, or podcasts--was developed under Hirschhorn's leadership.

In the coming upfront wheeling and dealing, MTVN will attempt to turn Hirschhorn's handiwork into new revenue streams. Every media plan offered to buyers will include a digital platform opportunity in addition to traditional spots--and MTVN expects 5 to 8 percent of its upfront volume to be in the digital arena.

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At a media conference in March, Hirschhorn said that for several years, as he plotted strategies for emerging platforms, he was sort of a novelty act at MTVN. Fellow staffers would admire him as he sat in a corner and worked on esoteric futuristic enterprises--but they generally had little interest or comprehension, he said. Then, in the last year or so, as the floodgates opened and networks embarked on a mad rush to embrace new media, he became sort of a focal point for the land grab.

Earlier this month, one of Hirschhorn's pet projects, the Urge digital music service, was launched in conjunction with partner Microsoft.

Hirschhorn has been with MTVN since 2000, when the company acquired a Web site operation that he had started. Before becoming chief digital officer, he served as senior vice president of digital music and media.

"Jason is a visionary who has been a driving force during the transformation of MTV Networks from a linear cable programming company to a digital, multi-platform powerhouse," McGrath said in a statement. "He has helped us establish a strong leadership position in the digital media revolution--from the Web to broadband video to wireless entertainment."

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