• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 5, 2008

Mitch Oscar, who has served as the digital TV ad industry's chief impresario until his ouster last week from Carat North America, is taking his act to rival MPG North America with a broader mandate and a portfolio that includes emerging media platforms ranging from online, wireless and even out-of-home, MediaDailyNews has learned.

Oscar's appointment as executive vice president-televisual applications at MPG, which is expected to be announced officially later today, comes days after news broke that Oscar has left Carat after a four-year run as executive vice president of Carat Digital, and the organizer of the Carat Digital Exchange, a unique open forum that gathered a diverse and sometimes eclectic group of participants influencing the future of digital TV advertising (MediaDailyNews May 30).

Carat followed that report with news of its own that it would continue to produce a Carat Exchange without Oscar, and that it would have a broader mandate that would everything from branded entertainment to multicultural marketing (MDN June 2).

Now Oscar, who vowed to bring the exchange concept to a new home on Madison Avenue, is making good on his word. Among his other duties, Oscar will organize the MPG Collaborative Alliance, a series of industry gatherings in New York and Los Angeles that will explore all forms of "televisual" media.

Oscar, who will report to MPG USA COO Steve Lanzano, will also work closely with sister digital unit Media Contacts and other parts of the burgeoning Havas Digital organization.

Ironically, Oscar joins an organization, Havas, which is a perennial suitor to acquire Carat parent Aegis Group.