• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 1, 2008

Industry veteran Barbara Bekkedahl has joined Bravo in the network's top sales post. She led similar efforts at the Gospel Music Channel. Bekkedahl will serve as vice president of sales at the NBC Universal network, reporting to Susan Malfa.

Gospel recently hired M.J. Cavanagh, the former ad sales head at Oxygen (now part of NBCU), to head its sales division.

Malfa said that Bekkedahl "brings years of expertise and leadership in management and creating value in the marketplace."

Before Gospel, Bekkedahl had worked at the Fox Family Channel, which segued into ABC Family, and Comedy Central. NBCU said her time at ABC Family helped to position the network as a platform for advertisers looking to reach a tween target.

Bravo on Monday also said that former MTV executive Jim Keller will report to Bekkedahl, as he joins the network as director, East Coast sales. At MTV, Keller worked in "360 Brand Sales."