ViacomCBS has changed up the leadership of Viacom Digital Studios (VDS),
Variety has learned: Kelly Day, who has served as VDS’s President since its
inception over two years ago, is exiting the role. Stefanie Schwartz, a 20-plus year Viacom veteran has been named Executive Vice President (EVP) and General Manager (GM) of Viacom Digital Studios.
Credit: Courtesy of ViacomCBS
Day is in discussions about taking on another senior role at ViacomCBS, but at this point nothing has been finalized, according to sources familiar with the situation. A company representative declined to provide additional comment.
The executive changes, announced Monday in internal memos to staff, follows the
closing of the merger of Viacom and CBS last month. In a reorganization, CBS Interactive president/CEO Marc DeBevoise is overseeing all digital operations at the combined company as chief digital officer, including VDS. At the time, it was announced that Day would report to DeBevoise.
Schwartz has been part of the VDS team since early 2018, shortly after Day joined in the fall of 2017 and the media conglomerate formed Viacom Digital Studios as a way to develop original digital programming and more quickly launch content that extended Viacom’s core brands including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and MTV.
Schwartz most recently served as EVP of strategy and operations for Viacom Digital Studios and digital partnerships at Viacom Media Networks. In the new role, she will lead the creation and expansion of original programming, derivative content and branded series across social platforms for ViacomCBS’ portfolio of global entertainment brands.
Prior to becoming part of the VDS team in February 2018, Schwartz was at Nickelodeon in a variety of roles, most recently as SVP, digital and business development. She earlier served in strategy and biz-dev roles at MTV Networks and Viacom, after first joining the company in 1999.
“Stef has been integral to the success of VDS over the past two years, providing critical leadership across many areas of the business, including strategy, business operations and partner management,” DeBevoise wrote in a memo to VDS staff. “As part of this change, Kelly Day will be moving out of her current role at VDS. Under Kelly’s leadership, VDS has become a leader in digital and branded content and I’m truly grateful for her support and guidance through this process. She’ll continue to work closely with Stef and me throughout this transition.”
Day, who most recently served as COO of youth-focused media company AwesomenessTV, joined Viacom in 2017 to lead the formation of VDS. Over the last two years, she acquired the
Awesomeness and
VidCon businesses - both of which now live under the VDS umbrella - and built up digital content slates for Viacom's portfolio of networks. In the reorg last fall, Brian Robbins, currently president of Nickelodeon and co-founder of Awesomeness,
assumed oversight of Awesomeness.
In a memo to VDS employees, Day wrote, “While I will no longer be part of the VDS team, I won’t be too far away. I’ll continue to support the team through this transition until I announce what’s next for me.” She also praised Schwartz’s leadership in building out the VDS strategy, business operations, and platform partnerships.
"Not a day has gone by in two years that I haven't talked to Stef about how to move our business forward and achieve our ambitious goals, and she's always been there with great ideas and a fearless determination to get things done.
“Stef is the first person many of us go to when we need advice on something or a question answered, and is a compassionate and supportive team leader,” adding, “I am thrilled for her to lead VDS in this next phase.”
Schwartz, in her own memo to VDS staffers, thanks Day for “her fearless leadership in bringing Viacom Digital Studios to life.”
“Looking ahead, not only will we continue to make great content across our social footprint, but under the combined ViacomCBS digital team, we have the opportunity to grow our business and expand our reach in new ways,” Schwartz wrote.
More from
Deadline:
Viacom Digital Studios Chief Kelly Day Exits, Handing Reins To Stefanie Schwartz
Kelly Day is exiting her post as head of Viacom Digital Studios, with Stefanie Schwartz taking over as EVP and GM of the studio group.
Day is in talks to remain at ViacomCBS in a new role, a source familiar with the situation told Deadline, though nothing has been finalized. She is a seasoned digital executive who has had executive stints over the past decade at Discovery, digital video pioneer Blip and AwesomenessTV, which was acquired by Viacom.
Viacom formalized its merger with CBS in December and has made a flurry of executive changes in recent weeks as the new entity has taken shape. Marc DeBevoise, a longtime CBS Interactive exec, was appointed as head of the combined company’s digital operations late last year.
In the spring of 2018, Viacom unveiled its digital studio, announcing plans for “hundreds of hours of premium, original content with Viacom stars and digital-native talent from BET, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon,” a press release said at the time. The game plan was to centralize the efforts to both create content and hatch partnerships with the likes of Twitter and Snap Inc.
Long a driving force in youth culture through brands like MTV and Nickelodeon, Viacom has struggled to retain that status as a wave of competitors have swept in on a tide of technological change.
Day said upon the launch that the initiative represented “an amazing opportunity to reimagine our iconic brands for a new generation of young, mobile-first audiences.”
Media companies and digital content newcomers alike have all faced a formidable hurdle to their ambitions to reach meaningful scale: the duopoly enjoyed by Facebook and Google. The tech behemoths control nearly 80% of all online advertising, making it difficult to monetize programming.
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From
Kidscreen:
ViacomCBS ups Stefanie Schwartz
The former head of strategy and operations at Viacom Digital Studios will lead the team as its new EVP and GM.
ViacomCBS is shaking up Viacom Digital Studios (VDS) management and has appointed Stefanie Schwartz as its EVP and GM. Schwartz is replacing current president Kelly Day, who is in talks about another senior role at ViacomCBS, although nothing has been finalized, Kidscreen confirmed.
Prior to the promotion, Schwartz was the EVP of strategy and operations at VDS and digital partnerships for Viacom Media Networks. Before joining the Viacom team, she was the SVP of digital and business development at Nickelodeon and held the SVP of digital publishing and operations role, as well as VP positions in production and marketing roles. She’s also worked at Viacom’s MTV network as VP of strategy and business development and was the director of strategy and business development at Viacom before that.
Day has been the president of Viacom Digital Studios since 2017. In November, amid leadership shakeups, it was announced that her role hadn’t changed and she would continue to lead digital content strategy. Before joining Viacom she was the chief business officer at entertainment company AwesomenessTV, which was later acquired by Viacom in 2018. Prior to that, she held the EVP and GM of digital media and commerce and COO of Discovery commerce roles at Discovery.
Viacom also recently bolstered its digital studio with two new hires, bringing in Ashley Kaplan and Luke Wahl with the goal of creating content for Nickelodeon’s YouTube and social channels.
Amid the ViacomCBS merger, which was completed on December 4, the conglom has been shifting a lot of senior exec positions as it sets up its leadership team. This past October, Pam Kaufman, the president of Viacom Nickelodeon consumer products was named the president of global consumer products of ViacomCBS, with global oversight of product and business development, licensing, merchandising, retail sales, consumer insights and marketing. At the same time, the president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks, David Lynn, took charge of the company’s international media networks, including Australia’s Network 10. President and CEO of Viacom Bob Bakish was tapped as the president and CEO of the combined companies, in August.
In November the companies named the execs for its content and digital teams, with president of Nickelodeon Brian Robbins set to serve as the president of kids and family entertainment for ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks. He will oversee Awesomeness, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Jick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons and Nickeloden Studios.
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From
Tubefilter:
Kelly Day No Longer President Of Viacom Digital Studios, Stefanie Schwartz Taking Over As EVP And GM
Veteran digital video executive Kelly Day is no longer leading Viacom Digital Studios (VDS).
Day, who’s been president of VDS since it launched in 2017, told staffers in a memo today that, “While I will no longer be part of the VDS team, I won’t be too far away. I’ll continue to support the team through this transition until I announce what’s next for me.”
She is in discussions to take on another senior role at ViacomCBS (the media conglomerate formed last month by Viacom and CBS’s all-stock, $12 billion merger), but nothing is set in stone yet, people familiar with the matter told Variety.
While in charge of VDS, Day was involved in some of Viacom’s biggest digital video acquisitions—notably VidCon and AwesomenessTV, both snapped up in 2018. Day was more than familiar with Awesomeness; prior to joining VDS, she spent three years as the tween/teen-targeted digital property’s chief business officer and chief digital officer. Prior to that, she spearheaded original programming efforts as CEO of online video platform Blip, which was acquired by Maker Studios in 2013 and shuttered two years later. She also spent nearly 15 years total in senior leadership roles at Discovery and AOL, and briefly served as vice president of wedding platform The Knot.
As for VDS, Day’s former title there appears to have been eliminated entirely. Stefanie Schwartz, who’s been with Viacom for more than 20 years—most recently as VDS’s executive vice president of strategy and operations—and is ostensibly taking Day’s place, has been named executive vice president and general manager of VDS rather than president.
The merger and ViacomCBS’s subsequent management reorganization appears to be a potential reason for Day’s exit. The reorg put (now former) CBS Interactive president and CEO Marc DeBevoise in charge as ViacomCBS’s new chief digital officer—a role that has him overseeing all of the conglomerate’s digital ventures, VDS included. Day previously reported directly to Viacom’s president and CEO Bob Bakish, who’s now ViacomCBS’s president/CEO.
“Stef has been integral to the success of VDS over the past two years, providing critical leadership across many areas of the business, including strategy, business operations, and partner management,” DeBevoise wrote in a staff memo, per Variety. “Under Kelly’s leadership, VDS has become a leader in digital and branded content and I’m truly grateful for her support and guidance through this process.”
In her own staff memo, Schwartz praised Day for “her fearless leadership in bringing Viacom Digital Studios to life.”
VDS’s future as part of ViacomCBS involves a plan to “continue to make great content across our social footprint” and “the opportunity to grow our business and expand our reach in new ways,” Schwartz added.
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