Designing on a Dime Raises Record Dollars for Housing Works

by Chanel Cathey, Viacom

Housing Works raised a record $1.1 million at its 9^th Annual Design on a Dime event – a three day décor sale event to benefit a housing expansion program for people living with HIV/AIDS in New York City. Through advocacy and action, Housing Works battles the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS providing lifesaving services and entrepreneurial businesses to sustain these efforts.

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CEO Philippe Dauman, Viacom Employees Ring NASDAQ Opening Bell

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

This Friday, the majority of Viacom employees put on their out-of-office autoreplies, made their way to a community service project of choice, and rolled up their sleeves to do something good – as is tradition on Viacommunity Day, our company-wide day to give back. All around the world, droves of Viacom employees dispersed across hundreds of volunteer sites — another year of record numbers, as participation steadily grows.  This year, employees worked on everything from packing goody bags for Boston First Responders, to rebuilding sites still devastated from Hurricane Sandy, and conducting mock interviews for the unemployed in need of such training.

In honor of Viacom’s service on Viacommunity Day, Viacom President and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman and a group of employees rang the NASDAQ opening bell Monday morning. Following the bell ringing, I sat down with Dauman to hear his take on the Company’s corporate conscience and why this day of service is so important. Here’s what he had to say. Read More

VDAY2013: Thousands of Viacom Employees Rally to Give Back on Viacommunity Day

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

Viacom’s year-long commitment to giving back culminates each year in Viacommunity Day, the Company’s annual day of volunteer service, during which we put on our out-of-office autoreplies, make our way to a volunteer project of our choice, and roll up our sleeves to do something good. Read More

Viacom Statement on YouTube Lawsuit

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

The following is Viacom’s official statement around the latest ruling of the YouTube lawsuit:

This ruling ignores the opinions of the higher courts and completely disregards the rights of creative artists.  We continue to believe that a jury should weigh the facts of this case and the overwhelming evidence that YouTube willfully infringed on our rights, and we intend to appeal the decision.

One of @TheLodgee Tweeters Unveils Identity

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

A little over a year ago, we wrote about Viacom’s masked Twitter chronicler, reporting from The Lodge, our cultural and culinary hub here at 1515 Broadway. Since then, the anonymous tweeter(s) managed to keep his/her/their identity concealed, while updating employees on everything from the daily menu (brilliantly condensed to 140 characters) to some pretty amazing “overheards.” As @MTVHive put it in a tweet @TheLodgee: “You’ve become the unofficial MTVTJ [MTV Twitter Jockey], except you tweet extra useful stuff like what’s for lunch and when we can get free froyo.”

This week, with a simple tweet: “BREAKING: @TheLodgee tweeter to be replaced,” our cafeteria correspondent(s) announced that they were in the market for a new tweeter.

The outgoing tweeter came to the Viacom blog to reveal his identity and bid adieu to @TheLodgee’s faithful followers (more than 1,000 to date). We learned that the account is actually run by three employees, and while he didn’t reveal the identities of his counterparts, we now know that one of the three is named Uptin. Uptin works for MTV News, and in the past few years he’s also held roles across the company, at VH1 and Nickelodeon as well as MTV.

Here’s the full text of his goodbye letter:

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Viacom Honored by the Council of Urban Professionals with Diversity Leadership Award

by Chanel Cathey, Viacom

Philippe Dauman,Viacom CEO, Accepts the Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award from CUP (Photo Credit: Maximilian Imaging)

This week the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) hosted its 6th Annual Leadership Gala in New York City honoring Viacom with the Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Viacom joined fellow honorees Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault, whose inspiring partnership was celebrated with the Philanthropic Leadership Award, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the charismatic creator of the Tony Award winning musical “In the Heights,” who received the Breakthrough Leadership Award.

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Lady Gaga’s Born Brave Bus Tours the US

by Chanel Cathey, Viacom

Lady Gaga’s Born Brave Bus is traveling nationwide to empower youth by connecting them with community and youth services, mentoring, volunteer opportunities and bullying and suicide prevention resources. The fully loaded, polychromatic bus recently drove through Gaga’s hometown of New York City – stopping in front of Viacom’s headquarters in Times Square giving fans a peek inside.

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Jeff Lucas on Value of Tapping into Viacom Creative Assets

by Chanel Cathey, Viacom

Jeff Lucas, head of sales for Viacom Music & Entertainment, is down in New Orleans this week at the American Association of Advertisers (4As) annual conference Transformation 2013: The Idea Effect to participate in a panel discussion entitled “The death of network television is greatly exaggerated.” (Spoiler alert:  Jeff agrees with that point of view.)  Jeff is joined by media ad sales luminaries David Levy of Turner, JoAnn Ross of CBS, Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal, and moderator Abby Klaassen of Ad Age.  

That’s a lot of great thinkers and thoughts to cram into one 40 minute (!) session, so the event organizers understandably asked panelists not to bring reels.  But what’s a discussion of creative transformation without a little creative sizzle to show?  That’s why we’re lending Jeff some space here on the blog this morning to post a few key examples of campaigns and creative where Viacom has driven value for marketers across its media assets.  Check ‘em out below and, if you’re lucky enough to be in the Crescent City this morning, enjoy the 4As.

Viacom Statement on Cablevision Lawsuit

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

The following is the latest statement from Viacom on the Cablevision lawsuit:

“This suit is nothing more than a hypocritical attempt by Cablevision to void a long term carriage deal they agreed to only two months ago.  Cablevision is crying foul over a standard business practice that expands choice and lowers cost for consumers – a practice they use extensively to sell their own services. Cablevision received significant discount on a package of networks that account for nearly 20% of the total viewing audience.  Now they want the lower price without the obligation to offer our networks to their customers.  For Cablevision it’s ‘do as we say and not as we do’ – an arrogant approach all too familiar to its customers.”

Statement from Viacom on Cablevision Antitrust Lawsuit

by Daina Amorosano, Viacom

Viacom released the following statement today regarding the antitrust lawsuit Cablevision filed against the Company:

“At the request of distributors, Viacom and other programmers have long offered discounts to those who agree to provide additional network distribution. Many distributors take advantage of these win-win and pro-consumer arrangements. Reflecting the highly competitive cable programming business, these arrangements have been upheld by a number of federal courts and on appeal. Viacom will vigorously defend this transparent attempt by Cablevision to use the courts to renegotiate our existing two month old agreement.”