• Not giving essential show information
• Failing to give fresh, engaging content
• Posting to the point of spamming
• Trying to get viewers to buy

What we heard from viewers was that they want TV shows and networks to fulfill their functional motivations above all. They expect air dates and times, episode recaps and character bios.

As one 23-year-old participant told us, “Daniel Tosh is the one guy that knows how to use social media well. He will throw a joke in a post that includes the date and time his show is on so I won’t miss it.”

Respondents also admitted that they unfriended or unfollowed brands that were redundant, or posted too often. And since social media is a place for emotion and fun, we found that over-selling was another big sin. These sins are good guidelines for any brand — reminders not to forget basic info and to keep it fresh and engaging without overdoing it. The good news for brands and marketers is that we can provide much of what viewers value most, useful information and exclusive content.

For the full findings from the study, head here.

The post The Deadly Sins of Social Media appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Dating isn’t getting any easier. Luckily, MTV is helping us tackle the snags, ambiguity and awkwardness we encounter in everyday relationships with the help of author and relationship expert Tionna Smalls. This Brooklyn native turned relationship guru will provide honest advice and makeovers in her new series “Girl, Get Your Mind Right” which premieres tonight – May 20th at 6pm ET.

You might remember Smalls’ candid and outspoken style from her stint helping TLC’s Chilli find love on the VH1 reality show “What Chilli Wants”. Smalls a former relationship blogger for Gawker built her powerful advice brand from a personal mission to help women achieve satisfying relationships. Like most young women, she navigated a big breakup and was let down by the dating scene. Yet instead of just recounting her experiences with friends, she used her relationship ‘girl talk’ to build her brand.  

“I was in a relationship a longtime when I was younger, a teenage relationship, that went onto college and we broke up and I started dating. I started to date and being out here dating was the worst experience ever. So I said I am going to write a book about love and relationships and it was self-published. I promoted myself, started a blog, I was on What Chilli Wants, then I got a book deal and now “Girl Get Your Mind Right” is a show on MTV. So the grind played off.” – Tionna Smalls

“Girl Get Your Mind Right” will air daily and Smalls will work one-on-one with women to get to the core of their problems and give them a dose of her straight talk. Whether it’s a look, an attitude or a behavior change, she confronts real women with real advice to break bad habits. Then she puts her own advice to the test – going undercover to spy on dates to make sure her tips really work.

Smalls used social media to build her brand and she is passionate about staying connected to her following – she affectionately calls her fans, ‘loveys’.  “I take my responsibility to my ‘loveys’ very seriously – because I don’t feel there are enough people that are authentic out here” Smalls said. “I’m all the way real and I like that about myself. That’s one thing I bring to the table.”

She won’t bite her tongue, and always emphasizes that she will always stay true to her personality and Brooklyn roots. In addition to encouraging us all to check out her new show – she wanted to leave her loveys with these words of wisdom.

“You can’t listen to negative people. People who have never done it are going to tell you that you can’t do it and you just can’t listen to it. If there is something you want to do – be the best at it.”

The post “Girl, Get Your Mind Right” This Summer appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

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.

 Viacom (a long-time supporter of Housing Works) and Nickelodeon sponsored the Design on a Dime Benefit and Opening Reception which was co-chaired by five of design’s leading ladies including Viacom’s very own Vice President of Design and Construction, Yetta Banks. Other co-chairs included Good Morning America’s Lara Spencer, “The Chew” correspondent Evette Ríos and HGTV’s Genevieve Gorder and Sabrina Soto. For the past four years Yetta Banks has been a featured designer and this year her dedication as a co-chair helped to attract over 3,000 people to shop in over sixty rooms designed at discount by top interior designers.

“This year, I was honored to serve as a designer and co-chair with a group of fabulous women. As co-chair, I was able to use my voice to raise awareness for all of the amazing work that Housing Works does for the community and identify more partnerships in my industry. I engaged anyone who would listen because my goal was to make this the best year yet! It was a smashing success!” –Yetta Banks  

The line to enter the Opening Reception snaked an entire city block – as people eagerly awaited their chance to buy designer décor at discount for a great cause. Nickelodeon’s adorable Peter Rabbit themed children’s room, complete with a tree house bed, attracted the eyes of many parents. Next to the calm of Nickelodeon’s room, people bullied past the ribbon cutting for the chance to bid on the furniture in Yetta Banks’ all-white fantasy lounge full of luxury fabrics, mannequins and mirrors. Banks let her imagination run wild – but admitted to what inspired her design: “Every year, I create an imaginary muse for the room and selfishly, it’s usually me” Banks said. “This year, I am planning one of the most important events in my life, my wedding. I used that as the inspiration for my vignette, a wedding themed bride & groom lounge.”

Yetta Banks channels her creative talents to help further the mission of Housing Works, but many employees at Viacom are inspired and committed to this cause too. Nickelodeon’s Russell Hicks (President of Content Development & Production) was honored at this year’s Housing Works’ Groundbreaker Awards dinner for his steadfast commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS and homelessness. Last month, Viacommunity Day volunteers packed into the Housing Works’ thrift shop to sort donations and track inventory for a day of community service.

I would like to raise my thrift shop glass – and salute all the hard work and stylish insights that went into planning such a fun and festive fundraising event. Design on a Dime is the perfect event for those socially conscious shoppers on a budget - looking forward to next year!  

The post Designing on a Dime Raises Record Dollars for Housing Works appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

While some young Hispanics are parents themselves, others still live with their parents. As a result, there are key generational differences between the two most prevalent types of households where young Hispanics reside – those in families that are just starting out, and those who have yet to strike out on their own and continue to live in multigenerational households.

The Fortress Keeper

Among young Latino parents with small children, the desire to protect emerged as the biggest priority – especially for moms. In fact, the new Hispanic gatekeeper is really more of a fortress keeper, deciding what to keep out of kids’ lives and being very selective about what to let in. It’s important to note that “fortress keeping” isn’t limited to moms – young dads are also highly involved in controlling their children’s environments.

When it comes to their kids, Fortress Keepers are always on high alert for risk. They want to make sure their kids are safe and at a distance from anything that could harm them.

Fortress Keepers approach new products with suspicion. While young Hispanic moms are loyal to trusted brands, they are cautious with unfamiliar products because they could expose their kids to unknown risks.

When shopping for food products for their kids, Fortress Keepers look for healthy, organic, and natural. Fearing dangerous substances in less natural foods, they seek out options that they consider to be healthier for their kids.

Fortress Keepers themselves like to indulge in less healthy foods – and they’re in the closet about it, literally. They may want to steer their kids away from junk food, but many like to enjoy occasional guilty pleasures on the sly. Some confessed to eating cookies and crackers in the closet so their kids couldn’t see.

The Concierge: Mothers of Hispanic young adults still living at home often serve as the “concierge” of the household. Typically ages 35 to 54, The Concierge fulfills the stated and unstated needs of everyone in her large, multigenerational home. The Concierge and her millennial children still living in the household are uniting to make most of the family’s purchases.

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic Adult Millennials Living The Next Normal: Age Of Uncertainty”

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Laura Hobson, Coordinator, Integrated Marketing, Viacom Entertainment Group

When Laura Hobson found out she won a walk-on role on TV Land’s hit sitcom “Hot in Cleveland,” she was shocked beyond words.

“I was laughing because I didn’t know what would come of this and I was overwhelmed by everyone calling and emailing me about the news,” said Hobson, Coordinator, Integrated Marketing for Viacom Entertainment Group.

Hobson, who won the unique opportunity at the network’s annual All Hands meeting, soon learned that she wasn’t the only special guest — the episode also featured guest stars Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Jean Smart.

“When I arrived at rehearsal, Betty (White), Carol and Jean were going over their lines in casual clothes,” said Hobson. “It was wild.  I walk in and look over and right in front of me they are working on a scene and going through it.  It was in that moment that it really hit me that I was witnessing people known for their craft and really practicing and working on it.”

In her scene, Hobson was seated behind White and Burnett in a bar, giving her a first-hand experience of watching the two Emmy®Award-winning actresses interact.  During rehearsal, she even had the opportunity to watch Conway give Burnett a hard time about her lines.  “It was just great to see them interact as people, peers and friends, especially since there is such a background there professionally and personally.”

After rehearsal, Hobson went to prep, change, and pick up her cousin — a huge Golden Girls fan — who would be attending the taping with her.  Since she wasn’t scheduled till the last scene, Hobson watched most of the taping from the Green Room, where she was pleasantly surprised to meet Burnett, who was spending some downtime there was well.

Once it was call time, Hobson took her place with the other extras.  “I’ve never done this before, so I asked the extras next to me ‘do I really speak out loud or do I mime this conversation?’ to which they laughed at me,” recalled Hobson.  “Thankfully, they taught me the ropes and everyone nailed their scenes.”

After a long, exciting day, Hobson’s scene wrapped and the taping was over.  But not before she had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the entire “Hot in Cleveland” cast and guest stars for a post-show group photo.  The photo is one she will cherish for many years to come. “I couldn’t sleep that night. I called my family after the show and kept trying to replay what had just happened.”

While it was a day Hobson will never forget, she is nervous to see the episode air.  “I’ll probably have my hands in front of eyes the entire time the first time I watch the episode.”  While she may be covering her eyes, the rest of TV Land will be tuning in to see their friend and coworker make her television debut.

TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland returns on Wednesday, June 19 at 10pm ET with a LIVE episode.

The post Viacom Employee Wins Walk-on Role Alongside Iconic Stars appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Overall, we see religion still having some hold among Millennials in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil and India – but in contrast, Millennials in China, Russia, Japan and many of the Western European countries – including traditionally Catholic countries such as France, Spain and Italy – demonstrate ever more secular attitudes.

In the world of Millennials, spirituality and faith are, for the most part, closely aligned.  While there are a handful of countries – for example, Egypt and South Africa – where religion carries greater weight among the concerns of young people, in most countries our data demonstrates similar patterns of engagement with spirituality vs caring about faith/religion (31% and 33% respectively).  Indeed, there is significantly higher emphasis on spirituality than faith/religion in Japan, Russia and China.

In this era of openness, tolerance and flexibility – key traits of the Millennial mindset – young people are characteristically positive about the right of people to practice whatever faith or religion they choose:  on average, almost 9 in 10 – and the only countries where the level dips below 4 in 5 are Saudi Arabia and Japan.

However, although strongly in favour of religious tolerance, other indications show that, with the exception of a small sub-set of countries, the Millennial generation is somewhat less actively involved in practicing religion.

Moreover, unlike the relatively uniform pattern we see in terms of people’s rights to practice religion, the extent of support for people’s responsibility to practice religion varies considerably between countries.

On average, only 14% of Millennials globally place “having faith/religion” among their top 5 sources of happiness – ranked #15 from a list of 20 potential happiness drivers.  The level increases to above 20% in only 7 of the countries surveyed (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Mexico, USA, Brazil and Turkey), with the score dropping significantly in several countries (Sweden, Germany, Spain, China and Russia, for example).

On average, 20% globally turn to prayer as a way to relax when feeling stressed.  The countries where this is more likely to be the case correlate strongly with those where faith/religion is a source of happiness (and conversely we find lower scores in countries where faith/religion has little bearing on happiness).

While for the most part young people around the world share increasingly similar values and attitudes to the world around them, the matter of faith and religion is one which continues to provide a point of difference today.  However, given the almost globally low trust we have seen placed in organised religion and the people who represent it, we could be looking at a future in which a more personal form of spirituality may come to hold ever greater importance in the lives of young people around the world.

Breakdowns for specific results are available on request at blog@viacom.com.

Christian Kurz is Vice President of Research & Insights for Viacom International Media Networks. Follow Christian at @kurzch.

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Today, 45% of Hispanics 18 to 34 live with their parents, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. They are 18% more likely than non-Hispanic whites 18 to 34 to reside in a multi-generational household. The numbers are even more dramatic among younger, bicultural Hispanic adults 18 to 29: 6 in 10 live with their parents.

One of the key objectives of Tr3s’s 2012 research study, “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal, ’” was to uncover new insights about what life is like for Hispanic families with adult children in the household. In her April 30^th presentation at the AHAA 2013 Conference in Miami, Nancy Tellet, Senior Vice President of Tr3s Research and Insights, will reveal key findings on this subject. The following are some of Tr3s’s insights about young Latinos who have stayed home into adulthood:

Lack of money and fear of potential catastrophe keeps Hispanic adult children from moving out. For many, leaving home isn’t an option because they can’t afford to. Others have money saved, but anxiety about “something happening” looms large enough to keep them in place.

Most aren’t planning to leave anytime soon. Two-thirds say they might move out more than a year from now — or that they don’t know and will move “when they’re ready.”

They like the closeness, but more privacy would be nice. 4 out of 10 like the togetherness and bonding best about living with their families, and 3 in 10 dislike the disagreements and lack of freedom and privacy the most.

They expect to stay local when they eventually move out. When asked how far away they would like to go when they’re ready to get their own place, the median distance from their parents’ house was 18 minutes. Hispanic young adults are half as likely as non-Hispanics to say they hope to move more than an hour away (16% vs. 30%).

Respect is the key to family harmony. Hispanic multi-generational households with young adult children make it work through respect, which to them means being polite to each other, recognizing it’s a two-way street, and striving for peace and unity.

When they do move out, it’s often to live with a romantic partner. Hispanic young adults are slightly more likely than non-Hispanics to move out of their parents to live with a boyfriend or girlfriend (49% Hispanic, 44% non-Hispanic).

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal’”

The post Hispanic Young Adults: Living at Home, But Not Unhappily appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

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.

Was this your first time ringing the bell at the NASDAQ?

PD: Yes, it was. I’d rung the bell at the NYSE when we were listed there. And Viacom has rung the bell before, but this is the first time I’ve done it, and I am really thrilled to do it in connection with Viacommunity Day. We decided since we were going to ring the bell for Viacommunity Day, we were going to also bring people that worked for various organizations on Friday. We put out a note saying “first come, first serve” to come to the bell ringing, and we had the 40-or-so quota filled almost instantly. I talked to one of our people at the NASDAQ bell ringing and he said, “I jumped on it right away to make sure I got in there.” It was fun. Everybody was on the big billboards in Times Square, so we were all looking up at that.

What did you do for Viacommunity Day this year?

PD: Every year, I go around to various sites that we have people working on. I try to check out different organizations in the mix every year. This year I visited an animal rescue center, God’s Love We Deliver, an outdoor event in Times Square held for Second Chance Toys, and Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

Over the years, I’ve personally come to discover a lot of worthy causes that we are involved with and it’s always so invigorating to see our people’s enthusiasm. At many organizations, we have employees who are very actively involved and sponsored the project. The one aspect of Viacommunity Day that I’d love for more people to appreciate is that all these organizations, for the most part, were brought to our attention by the people who work here and get added to our list. If anyone at Viacom is involved with an organization, I urge them to suggest them for the day. The reason I do is that it’s a way for other employees to discover those organizations and get involved year-round. Because that’s really the objective – to get people involved not just for the day, but to get involved either in the particular organization or more generally on a year-round basis.

Why is it so important that we take part in Viacommunity Day every year?

PD: We see every day that there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed in society – from education to health issues to voting and hunger – the world, as we saw unfortunately last week, needs a lot of improvement. There are all sorts of worthy causes. Our veterans are coming out of the military service without jobs. Spike and its employees work on that cause. If we don’t get engaged as human beings, nothing’s going to improve. Our job as a company is to really expose our employees to organizations that come to our attention.

What are you most proud of this year?

I’m very proud of the fact that, once again, for several years in a row, we set record participation levels. More than 5,000 people participated in Viacommunity Day on a global basis. When you consider that we have 10,000 employees in the whole world including all our international locations, and we have a lot of employees who have to be at the office because we have to have our networks up and running — this new record is a testament to how involved our people are in their communities and how much they want to get involved. I’ve noticed over the years that we have a more and more engaged population – I think it has to do with a lot of the young people coming into the company. This is a generation that wants to be more engaged, and it fits right into our culture here. So I’m very gratified. And it’s not just in the U.S. – we had perfect attendance in Amsterdam, for example.

How would you say Viacommunity Day reflects our overall business or overall commitment to giving back?

PD: We have a special responsibility as a media company to address our audiences in a way that reflects our lives, and we have a responsibility to improve people’s lives and to improve the world community. We have a megaphone. So in order for us to be credible in doing that, we should also be engaged in our own personal lives. Viacom’s been recognized as one of the top 50 pro-social companies out there – I think we rank very high in that top 50, my personal opinion. That’s why we have so many programs here – we have mentoring programs that we put in place a few years ago – and opportunities to engage. We reflect that on our air and in personal lives and work lives. And that’s how it should be.

Right – and this week, Viacom launched a volunteer match program, for employees to find volunteer projects in their areas at any time.

As a company, we get more opportunities presented to us. People come to us and would like us to be involved, so we make those organizations available to our employees. We don’t require people to do anything; we just make it available and then it’s up to people to follow their own consciences. And in following their own consciences, they’ve been very socially responsible. I’m very proud of our employees, of the level of participation, and we should all be proud of what all of us collectively are doing. It makes a difference, and the combination of all our individual efforts are making it such that Viacom is making a difference. And that makes me very glad.

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“Onstage Ms. Schumer’s jokes are lean, her delivery precise and her control of the audience commanding. Comedy is not a science, but she makes it look like one.”

And, she’s so self-assured and forceful on stage, Zinoman points out, that it’s easy to miss that much of her humor is self-deprecating.

“Amy can represent confidence and vulnerability at the same time, which is why she’s so interesting to watch,” head writer Jessi Klein told the Times. “She takes you to stuff that isn’t O.K., but you sense that you don’t have to worry about her.”

Inside Amy Shumer premieres Monday, April 30 on Comedy Central.

The post NY Times’ Inside Look at Amy Schumer’s New Show appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

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.

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