Jamie Roberts Named Senior Vice President, Programming for GSN, the Network for Games

Jamie Roberts Named Senior Vice President, Programming for GSN, the Network for Games

Former Sky Networks Production and Development Executive Assumes First U.S. Programming Post

Roberts Brings a Wealth of International Broadcast and Production Experience to the Leading Interactive Cable Network

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Sky Networks executive, Jamie Roberts, is joining America's network for interactive games, GSN, as Senior Vice President of Programming, effective Monday, August 21, announced Rich Cronin, President and CEO, GSN, to whom he will report.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060816/LAW050)

As Senior Vice President of Programming for the network, Roberts is charged with overseeing GSN's production, development, acquisitions and program planning departments for the 60 million home network co-owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. He will develop game shows and game-related programming in a myriad of genres including casino, documentaries, reality and panel series. He will also be heavily involved with GSN's efforts in live participation television.

"Jamie Roberts brings over ten years of production and programming experience to the network, and that, coupled with his thorough knowledge of European television formats made him the ideal candidate for our programming chief," said Cronin. "Roberts has developed high-rated programs for Sky that include a diverse slate of genres from live specials to reality series to game shows. We're looking forward to having him produce competition-related content that complements multiple media platforms for GSN."

Roberts said: "I am thrilled to be joining GSN and its programming team as they continue to explore new television formats and content platforms. I hope to bring some fresh ideas to the network that will register with viewers and bring even more buzz to GSN."

Roberts joins GSN after 10 successful years at Sky Networks in the UK, where he served in such positions as Development Executive and Director of Programming. From 2004-2005, Roberts was Head of Production and Development, Unscripted Programming for Sky Networks. In this position, Roberts worked both in London and Los Angeles producing programming for the UK. While in Los Angeles, Roberts was executive producer for the weekly UK edition of US showbiz franchise "Entertainment Tonight" and was executive producer for Sky's telecast of the "77th Annual Academy Awards". In the UK, Roberts green lit the reality golf event "The All Star Cup," which pitted major American stars like Rob Lowe and Michael Douglas against their European counterparts including Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Roberts served as Commissioning Executive for entertainment channel Sky One from 2003 to 2004. In this post, he was the executive producer of the highest rated original program in the channel's history, "The Match" which was produced by Endemol UK. "The Match" is the reality series that trains soccer-mad celebrities in an English Premier League academy, allowing audiences to fully interact and help pick the final squad of players who face a team of Soccer Legends in front of a sell-out 50,000 seat stadium.

Roberts began his television career in 1993 as a producer/director working on music and kids programming, directing live shows in the UK for Sky Television, and in Italy for Orbit Television Network. From there, he served as Producer/Senior Producer for the live daily morning show "The Big Breakfast" for the UK's Channel 4 in 1995. In 1996, he was appointed development executive at Sky Television, helping to focus the networks programming toward a younger, more modern audience. The repositioning spawned hits that included the reality show "Ibiza Uncovered" an edgy observational documentary franchise that ran for 5 years, and 'Prickly Heat' -- an early game-show/reality hybrid played out on Spanish beaches.

He was the Head of Commissioned Programs for Sky One in 1997 and as such, was in charge of all original production. He also served as executive producer on shows including "The Villa," an innovative dating show that ran for several seasons; "South Park Discovered," a special on the real south park; "Bloody Foreigners," a witty documentary series on xenophobia and "Guiding Stars," an early celebrity reality series. He was promoted in 1999 to Director of Programming, Sky One and was in charge of all commissions, acquisitions and scheduling. He moved to producing made-for-TV movies in 2000 as Head of TV Film Productions for Sky Pictures. He was responsible for the financial packaging, development, production and distribution of all in-house television movies. In this capacity, he was the executive producer on movies such as "Is Harry On The Boat?," and "Doc Martin," starring Martin Clunes.

Roberts earned his bachelor of arts with honors at the University of Liverpool and his master's degree at the London School of Economics.

About GSN

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features over 133 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via GSN.com. Now reaching nearly 60 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com

-GSN-

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060816/LAW050
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: GSN

CONTACT: Cindy Ronzoni of GSN, +1-310-255-6933, cronzoni@gsn.com

Web site: http://www.gsn.com/
http://corp.gsn.com/

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