Tanya Van Court Takes on Expanded Role as Senior Vice President and General Manager, NOGGIN, ParentsConnect and Nick Jr.com

Tanya Van Court Takes on Expanded Role as Senior Vice President and General Manager, NOGGIN, ParentsConnect and Nick Jr.com

NEW YORK, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanya Van Court, who has led Nickelodeon's preschool and parents online businesses, will now expand her position in the company as Senior Vice President and General Manager of NOGGIN, ParentsConnect and Nick Jr.com. The announcement was made today by Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Kirshbaum Levy; and Executive Vice President, Digital Media, Steve Youngwood, whom Van Court will report to for TV and digital, respectively.

In addition to continuing to lead the company's preschool and parents online businesses, which include NickJr.com (Playtime and Nick Jr. Parents); broadband offerings Nick Jr. Video and Nick Jr. Parents TV; NOGGIN.com; GoCityKids.com; and ParentsConnect.com, Van Court will also oversee the day-to-day management of NOGGIN, the acclaimed educational preschool network from Nickelodeon, where she will spearhead all of its marketing and creative efforts.

"Tanya's wealth of knowledge and experience in the preschool and parenting space, and her success with our related online businesses, make her a natural to take on this expanded role," said Levy. "We look forward to Tanya bringing this leadership to her new role atop both our preschool and parenting TV and online businesses."

Added Youngwood, "Just as she has done within our digital portfolio, in this role she will build and advance our position in the overall preschool and parenting space. Under Tanya's direction, Nickjr.com has upheld and grown its status as the number-one preschool destination and ParentsConnect has become the go-to site for moms and dads."

Van Court joined Nickelodeon in 2006 as Senior Vice President, Preschool and Parents Online, and has led Nickelodeon to become a key player in the parents' online space, most notably with the re-launch and expansion of ParentsConnect.com. She has grown the site to become one of the most influential parenting social networking sites on the web today, and has broadened its focus with new acquisitions like Babunga.com.

Additionally, Van Court has strengthened Nickjr.com with a new look and has maintained its reign as the leading website for preschoolers. She has worked across the various NOGGIN and Nick Jr. lines of business to make both websites (http://www.noggin.com/ and http://www.nickjr.com/) interactive online playgrounds that complement and continue the on-air experiences.

Prior to Nickelodeon, Van Court served as Vice President of New Media Products for ESPN, where she led the launches of ESPN 360, ESPN's broadband video and online gaming player. Prior to joining ESPN, Van Court spent three years at Cablevision Systems, where she was responsible for launching Cablevision's VOIP service, Optimum Voice, and led Cablevision's Operations and Customer Experience efforts for their digital cable product, Interactive Optimum (IO).

Van Court began her career in the telecommunications sector, spending several years with Covad Communications where she was instrumental in the launch of DSL in several international markets. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B)

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Tori Fernandes,
+1-212.846-4942, both of Nickelodeon

Web Site: http://www.nickjr.com/

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