Vicky Free Named Executive Vice President of Marketing for BET Networks

Vicky Free Named Executive Vice President of Marketing for BET Networks

NEW YORK, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BET Networks, the leading provider of entertainment for the African-American audience and consumers of Black culture globally, has named industry veteran Vicky Free as the company's new Executive Vice President of Marketing. Free, who has most recently led strategic marketing efforts at Turner Broadcasting Systems, will be responsible for the marketing strategy and execution for BET, BET.com, BET mobile and CENTRIC. She will report directly to Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks and will be based in New York.

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Free comes to BET Networks with nearly two decades of brand marketing and media management experience, most recently from Turner Broadcasting System. At Turner, she led the newly created 360 consumer marketing department designed to build effective consumer engagement campaigns for both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim entertainment properties. In this role she was responsible for building consumer-centric, integrated, strategic and metric-driven marketing campaigns for priority series and events.

"We are thrilled to have Vicky join BET Networks given her strong experience in the cable industry and keen understanding in creating thoughtful brands and engaging the consumer it serves," said Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks. "As we continue in our company's evolution, we couldn't be more thrilled to have someone as talented as Vicky lead our marketing team and elevate our multi-platform and digital marketing strategies."

"I am honored to join BET Networks and build on the iconic brand of this company," said Vicky Free, Executive Vice President of Marketing at BET Networks. "I am confident that my experience and passion, coupled with the BET's incredibly creative and thoughtful team, will take the relationship between our consumer and our content to the next level."

During Free's tenure at Turner, she led the entertainment marketing team for TNT, TBS and TCM. Among her many accomplishments, she launched Emerging Markets and Promotions Group that created breakout campaigns for Tyler Perry's House of Payne and The Closer. Free also spent over eight years at McDonald's, where she worked as Director of Women's Initiatives in the United States and headed multicultural brand management. Free received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina and her MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE BET Networks

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BET Networks

CONTACT: Kimberlee M. Bradshaw, +1-212-205-3154, kimberlee.bradshaw@bet.net

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

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