Nicktoons Network General Manager Keith Dawkins, Expands Role To Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Programming Partnerships

Nicktoons Network General Manager Keith Dawkins, Expands Role To Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Programming Partnerships

Nicktoons Network Hits Distribution Milestone of 50 Million Households

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group has expanded Nicktoons Network General Manager (GM) Keith Dawkins' position to Senior Vice President (SVP), Nickelodeon Programming Partnerships. In this new role, Mr. Dawkins will be responsible for forging new creative partnerships and co-productions with non-traditional programming partners, while overseeing the international and domestic acquisitions of series, films, and short-form programming for both Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network. The announcement was made today by Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, to whom Mr. Dawkins reports.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071112/NYM131 )

"Keith is a motivated leader whose passion for quality content will keep Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network at the highest level of creative excellence," said Ms. Cohn. "He has played a crucial role in aligning the Nick and Nicktoons brands, and his understanding of the latest programming trends will bring a wealth of new possibilities to both networks. We're excited to see what he brings to our various lines of business in this expanded role."

Under Mr. Dawkins' leadership, Nicktoons Network has hit the distribution milestone of 50 million households. The network also became ad-supported, in 2005, and now stands as the fastest growing kids network in the marketplace in the last two years, featuring a roster of Nick hits and original shows launched by Mr. Dawkins.

In his new, expanded position, Dawkins will continue to oversee the daily operations of Nicktoons Network as its GM, as well as secure creative content deals, funding opportunities and partnerships with companies within the toy, gaming, digital, and movie studio industries. Mr. Dawkins will leverage new programming drawn from the Nick International channels and their partners and maximize this content from a creative and revenue-generating perspective across all lines of business. Additionally, he will also work with Nick International Development to develop strategy for the distribution of content, creation of outlets for distribution and how best to leverage overall value.

In 2003, Mr. Dawkins was named the first-ever GM of Nicktoons Networks, the digital home for kid TV's most popular animated hits, overseeing the day- to-day production and operations of the network. Mr. Dawkins was instrumental in creating the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, the largest event of its kind in North America. Now in its fourth year, the Festival draws cutting edge short form animation from all around the globe. Mr. Dawkins also recently launched Nicktoons' new, original series, "Shorts in a Bunch," an extension of the Festival that celebrates the best short-form content that Nickelodeon's global development team has to offer, and "Edgar & Ellen," which was the network's highest-rated series premiere ever.

Prior to Nickelodeon, Mr. Dawkins served as a supervising producer at VH1, where he oversaw numerous long-form programming and led the network's short- form news coverage of a variety of topics and live events. Mr. Dawkins was also a producer for Fox News Channel and part of its original launch team, producing hundreds of daily shows and live news coverage.

About Nicktoons Network

Nicktoons Network is the fastest growing kids' network* and offers a 24- hour schedule featuring programming such as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, Skyland, Kappa Mikey, The Secret Show and Martin Mystery, as well as a roster of hits that have defined kids' and animation lovers' TV, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Invader Zim, Danny Phantom, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. Nicktoons Network is a part of the MTV Networks expanded suite of channels available for digital distribution. The new channels include MTV Hits, MTV Jams, Nicktoons Network and VH1 Mega Hits, expanding and strengthening MTV Networks' digital offerings to thirteen services.

Nicktoons Network currently reaches 50 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable. Nicktoons, and all related titles and logos are property of Viacom, Inc.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, in its 28th 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 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B) .

*Nicktoons Network is the Fastest Growing Kid's Network among K2-11, K6-11, K6-14 and K12-17. Source: Nielsen Media Research, 8/28/06-7/29/07 vs. 8/29/05-7/30/06. (Live) US AA%

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Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Nicole Parker,
+1-818-736-3613, both for Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment