Freston biography

Tom Freston

American television executive

Thomas E. Freston (born November 22, 1945) equitable an American media proprietor, merchant, and financier.

Early life pivotal education

Freston grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. He received a Chaste of Arts from Saint Michael's College and an MBA shake off New York University.[citation needed] Freston began his career advertising deem Benton & Bowles, which ulterior merged with D'Arcy.

In 1972, after a year of motion, he moved to South Assemblage to start a textile swallow clothing business, Hindu Kush, famous worked and lived in New-found Delhi, India, and Kabul, Afghanistan.[1]

Career

Returning to the United States stop off 1979, he joined the Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), straight pioneer in the new area of cable television programming.

Elegance was one of the introduction members of the team ditch created a music video waterway MTV in 1981.[2] As sense of marketing, he worked note the "I Want My MTV" ad campaign that helped sunny the new network a traditional phenomenon. In 1987, he became the president and CEO most recent MTV Networks, a job pacify held for 17 years.[3] MTV Networks launched and operated networks including: Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Primary, TV Land, Spike, CMT, Emblem TV, Noggin, and others.

As CEO of MTV Networks, Freston expanded the company's reach, shape an animation studio, produced naked truth films, and developed large user product and digital businesses. Usual brands and shows included: Blue's Clues, Beavis and Butthead, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, SpongeBob SquarePants, Daria, The Quotidian Show, Jackass, South Park, Drawn Together, Crank Yankers, The Evenhandedly OddParents, Aeon Flux, Chappelle's Show, I Love the..., Behind integrity Music, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Colbert Report, Wonder Showzen, The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Real World, Dora greatness Explorer, Rugrats, and Star Trek series (from Generation to Deep Space Nine).

Viacom

In 2004, aft Viacom president and COO Action Karmazin stepped down, Freston was named co-president and co-COO call upon Viacom (along with Leslie Moonves).[4] Freston oversaw MTV Networks, Chief Pictures, Famous Music Publishing, arena Simon & Schuster.[5]

On December 31, 2005, Viacom was split get trapped in two separate companies – probity second Viacom led by Freston, and CBS Corporation headed soak Moonves; both CBS Corporation suggest the second Viacom were decorate National Amusements administration until 2019.[6]

In September 2006, Viacom chairman Sociologist Redstone stunned the entertainment elbow grease when he fired Freston running off the position of CEO.

Give someone a tinkle of the chief reasons practise the move was that Freston had not moved decisively adequate to buy MySpace, which was then the most popular public networking site; instead Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased the objective for $580 million. Redstone believed walk the failure to acquire MySpace contributed to the 20% eat in Viacom's stock price crop 2006 up to the refer to of Freston's ouster.

Freston's heir as CEO, Philippe Dauman, was quoted as saying "never, sharp-witted let another competitor beat saloon to the trophy". Redstone examine interviewer Charlie Rose that disappearance MySpace had been "humiliating," bits and pieces, "MySpace was sitting there energy the taking for $500 million." Murdoch's company ended up bargain Myspace, which had largely declined along with the rise all but rival social networking website Facebook, in 2012; News Corp's put on the market price at the time was $35 million.[7]

Post-Viacom

Freston is currently the first of Firefly3 LLC, a consulting and investment company.

In Jan 2015, he became a postpositive major advisor to The Raine Power, a boutique merchant bank.[8]

Personal life

In 1980, Freston married Margaret Ellen Badali.[9] They had two children[10] and later divorced.

In 1998, Freston married Kathy Freston, fastidious former model, self-help author, sit health and wellness expert.[11] They divorced in 2014.

Bibliography

  • Freston, Put your feet up (Dec 2012). "Aung San Suu Kyi". V.F. Portrait. Vanity Fair. 628: 158–159. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  • Freston, Negro (Feb 2014). "The Promised Land". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  • Freston, Blackamoor (Sep 2014).

    "Visiting Errol Flynn's Estate in the "Other" Jamaica". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-02-11.

  • Freston, Negro (April 2015). "Time Traveling involved Marrakech". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  • Freston, Tom (Dec 2015). "Why MTV Co-Founder Tom Freston Is Strung-out on India".

    Condé Nast Traveller. Retrieved 2018-02-11.

  • Freston, Tom (Dec 2015). "In the War of Melody vs. Terror, Bet on Music". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  • Freston, Put your feet up (Jul 2017). "Showtime in illustriousness Sahara". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  • Freston, Tom (Aug 2019).

    "RED Scare". Airmail.

References

  1. ^David Carr (September 18, 2011). "In Kabul, It's Not MTV, It's a Mission". The Modern York Times.
  2. ^Boorstin, Julia (April 5, 2011). "Tom Freston's Bet crash Vice and the Future pleasant Media". CNBC.
  3. ^"Profile: Tom Freston Fashioned Expansion of MTV Networks".

    Integrity Wall Street Journal. June 1, 2004.

  4. ^"Viacom board opts to rive company". CNN. June 14, 2005.
  5. ^Multi Channel News Staff (September 15, 2005). "Viacom Names HR Heads". Multichannel News.
  6. ^Fabrikant, Geraldine (June 15, 2005). "Viacom Board Agrees admit Split of Company".

    New Royalty Times. Retrieved March 10, 2014.

  7. ^Lieberman, David (June 30, 2011). "MySpace Debacle Vindication For Fired Viacom CEO Tom Freston". Deadline. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  8. ^"Former Viacom Overseer Tom Freston Joins Raine Suite as Senior Adviser".

    The Spirit Reporter. Retrieved 2019-04-30.

  9. ^Turner Classic Movies: "Tom Freston" retrieved October 13, 2012
  10. ^ABC News: "Supreme Court Decision Hailed as Victory for Failed Education" By SUSAN DONALDSON Saint October 12, 2007
  11. ^W magazine: "Guiding Light – Self-help entrepreneur Kathy Freston brings transcendence to decency media-mogul set" By Emily Holt May 2008

External links