Veoh Networks Names Yahoo! Veteran Steve Mitgang as New Chief Executive Officer
SAN DIEGO, CA – July 26, 2007 – Veoh Networks (www.veoh.com), the leader in Internet Television, today announced that Steve Mitgang has been appointed as the company's new Chief Executive Officer. Mitgang comes to Veoh from Yahoo!, where he was Senior Vice President of the global team leading the definition, creation, and marketing of Yahoo!'s advertising products, platforms, and services. He succeeds Veoh's founding CEO Dmitry Shapiro, who will now assume the role of Founder and Chief Innovation Officer with active involvement in the business and a focus on advancing Veoh's technology platforms and consumer standards. Dmitry will continue to represent the company's thought leadership within the industry.
To further support the Company's growth strategy and solidify its senior management team, Veoh has also named Jennifer Betka as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Betka joins Veoh from Sirius Satellite Radio where she was instrumental in the development of the service's interactive strategy and successful Internet marketing initiatives for key properties.
These new appointments come as Veoh's user base continues to experience strong growth. In June, the company announced that its user base grew to 14.3 million unique users – marking a 223% overall rise in traffic since Veoh launched in February with a 4.4 million user base.
This growth is expected to accelerate as Veoh continues to roll out its revolutionary VeohTV product, which it expects to transform the online video landscape. Currently in beta, VeohTV acts as a specialized video browser and DVR (digital video recorder) for discovering, viewing and managing online video. VeohTV combines the breadth of the Internet with the simplicity of traditional TV and betters it with a patent-pending smart recommendation engine so that viewers can discover more of what they want to watch. Because VeohTV supports open Internet standards, it has access to virtually all of the content on the Internet.
"Steve's strong leadership and expertise in monetizing new technologies, establishing content deals, and creating new forms of effective online advertising, combined with Jennifer's keen insight and relevant experience in online marketing will propel Veoh's growth as we continue to scale the business and innovate," said Dmitry Shapiro. "Steve, Jennifer, and I share a common vision for Internet Television and how it evolves, and I am looking forward to working with both of them to make Veoh the best platform for content owners, consumers, and advertisers."
"Dmitry has done an outstanding job driving Veoh to a leadership position in Internet television, along with a top 50 internet traffic ranking," said Ted Meisel, Chairman of Veoh. "Having worked with Steve for many years at Overture and Yahoo!, I am confident he is just the right leader to sustain the company's rapid growth. Similarly, as we build branded content experiences on top of Veoh's platform, Jennifer brings a unique blend of skills in interactive, consumer and partner marketing honed over many years at AOL and Sirius Radio."
A Silicon Valley and start-up veteran, Mr. Mitgang has 22 years of experience in general management, strategic planning, product management and business development for some for the country's best-known brands, as well as experience with enterprise software and Internet ASPs. While at Yahoo!, Mitgang was the senior executive credited with creating the vision and managing the production of Project Panama (Yahoo's new monetization platform). Prior to his tenure at Yahoo!, Mitgang led a variety of consumer marketing and technology companies, driving them to leading market positions or successful exits. He joined Yahoo! after its successful acquisition of Overture Services, where he led the company's Performance Marketing group. Prior to joining Overture, Mr. Mitgang was president and CEO of Keylime Software, a web analytics company acquired by Overture Services under Mitgang's stewardship.
Mitgang commented, "Veoh has developed a truly revolutionary platform, which, along with its rapid growth, makes Veoh one of the most exciting businesses in New Media," "Dmitry has assembled an incredibly talented team, and VeohTV is already is being lauded as the most innovative approach to delivering the online video experience for consumers. I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead the team through its next phase of remarkable growth and to guide Veoh into maturity by working closely with content owners, advertisers, and publishers."
Prior to joining Veoh, Betka served as Vice President Interactive for SIRIUS Satellite Radio, where she was responsible for the introduction of Sirius Internet Radio, the company's streaming radio service. At Sirius she also spearheaded numerous interactive marketing initiatives, including Howard Stern's move from terrestrial radio to Sirius, which resulted in the largest entertainment event on the web at that time. Betka has also held executive positions with Time-Warner and AOL in sales strategy, programming development and global marketing.
For Veoh, Betka will lead the charge of building the brand through integrated marketing programs and content development efforts.
About Veoh Networks, Inc.
For more information contact:
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Debra Carey VEOH / DAN KLORES COMMUNICATIONS 212-981-5219 Debra_Carey@dkcnews.com Jeff Klein VEOH / DAN KLORES COMMUNICATIONS 212-981-5189 Jeff_Klein@dkcnews.com |
