You’re reading it here first … MTVN vet Nicholas Lehman reports to work at IAC Monday as COO for Michael Jackson, president of programming. Lehman is expected to partner with Jackson in building out IAC’s programming division, according to IAC spokesperson Andrea Riggs. Another loss for MTV Networks and an interesting move for IAC. Lehman most recently was EVP-games and interactive media. More to come.
Update: Caught up with Lehman over the weekend, who said the move comes “with a lot of mixed emotions” after eight years at MTVN but IAC was “too good an opportunity to pass up.” He mentioned the strong digital focus at MTVN, adding “it’s still a business that I think has amazing potential, a complicated business.” He sees IAC as a chance to be “aggressive and nimble like a startup but have major, major resources behind it. … They’re very supportive and super aggressive about this strategy.”
MTVN: Lehman’s role at MTVN is being split into three: as previously announced, Jon Slusser, co-founder of GameTrailers.com, is now responsible for video games including GameTrailers and Xfire, as part of his role as SVP at Spike; Joshua Dern, VP-MTVN social media & operations, will head social media; casual gaming (everything but kids), TBA.
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