BRANDON LUCAS JOINS BET NETWORKS AS VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF BET MOBILE
BET Networks announced that Brandon Lucas has joined the company as Vice President and General Manager of BET Mobile. Lucas reports directly to Denmark West, President of BET Digital Media, and is based in Los Angeles.
As the head of BET Mobile, Lucas is responsible for driving the wireless business, strategy and partnerships for BET Networks. He will oversee the expansion and development of the BET Mobile division, and will also lead the creation of new business opportunities by leveraging BET Networks' assets on the mobile platform.
"We are very happy to have Brandon lead BET Mobile. He is an industry veteran whose entrepreneurial spirit, vision and deal-making will be an invaluable asset to our company," said West. "Our audience is made up of so many active and engaged mobile users. Brandon's appointment reflects our commitment to making the BET brand and content accessible on any screen anytime, anywhere."
Lucas brings years of experience in the mobile industry to BET Networks. Prior to joining BET, he was Executive Director of Business Development at MySpace, where in two years he built partnerships with top U.S. wireless carriers, device manufacturers, SMS aggregators and ad networks, including Apple, Research In Motion, Microsoft, Nokia, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Before that, he held mobile business development positions at the Walt Disney Company and U.S. Cellular.
Lucas earned a bachelor's degree in government from Harvard University, and then an International MBA from the University of Chicago. He is fluent in Japanese, and familiar with Spanish, French, German and Korean.
About the BET Digital Consumers & Their Mobile Usage*
BET digital consumers use more digital media than the general population. They are:
240% more likely to watch a live TV show via mobile phone or PDA device
234% more likely to watch a full-length movie via mobile phone or PDA device
189% more likely to use text messaging to respond to an advertisement via mobile phone or PDA device
172% more likely to watch/download or stream a TV program via mobile phone or PDA device
108% more likely to visit an entertainment/information site via mobile phone or PDA device
102% more likely to text message to vote in a contest via mobile phone or PDA device
99% more likely to look at an advertisement sent with a text message via mobile phone or PDA device
*Source: MRI Doublebase, Fall 2008 [BET Analysis]
About BET Networks
BET Networks, a division 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 98 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; BET Digital Networks - BET J, 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 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.
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