Tom Freston
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Tom Freston at the 2011 Time 100 gala.
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| Born | (1945-11-22) November 22, 1945 (age 78)
New York City, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Saint Michael's College (BA) New York University (MBA) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Known for | CEO of Viacom's MTV Networks (1987–2004) |
| Board member of | One Campaign Firefly3 Moby Group |
| Spouses | Margaret Ellen Badali
(m. 1980, divorced)
(m. 1998; div. 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas E. Freston (born November 22, 1945) is an American media proprietor, businessman, and financier.
Freston grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Michael's College and an MBA from New York University.[citation needed] Freston began his career advertising at Benton & Bowles, which later merged with D'Arcy. In 1972, after a year of traveling, he moved to South Asia to start a textile and clothing business, Hindu Kush, and worked and lived in New Delhi, India and Kabul, Afghanistan.[1]
Returning to the United States in 1979, he joined the Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), a pioneer in the new field of cable television programming. He was one of the founding members of the team that created a music video channel MTV in 1981.[2] As head of marketing, he worked on the "I Want My MTV" ad campaign that helped make the new network a cultural phenomenon. In 1987, he became the President and CEO of MTV Networks, a job he held for 17 years.[3] MTV Networks launched and operated networks including: Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, Spike, CMT, Logo TV, Noggin, and others.
As CEO of MTV Networks, Freston expanded the company's reach, built an animation studio, produced feature films, and developed large consumer product and digital businesses. Popular brands and shows included: Blue's Clues, Beavis and Butthead, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, SpongeBob SquarePants, Daria, The Daily Show, Jackass, South Park, Drawn Together, Crank Yankers, The Fairly OddParents, Aeon Flux, Chappelle's Show, I Love the..., Behind the Music, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Colbert Report, Wonder Showzen, The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Real World, Dora the Explorer, Rugrats, and Star Trek series (from GenerationtoDeep Space Nine).
In 2004, after Viacom President & COO Mel Karmazin stepped down, Freston was named Co-President & Co-COO of Viacom (along with Leslie Moonves).[4] Freston oversaw MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Famous Music Publishing, and Simon & Schuster.[5]
On December 31, 2005, Viacom was split into two separate companies – the second Viacom led by Freston, and CBS Corporation headed by Moonves; both CBS Corporation and the second Viacom were under National Amusements administration until 2019.[6]
In September 2006, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone stunned the entertainment industry when he fired Freston from the position of CEO. One of the chief reasons for the move was that Freston hadn’t moved decisively enough to buy MySpace, which was then the most popular social networking site; instead Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased the site for $580 million. Redstone believed that the failure to acquire MySpace contributed to the 20% drop in Viacom’s stock price in 2006 up to the date of Freston’s ouster. Freston's successor as CEO, Philippe Dauman, was quoted as saying “never, ever let another competitor beat us to the trophy”. Redstone told interviewer Charlie Rose that losing MySpace had been “humiliating,” adding, “MySpace was sitting there for the taking for $500 million.” Murdoch's company ended up selling Myspace, which had largely declined along with the rise of rival social networking website Facebook, in 2012; News Corp's sale price at the time was $35 million.[7]
Freston is currently the principal of Firefly3 LLC, a consulting and investment company. In January 2015, he became a senior advisor to The Raine Group, a boutique merchant bank.[8]
In 1980, Freston married Margaret Ellen Badali.[9] They had two children[10] and later divorced.
In 1998, Freston married Kathy Freston, a former model, self-help author, and health and wellness expert.[11] They divorced in 2014.
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Television Hall of Fame Class of 2011
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