NEW YORK, January 20, 2006 – Rainbow Media announced today that Catherine Mullen has been named Executive Vice President and General Manager for fuse, the nation's only music-centric, viewer driven television network. In this role, Ms. Mullen will report to Andrea Greenberg, President of Rainbow Media Ventures and oversee the day-to-day operations of the network. This appointment further strengthens fuse's senior management team, positioning the network for significant growth in 2006 and beyond.
At fuse, Ms. Mullen will spearhead all programming, marketing, and development activities for the network and its digital offerings, including on-line, on-demand and mobile applications. Ms. Mullen will also be responsible for expanding fuse's current interactive offerings and further developing content and branding initiatives across new media platforms, all designed to broaden the channel's coveted community of young adults.
"Catherine's experience, vision and leadership will undoubtedly further our mission to deliver innovative and compelling, music-centric content across all media platforms" said Greenberg. "Catherine is one of the industry's most experienced and dynamic executives. She has a track record of success and possesses the unique combination of strategic business, managerial, programming and marketing skills necessary to take fuse to its next level.
"I am thrilled to join the entire fuse team at what is a very exciting time at the network," said Mullen. "fuse is synonymous with edgy, groundbreaking content and it's my goal to not only keep the brand's integrity intact but to further strengthen the network's overall vision."
Prior to fuse, Ms. Mullen was General Manager at MTV UK and Ireland. During her tenure, she led the networks to historic levels of growth, reversing a five-year trend of declining ratings and market share. Under her leadership, Mullen launched TRL from Leicester Square, championed the UK version of Pimp My Ride, which achieved premiere ratings, on par with the launch of The Osbournes in the UK, and green-lit Dirty Sanchez, MTV International's first-ever, profitable, long-form series franchise. While at MTV industry recognition included the non-terrestrial channel of the year at the Edinburgh TV Festival in 2003 and Urban Channel of the year in 2004. For MTV2, NME named it Channel of the Year in 2004. Prior to MTV, Mullen served as Senior Associate at Marakon Associates where she consulted on business and growth strategies for world-wide companies including Merrill Lynch and Coca-Cola. Mullen began her career at ABT Associates, one of the U.S. top public policy research firms. While at ABT, she leveraged the firm's skills in public policy to consult in the private sector.
About fuse
fuse is the nation's only music-centric, viewer-influenced television network, featuring music videos, exclusive artist interviews, live concerts and specials – all rooted in the music experience. fuse reflects the rapidly changing interests and attitudes of its 12-34 year-old audience by uniting the media platforms at the center of their communication and entertainment – TV, Web, mobile technologies and interactive gaming and by incorporating their opinions and suggestions into the network's on-air and online programming. More information about fuse is available at www.fuse.tv.