Electus Appoints Veteran Television Executive Bruce Seidel as CEO of Electus' New Food-Centric YouTube Channel

NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben Silverman's multimedia entertainment studio Electus, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), today announced that former Senior Vice President of Programming for Cooking Channel, Bruce Seidel, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Electus' new food-centric YouTube channel, slated to officially launch in July 2012. Seidel began his post as CEO on January 23rd, where he is responsible for running the channel, including leading all creative, programming, scheduling, production, and marketing, as well as interfacing with advertising clients. Seidel will report directly to Electus COO and Head of Digital, Drew Buckley.

With more than fifteen years of creating and scheduling programming for leading food television networks, including Food Network, Cooking Channel and Animal Planet, Seidel will apply his expertise of creating top-rated, compelling food-based original content to the Web, with Electus' yet-to-be-named, food-centric YouTube channel.

"Bruce Seidel's life-long talent and passion for food, cooking and entertainment, combined with his outstanding work rebranding the Food Network and launching Cooking Channel, both online and offline, was a driving force behind our decision to ask him to lead this charge," said Ben Silverman, Chairman and Founder of Electus. "Bruce is uniquely qualified to build and popularize our slate of food programming in a way that hasn't been done on the Web."

"Great talent moves like this exemplify the relentless commitment by our partners and the overall velocity of the online video space," said Robert Kyncl, Global Head of Content for YouTube. "We look forward to collaborating with Bruce and the entire Electus team in the months ahead."

Conceptualized in partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world's leading entertainment and sports agency, Electus' food-centric YouTube channel combines the food television leadership of Seidel with the online and mobile audience and bandwidth of leading foodie site Urbanspoon, to create the perfect blend of strong characters and unique personalities with real, helpful and most importantly, highly entertaining tidbits on everything food.  The participating chefs will create amazing, accessible dishes, in ways never seen before, and will explore the world of food for a new generation of passionate food fanatics. CAA will access its extensive resources to create unique programming opportunities on behalf of the channel.

"Electus is at the forefront of creating cutting-edge programming for all platforms including the web, and I am so pleased to join their team and lead this exciting new initiative," said Bruce Seidel, CEO of Electus' food-centric YouTube channel. "It is thrilling to invent a new digital television food model for a new generation, using the tried and true lessons of mainstream networks, while also being able to really push the boundaries."

Before joining Electus, Seidel held the position of Senior Vice President of Programming for Cooking Channel where he was responsible for leading program development, acquisitions, production and scheduling for the newest Scripps Networks Interactive network. Prior to his work at Cooking Channel, Seidel held the title of Senior Vice President of Program Planning and Special Productions at The Food Network where he developed and oversaw some of Food Network's top-rated programs, including The Next Food Network Star, Worst Cooks In America, Iron Chef America, The Next Iron Chef, the record-setting White House special Iron Chef America: Super Chef Battle and was responsible for importing the original Japanese version of Iron Chef. Seidel also brought in popular British culinary programs featuring national food stars Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. Seidel began his career at the William Morris Agency as an agent trainee in the television division, and then in development at HBO. He later went on to work at Animal Planet where he built co-productions with the BBC and oversaw program scheduling.  He was also with Discovery Communications where he served in the development and co-production areas for Discovery Channel Worldwide.

About Electus

Electus is the first integrated multimedia entertainment studio to unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof and produce all forms of content for distribution across a variety of platforms around the world. Headed by Ben Silverman in partnership with IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), the company connects advertisers, distributors and content creators early on in the development process, enabling marketers and advertisers to be a true partner in campaigns and content creation. Electus International, the global distribution arm of Electus, is responsible for all international sales and distribution for Electus' programming and its studio partners as well as programs and formats from other well-known 3rd party providers. For more information on Electus, visit www.electus.com.

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SOURCE Electus