Twelve Major Broadcast Groups Establish Executive Steering Committee for Mobile Content Venture (MCV)

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Content Venture (MCV), the recently-announced mobile content joint venture comprised of 12 major broadcast groups, today announced that Erik Moreno, SVP of Corporate Development for Fox Networks Group, and Salil Dalvi, SVP of Mobile Platform Development for NBC Universal Digital Distribution, have been appointed interim Co-General Managers. The 12 broadcast groups included in MCV are Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Fox, Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., ION Television, Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., NBC, Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media.

Moreno and Dalvi will work closely with the venture's newly-established executive steering committee, which includes: Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations, Rich Battista, EVP of News Corporation, David Lougee, President of Gannett Broadcasting, Roger Keating, SVP of Digital Media for Hearst Television, Brandon Burgess, Chairman and CEO of ION Television, Jean-Briac Perrette, President of Digital and Affiliate Distribution of NBC Universal and John Wallace, President of NBC Local Media.

As Co-General Managers of MCV, Dalvi and Moreno will be responsible for leading product development, network planning and distribution efforts for the planned service, which will utilize existing broadcast spectrum to enable its partners to deliver content to mobile devices. Dalvi and Moreno will be dedicated to leading the venture while remaining in their current roles at NBCU and Fox, respectively.

"Erik and Salil have worked together effectively during the initial stages of this venture, and are immensely qualified to lead both the product and business development aspects of the service as it gets closer to launch," said Battista. "All the partners in the venture are committed to delivering a product that offers consumers incredible live and on-demand mobile media experiences, and we look forward to working closely with Salil and Erik to make that goal a reality."

"Consumers have shown an increasingly explosive appetite for mobile," added Perrette. "Over the past several months, Salil and Erik have helped us make significant progress towards the next generation of mobile services. We are excited to expand our commitment by having these talented executives lead the efforts with our new partners."

Erik Moreno is SVP of Corporate Development at Fox Networks Group (FNG), a role in which he identifies new business and strategic opportunities across Fox's entertainment properties; manages activities related to corporate acquisitions and joint ventures; and engages in other related opportunities across a variety of News Corporation's business units. Moreno joined FNG in 2008, having served as Director of Corporate Development for eBay. While at eBay, he was a member of the team responsible for all merger and acquisition activities, equity investments and large business development transactions across the eBay businesses. Previously, Moreno served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Level 3 Communications and also on Wall Street as an M&A investment banker at Gleacher & Co. and Bear Stearns.

Salil Dalvi is the Senior Vice President of Mobile Platform Development, NBC Universal Digital Distribution, where he is responsible for overseeing the company's mobile content growth strategy, product development and operations. In addition to oversight of the development and launch of several mobile content services for the company -- including live TV, VOD, mobile web and mobile apps -- he recently played a key role in the company's mobile content efforts for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. An industry leader, Dalvi was recognized by Multichannel News' "40 under 40" list and was named on Korn/Ferry's 25 Most Influential South Asian Executives list for the best Digital Executive in 2009.

About Mobile Content Venture

Mobile Content Venture (MCV) is a joint venture that includes Fox, ION Television, NBC and Pearl Mobile DTV. Pearl Mobile DTV is a standalone entity through which its nine broadcaster owners are participating in the MCV venture. The Pearl companies include: Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media. MCV aims to develop a new national mobile content service by utilizing existing broadcast spectrum to enable member companies to deliver content to mobile devices, including live and on-demand video, local and national news from print and electronic sources, as well as sports and entertainment programming.

SOURCE MCV