Viacom’s BET is shoring up its marketing and communications team to support digital expansion and original programming. The changes include a new integrated marketing department. Two senior hires come from AOL.
—Janet Rolle joins as EVP & CMO; most recently she was VP & GM of AOL Black Voices and Women’s and Lifestyle Programming, overseeing content and editorial programming for Black Voices and various sites. She was at MTVN prior to AOL in various VP positions at VH1 and CMT. At BET Rolle is responsible domestic marketing activities for each of its cable television networks, the newly formed Digital Media Group (BET.com, BET Mobile, and BET OnDemand, etc.), and current new business initiatives (BET Home Entertainment, BET Pictures, etc.).
—Alvin Bowles joins BET as SVP-Integrated Marketing ; he was publisher of AOL Black Voices, responsible for multicultural sales across AOL Media Networks. Before that he was in the Time Warner Corporate Global Marketing Group; he also worked at Sony Music and JP Morgan.
—Jeanine Liburd moves to BET as SVP-Communications and Public Affairs after seven years at corporate Viacom, most recently as SVP-corporate communications.
All three will report directly to BET chairman and CEO Debra Lee.