TORONTO and NEW YORK – Viacom’s Comedy Central reached across the border to find its executive vice-president of marketing, Toronto’s Walter Levitt.
Levitt, who will begin his new job in New York in two weeks, is the former chief marketing officer at Canwest Global, where he was in charge of brand strategy, advertising, on-air promotion, publicity and content distribution for Global Television and 19 specialties such as HGTV Canada, History Television, IFC Canada, Movietime, National Geographic Canada, Showcase and TVTropolis.
In his new job, Levitt will be overseeing all facets of strategic and creative brand development, consumer marketing and cross-business initiatives for Comedy Central, whose primary operation is a 100-million-subscriber strong U.S. cable channel (that’s more than three times the population of Canada, if you’re keeping score).
Comedy Central has a lot more on offer, besides the main channel and comedycentral.com, such as other web presences like jokes.com, atom.com, a live act touring company, a record company and video production business. The cable channel is also carried in 40 million homes outside of the United States. “It’s a massive, multi-tentacled brand,” he told Cartt.ca in an interview.
Levitt (right) says the size of the channel’s subscriber roll compared to the specialties he helped run with Canwest Global and before that, Alliance Atlantis, isn’t at all daunting and that he’s “excited” to start working.
It’s rare for a Canadian media executive with Levitt’s pedigree and accomplishments to make the jump to such a position in the States from Canada, but he believes it shows “there’s no question we know what we’re doing in Canada.”
While there’s been some crossover, “Folks in Canadian media do tend to stay in Canadian media,” he added. “But, in a more consolidated media environment in Canada there are just fewer and fewer opportunities and I think what this really says is what we do in Canada is world class and any sense that somehow as Canadian media executives, we live in the shadow of the U.S…. I think this reinforces we can do as well or better than anyone else in the world.”
“The challenges are not all that different from here,” he added. “It’s a big brand with lots of different pieces but it’s a brand I love – a brand I’ve always loved… it’s one of the few brands that I would consider moving to the U.S. for.” (With his family in Toronto, Levitt will be commuting back and forth from his New York base on weekends, using Skype, Blackberrys and other technology to stay in touch.)
"Walter’s experience and pedigree are unparalleled,” said Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless in the press release. “He has been masterful at building consistent brand messaging across multiple screens. We’re thrilled to have him bring his talents to Comedy Central and are grateful that he holds no animosity towards the network that helped coin the phrase ‘Blame Canada.’"
"As a media marketer, the opportunity to lead the Comedy Central brand is a rare treat. I look forward to working with the talented team here," said Levitt. "And, on behalf of all the citizens of Canada, I hereby officially pardon the network for that whole ‘Blame Canada’ thing."
– Greg O’Brien
