Benjamin Cox elevated from Nickelodeon GM to Viacom CBS VP role
After three and a half years as general manager at Nickelodeon, Benjamin Cox has become vice president of business development, pay and growth projects at the parent company for the children’s channel, Viacom CBS.
A Viacom CBS spokesperson confirmed Cox will oversee the operations of the company’s subscription brands across the Australian and New Zealand market, including his former workplace Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.
He will also be responsible for growing new revenue streams.
Cox is taking on a VP role at ViacomCBS
“Ben is a fantastic operator and we’re thrilled to have him lead such important functions for the company,” the spokesperson said.
Cox joined Nickelodeon in 2017, setting up the brand in the AUNZ market after sitting on the board for the joint venture between Nickelodeon and Foxtel for almost three years. That board position overlapped with his eight years at Foxtel, and four years at Austar before that, prior to the subscription TV service becoming a part of Foxtel.
At Foxtel, Cox held a number of roles, climbing the ranks to become general manager of content aggregation, a position he held for seven months before joining Nickelodeon.
At least 290 jobs have been slashed at Foxtel as the business navigates the impact of COVID-19, with a further 140 team members stood down.
Last month, Viacom CBS became the sales representatives for Foxtel’s new music brands, including MTV Hits, Club MTV, MTV Classic and CMT (Country Music Channel). MTV is a Viacom CBS brand. Ten, also a Viacom CBS brand, announced its new multi-channel, Shake, this week, shortly after revealing a $226m loss, with a $10.7m write off in programming costs and nearly $50m in contracts.
The company shuttered its news and lifestyle site 10 Daily in the midst of COVID-19’s decimation of the local media landscape, but assured the market the closure was “not a reaction” to the pandemic. In April, it reduced staff hours as part of its COVID-19 response.
In March, it was announced that Ten chief executive Paul Anderson would step down just two months after his remit was expanded to include responsibility for Viacom CBS. Rather than directly replacing the role, Beverley McGarvey was promoted to chief content officer and executive vice president across both Ten and Viacom CBS.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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