Fahey Rush Takes Unifying Insight Role at Viacom

Global media giant Viacom has promoted Colleen Fahey Rush to EVP, Insights & Audience Science, and Chief Research Officer of its Viacom Media Networks subsidiary, effective immediately.

Reporting to Sarah Levy, COO of the Global Entertainment Group, Fahey Rush will be responsible for Viacom Media Networks' now united Research & Audience Science team. She will continue to lead the central Research & Analytics function, but will also assume oversight of the dedicated research teams for MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, as well as the group's Audience Science team, which focuses on advanced digital products and solutions. The Nickelodeon Research team will continue to have a dotted line report to Rush.

She began her career at CBS, where she held a series of positions at the company's O&Os and broadcast network, and then served as Director of Research at Telemundo. She then became Associate Partner and Director of Research at J. Walter Thompson, and joined MTV Networks in 1996 as VP of Research for VH1. While working as EVP, Strategic Insights and Research at MTVN she joined the board of the ARF and became Head of the Executive Committee at industry body the CIMM (Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement) - both ongoing. She was first given a CRO role - for MTVN - in 2011.

Levy says: 'In Colleen's 20 years at Viacom, she has been invaluable in helping us to better understand the quickly evolving media landscape - making us smarter on topics ranging from new consumption trends to emerging technologies and cross-platform measurement tools. As research and analytics increasingly support everything we do, I am confident that having Colleen at the helm will allow us to unlock an ever growing number of valuable insights into our audiences'. Rush herself says the role will help 'move the company closer to becoming One Viacom… bringing together the incredibly talented executives in our newly united Research & Audience Science group'.

Web site: www.viacom.com .