Viacom hires ex-NBCU execs in distribution rejig

US media giant Viacom has added a Dish Network programmer and former NBCUniversal (NBCU) exec to go with for internal promotions.

Josh Clark has joined Viacom’s distribution and business development unit as senior VP of distribution partnerships.

At satellite TV operator Dish, he was VP of programming, leading negotiations for broadcast and cable rights, and before that worked in digital distribution and business development at Comcast-owned NBCU.

His hire comes as Viacom also ups Samantha Cooper and Deena Demasi to executive VP level, and Andrew Borak and Sheri Weidner to senior VP.

Cooper has been with Viacom for 20 years, and is upped from an SVP post within the distribution sales unit.

In her new role, she will negotiate all linear and digital distribution deals across Viacom’s networks.

Demasi rises to EVP of distribution marketing. She had been SVP of content distribution, working within that team since 2004.

Cooper reports to EVP and head of distribution and business development Tom Gorke, while Demasi reports to Viacom Velocity EVP and chief marketing officer Dario Spina.

Credit Suisse director Richelle Clements has also been hired as SVP of deal finance.

Viacom has spent a large part of this year restructuring under new president and CEO Bob Bakish, whose early strategies have been markedly different to those of Philippe Dauman.