NEW YORK, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group announced the promotion of digital executive Jason Root to Senior Vice President, Digital, Nick.com and Nickatnite.com. The announcement was made by Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President, Digital Media for Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, to whom Mr. Root will continue to report.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070912/NYW108 )

"Jason has helped Nickelodeon be a leader online within the kids' demographic with initiatives like the New Game of the Week franchise, TurboNick, and Nicktropolis. He has been an integral component of growing Nickelodeon's digital business," said Mr. Youngwood. "As we continue to evolve in digital media as a company, Jason will ensure that we provide kids and families with the best interactive entertainment possible."

As Senior Vice President, Mr. Root will oversee all management and creative operations for the top kids' site Nick.com, as well as the growth and development of NickatNite.com, Nicktoonsnetwork.com, Nicktropolis.com -- the fastest growing youth virtual world -- and Nickelodeon's innovative broadband video site, TurboNick.com. He will guide the development of immersive sites for all Nickelodeon hit television properties, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Naked Brothers Band and Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as many other online Nick initiatives such as Kids Pick the President and Kids' Choice Awards. His team will also focus on developing new digital-first ways to help incubate properties and characters.

In addition, Mr. Root will play a key role in expanding Nick's online gaming efforts, including the existing franchise New Game of the Week, giving it a multiplayer focus. The first new effort in this space is 3D Slimeball on Nick.com. His group will also build multiplayer cooperative gaming into Nicktropolis, complementing the video, safe chat, and virtual economy capabilities already integrated into that site.

Mr. Root is responsible for establishing Nick.com as an industry leader and first-mover in kid-safe gaming, interactive content, personalization and communication tools. Under his leadership, Nickelodeon online brands have become a leading destination for kids, attracting millions of unique visitors. His team built Nicktropolis and TurboNick from the ground up, and both platforms have enjoyed meteoric growth in their early stages.

In his previous position as Vice President, Nick.com, Mr. Root worked closely with network executives to execute convergence and online interactivity around Nickelodeon's key properties and television events, including the network's 20th Annual Kids' Choice Awards overall online presence which set records for kid voting, and "BubbleCast," an early ground-breaking TV and online play-along application that Mr. Root co-created. Some of his recent successes include the interactive portion of Nickelodeon's ME:TV -- the first television programming block featuring user-generated content provided by kids -- and the online vote-driven SpongeBob's Best Day Ever convergent event. Under his leadership, Nick.com has continued to hit new traffic highs and has garnered two prestigious Webby Awards.

Root is a seven year veteran of Nickelodeon and Nick.com. Prior to joining the company, he held several new media management positions at the Walt Disney Company, most notably in the Disney Online group. Previously he was with Rabbit Ears Productions, a small multimedia family entertainment company. He is a graduate of Bates College and lives with his wife and four children in Connecticut.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 94 million households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. .

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.nickatnite.com/
http://www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/
http://www.nicktropolis.com/
http://www.turbonick.com/