CBS’ syndication division, CBS Television Distribution, has been rebranded to CBS Media Ventures, overseeing production, distribution, ad sales and partnerships, said Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures, on Monday.

“Syndication has traditionally meant distribution, but as the media landscape has evolved so have we,” said LoCascio in a statement. “In addition to our core business of producing and distributing leading first-run series, we also have a robust ad sales and partnerships business, create digital content for multiple platforms and run the lifestyle network Dabl. This new name better reflects who we are and positions us for limitless opportunities in the future.”

Accompanying the name change is a new brand identity that aligns with CBS’ new overall brand strategy and unification program, developed by CBS President and Chief Marketing Officer Mike Benson and his team, with design support from Brooklyn, NY-based creative agency Gretel. The new branding for CBS Media Ventures will now align with the master CBS brand and other business units across the company, designed to create a unified and consistent look and feel across all of CBS.

CBS Media Ventures’ new branding still features the CBS Eye in a consistent and cohesive manner with the new master CBS brand, but calls out key CMV business areas with the tagline: Production + Licensing + Ad Sales and Partnerships. The division will also use its own version of the new CBS five-note mnemonic on its programming, with the last note ending on a lower tone.

“It was important for us to evolve CBS Media Ventures’ name, look and feel under the new CBS brand strategy in a cohesive way,” Benson said in a statement. “The new brand identity of CMV will uniquely align with the other divisions of the company in a way that will emphasize our unified strength across all facets of the media industry.”

CBS Media Ventures produces and/or distributes 11 first-run syndicated TV series, including syndication’s top show in households, Judge Judy, as well as top games Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, both of which are produced by Sony Pictures Television. CMV also houses production for and distributes top talker Dr. Phil, and produces and distributes top two magazines Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. Also produced and distributed by CMV are Rachael Ray, The Doctors, Hot Bench, DailyMailTV and rookier talker The Drew Barrymore Show.

Beyond its own shows, CMV also handles national barter advertising sales for third parties including Debmar-Mercury’s syndicated programming Family Feud and Wendy Williams and Fox’s first-run series 25 Words or Less and Divorce Court.

In addition, the division operates Dabl, a multiplatform, advertiser-supported lifestyle network that debuted on Sept. 9, 2019, and is cleared in 95% of the country

Tags: cbs cbs media ventures cbs television distribution rebrand viacomcbs


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