The company formerly known as CKx, which owns the rights to American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, has relaunched as Core Media Group,
Inc.
As part of the relaunch, Core Media Group, owned by Apollo Global
Management since its acquisition in 2011, has named four new executives to its
management team.
"With an increasing demand for original programming on
traditional broadcast and cable television, as well as the proliferation of
digital distribution platforms with their own original content needs, there has
never been a better time to be a creator and owner of content," said Core Media
Group president Marc Graboff, who joined the company earlier in the year. "We
have an extraordinary base of existing assets and an infrastructure that makes
us uniquely suited to exploit our intellectual property across all revenue
streams, including licensing, merchandising and integrated marketing. Our mandate is to grow the assets we have,
and cultivate new ones, to become a real presence as a platform agnostic
producer and owner of content."
In addition to American
Idol and So You Think You Can Dance,
assets owned by Core Media Group include the Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali
enterprises. The company, whose headquarters are in New York City, operates its
19 Entertainment creative production, recording, touring and artists management
arm out of Los Angeles.
Among the appointments are: Peter Hurwitz, named to executive
VP and general counsel; Kay Straky, executive VP of human resources; Matt Apfel,
chief digital officer; Jason Morey, executive VP and worldwide head of music,
19 Entertainment.
Tom Benson remains as chief financial officer for Core
Media Group. Jack Soden, CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., will also
remain in his position, which he has held since 1990.
"Our focus now is to take Core to the next level. This means everything from creative content,
and new means of distribution to changing the way we partner with sponsors,
producers and artists to grow our business," said Graboff. "These executives have the broad
institutional knowledge combined with a deep understanding of how to accomplish
all of our goals, and I am thrilled to welcome them to Core."
