Petry Taps Former MTV, CBS Superbowl Halftime Show Exec

Vanessa Hambidge, former VP of integrated
solutions at MTV Networks ad sales in New York, and one of the executives
responsible for the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl reveal back in
2004, has joined Petry Media as their VP of marketing.

It is a new position in which she will leverage
her multiplatform experience in cross-promoting sports and entertainment
across Petry's own multiplatform of rep firm Petry Television, online TV
station site ad sales arm Petry Digital, and domestic and
international cable sales unit Petry Network.

Hambidge was most recently doing independent
consulting, but at Viacom's MTV, she developed integrated packages for big
events like the MTV Video Music Awards and series The Hills and The Real World.
Before that she was with CBS Sports (CBS and Viacom are co-owned), where
she also handled big events including "operational responsibility"
for NFL time on the network, according to her bio. 

Among other things, she also had "oversight
of Viacom's Super Bowl XXXV and XXXVIII efforts and the MTV-produced halftime
show."

That would famously include the 2004 half-time
"reveal" number that became a focus of FCC indecency enforcement.
Hambidge confirmed that connection via a Petry spokesperson, but declined to
comment about that part of her career or what her plans were for the new Petry
post.

It is worth noting that she remained with CBS for
several years following the controversial half-time show.

Her resume also includes the position of manager,
U.S. television sales and programming, for International Management Group.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.