Longtime film and TV producer Brian Robbins has been hired to nudge Viacom Inc.'s popular children's entertainment channel, Nickelodeon, into the digital age.
Viacom on Monday announced that Robbins has been appointed Nickelodeon's president, managing the creative and business operations at the channel behind such shows as "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Dora the Explorer" and "Paw Patrol." Robbins will report to Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish.
Robbins has had plenty of success developing programming for younger audiences. In 2012, he founded the online platform Awesomeness, which proved particularly adept at attracting young viewers _ at a time when such legacy services as Nickelodeon were struggling to figure out a digital strategy.
He directed the 1999 movie "Varsity Blues" and later became an accomplished television producer behind such shows as "Smallville," the Superman prequel for the WB network; "One Tree Hill," the long-running teen soap on the CW network; and the Disney Channel's "Sonny with a Chance."
At Nickelodeon, he will be tasked with reinvigorating the brand to appeal to "a new generation of young audiences, including further bolstering its content pipeline through a mix of new and legacy franchises, and accelerating its push into next-generation platforms and feature film," Viacom said in a statement.
"Brian is a creative powerhouse who has spent his career on the front lines of our industry, anticipating and driving changes in television, film and digital media," Bakish said in a statement.
Robbins takes over for longtime Nickelodeon chief Cyma Zarghami, who stepped down earlier this year.
"I'm thrilled to return to Nickelodeon and draw on its many strengths _ including its rich library and rapidly growing studio production business _ to deliver must-see content to kids on every platform around the world. During this time of upheaval in big media, I can't wait to disrupt the disrupters," Robbins said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Robbins was named president of Paramount Pictures' Paramount Players division, where he was charged with developing programming that could be developed into feature films. Among his various film credits are Disney's "Wild Hogs" and "The Shaggy Dog," and DreamWorks' "Norbit."
Viacom said that in his new role, Robbins would remain involved in the creation, production and marketing of all Nickelodeon co-branded films, including "Dora the Explorer" and "Rugrats" projects.
Paramount Pictures plans to launch a search for a new head for Paramount Players with Wyck Godfrey, president of Paramount Pictures' motion picture group overseeing day-to-day operations in the meantime.
