Philadelphia, PA - November 27, 2006 - PBS KIDS
SproutSM, the first and only 24-hour preschool
destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5
and their parents and caregivers, announces the addition of three
key directors to the Sprout family. Adrienne Byrd, a seasoned
entertainment lawyer with over 15 years experience, has joined PBS
KIDS Sprout as Senior Director of Legal Affairs; Lauren Monks, a
marketing and affiliate sales professional with over 10 years
experience in partnership marketing, distribution strategy and
marketing communications has joined the network as Senior Director
of Marketing & Business Development; and Jennifer Molod, a
creative and technical marketing professional with over 13 years
experience, has joined the team as Director of Interactive.
Byrd will report directly to network President Sandy Wax, while
Monks and Molod will report to the Vice President of Marketing
Eileen Diskin.
"We are delighted to welcome Adrienne, Lauren and Jen to PBS
KIDS Sprout," said network president Sandy Wax. "Sprout just
celebrated its first birthday and continues to grow by leaps and
bounds. We are so happy to be adding three more savvy
professionals who are at the top of their games to our
network. I am confident that they will be tremendous assets
in assisting Sprout in its goal of becoming the premier
multi-platform destination for outstanding programming that kids
love and parents trust."
Byrd's responsibilities include providing legal support to the
PBS KIDS Sprout programming and marketing teams in all aspects of
the business. Most recently, Byrd was Senior Counsel at
Comcast Corporation in Philadelphia for three years where she
supported the legal needs of the programming affiliation
department, regional sports networks and subsidiary cable
networks. Prior to that, Byrd was Associate Counsel at Cole,
Raywid & Braverman, LLP in Washington, DC from 2000-2003.
She has also held Assistant or Associate General Counsel positions
at Radio One, Inc., Public Broadcasting Service's The Business
Channel and Black Entertainment Television, Inc.
Monks' responsibilities include leading the integrated marketing
and business development teams, and identifying opportunities that
create partnerships, awareness and drive distribution. Most
recently, Monks was National Director, Distribution Marketing at
Discovery Networks in Washington, DC. Since 1997, she has
held various positions of increasing responsibility at Discovery
Networks including Project Manager, Marketing Manager and Director
of National Accounts Marketing. Prior to her tenure at
Discovery, Monks was a Junior Account Executive at the AD Agency in
McLean, VA.
Molod oversees all aspects of Sprout's web site, including
project management, creative design, operations/infrastructure,
editorial content and marketing strategies. Molod most
recently served as the Interactive Director for Lenox, where she
was responsible for the e-commerce website. Prior to that,
she held various interactive and consumer marketing positions at
Pegasus Satellite Television, Barnes & Noble.com, Time
Warner/Time Inc. Magazines and Time Inc. Home
Entertainment.
About Sprout
PBS KIDS SproutSM, the first and only 24-hour preschool
destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5
and their parents and caregivers, was created as a partnership
among Comcast Corporation, the country's leading provider of cable,
entertainment and communications products and services; HIT
Entertainment, a leading provider of quality entertainment for
young children; PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), the most trusted
distributor of award-winning children's programming; and Sesame
Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame
Street.
Since debuting its video on demand (VOD) service in April 2005,
PBS KIDS Sprout has become the #1 Kids On Demand service,
generating over 100 million orders since launch. The 24-hour
digital channel, which launched in September 2005 along with the
website (www.sproutonline.com), is
available on digital cable and satellite to 20 million committed
subscribers. The network's program lineup of gold-standard,
curriculum-based children's shows includes: Sesame Street®,
Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™, Thomas & Friends™,
Angelina Ballerina™, Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat™,
Caillou™, The Berenstain Bears™, Jay Jay the Jet Plane™,
Teletubbies™, Dragon Tales™, Pingu™, Make Way For Noddy™, Jakers!
The Adventures of Piggley Winks™, and more.
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PRESS CONTACT:
Jenni Glenn
PBS KIDS Sprout
215.667.2703
jenni_glenn@sproutletsgrow.com