Q&A: MTV taps Dan Zilber as new Music Programming Manager
MTV Australia and New Zealand has appointed ex-FBi General Manager of Music Dan Zilber as its Music Programming Manager.
Zilber will be responsible for leading the Australia and NZmusic programming strategy on linear and digital platforms including MTV, MTV Music, MTV Dance and MTV Hits and MTV Classic in New Zealand.
Following his 11-year stint with Sydney’s FBi Radio, Zilber was a consultant to various companies on radio, internet and event programming strategies. Most recently, he took on the role of Head of Programming for the 2014 Electronic Music Conference’s two night showcase, EMC Play.
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Zilber began in the role just over aweek ago, leadinga newly-formed Sydney-based music programming team and reporting directly to Simon Bates, Director of MTV Australia and New Zealand.
Prior to Zilber's appointment, the role of AUNZ Music Programming Manager wasbased out of the MTV UK office. The decision to bring therole in-house coincides with the shift of MTV Music and MTV Dance onto the Foxtel Entry package, making the two 24-hour music channels available in an additional one million households across Australia.
TMN asks Zilber about his plans for MTV, what drew him to the role and his views on the media brand’s last 12 months.
What are your key pursuits as Programming Manager and what do you hope to implement from your time at FBi and asHead of Programming for EMC Play?
My priority is to firmly establish myself and my team as the direct conduit between the labels and the MTV platforms so there is a strategic multiplatform approach to showcase priority music and artists. I’ll bring my passion for Australian and emerging music from FBi, and my love of electronic music from EMC Play and inject these into the constant evolution of the brands. There’s so much that can be done and we have many platforms to connect with fans. Mtv.com.au is attracting record-breaking traffic and that gives me a great opportunity to work in tandem with the labels to make sure we’re leveraging all of our assets to help break an artist or support one of their biggest acts.
What's interesting to you about the MTV role?
I grew up on MTV, both the music videos and original TV series. As the media landscape changes, there aren’t many worldwide music brands left, but MTV has a really strong legacy. I’m in a bigger team, with greater resources to support artists, make great content and entertain viewers.It’s a new start full of possibilities and I’m looking forward to collaborating with Australian and Kiwi record labels to showcase priority and breaking artists. This is also a really exciting time to be joining a global platform like MTV because so many Aussie and Kiwi artists are breaking globally. I want us to be right at the forefront of breaking these artists and then developing a support strategy as they go big.
What can you say about MTV's year so far, as an observer?
It’s my first week, so I still have a lot to learn. But as an observer, I’ve seen the business evolve over the last year,but still manage to keep very focused on the essence of the brand. That’s not easy to do, and there is no denying that some of the most talked about pop culture moments still happen on MTV. I also completely agreed that Australia needed a 100% dance music channel, so when that was announced last year I really took note.
Most of all, it’s exciting to be joining a team that has developed MTV into one of the most social youth brands in Australia. The prospect of working on a brand that is so iconic as well as shaping MTV Music, MTV Dance, MTV Hits and MTV Classic with music and artist-driven programming that speaks directly to Australian and Kiwi audiences, is super exciting for me.
I’ve also observed how MTV is really supporting Australian and New Zealand artists globally. A year ago at the ARIA industry events, the industry was talking about the success of Lorde and Gotye. In 12 months, we’ve seen Iggy Azalea, 5 Seconds of Summer and Sia take off and being nominated and winning MTV VMA and EMAs. That’s really cool and makes me want to be part of building the trajectory of whoever is next.