HBO & MTV
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HBO & MTV ⋆
Click here to learn more about Bill’s 33-year trailblazing career in media and business.
MTV (1989-2011)
Peak MTV (1995-2010)
Bill and Bon Jovi at the EMA's in Madrid, November 2010
This 'business card' actually is an MTV trade ad, created by MTV Networks for the the UN Global Citizen of the Year Award, 2009
Sony congratulates Bill on his achievements
Bill visits MTV Japan, 2009.
Bill & Lil Kim at the 2009 EMA's in Berlin
Bill and Katy Perry at the 2009 EMA's in Berlin
Bill with the Foo Fighters at the VMAs
At the 2009 Mandarin Music Honors being interviewed by MTV VJ's.
Backstage with (from left) Bono and Bob Geldof at the Japan Music Awards in 2008
Backstage with Snoop at the 2007 EMA's in Munich.
Bill with wife Alex, children - Noa, Liam, Rocky and Tiger and friend, Wyclef Jean.
2006 MTV Turkey launch with our Turkey GM, Esra Oflaz Güvenkaya
With Daniel Craig, EMA Awards, Copenhagen 2006.
With P Diddy at the EMA's in Copenhagen.
With actress/rocker Juliette Lewis on the red carpet at the 2006 EMA's in Copenhagen
In Copenhagen congratulating Rihanna in 2006.
On the red carpet with the Sugarbabes at the 2006 EMA's in Copenhagen.
Bill with Justin Timberlake, 2006
Bill with a Thai VJ at the 2006 MTV Asia Awards in Bangkok
China Music Online and China Mobile deal with MTV, circa 2006
With the MTV team in Beijing in 2006.
With the band Lordi, which won the Eurovision Song Contest, on the red carpet at the 2006 EMA's in Copenhagen.
Bill with Paul McCartney
With the Black Eyed Peas and South African singer Lebo Mathosa (who later tragically died in an auto accident), at the EMAs in Lisbon in 2005.
![[Then] British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, fielding difficult questions from a worldwide MTV audience and Sir Bob Geldof, 2005](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64482d6c32c5f60e577356b8/b42170a7-650d-4336-8926-d30822cf71e6/140804286747a1da27b3127cce9854897aeafb00000015100abn3llo5ys2ea-1.jpg)
[Then] British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, fielding difficult questions from a worldwide MTV audience and Sir Bob Geldof, 2005
Alex Roedy with Robert Kraft, CEO of the New England Patriots, who was a new Viacom board member at the time
MTV China staff, early 2000s
MTV staff party celebrating the China mobile deal
Bill and Sumner Redstone in Japan
On a Beijing stage speaking to MTV Networks' Nickelodeon staff planning the launch of Nick in China in 2005.
With Sumner Redstone, holding the MTV EMA trophy
Mexico, 2004 - Sumner Redstone, Carl Folta, Antoinette Zel, Bill, and Paula Fortunato
with MTV staff at the pre-show dinner party for the 2003 EMAs in Edinburgh, Scotland
Bill on the cover of BusinessWeek in 2002 with Jolin Tsai and TaTu
A Wallstreet Journal ad for a CNBC Profile on Bill that aired in 2002. Click to watch!
at the MTV Asia Awards in Singapore, 2002
MTVNI executive team, 2000
A playful note from Tom Freston: "She's taller than you!"
Bill with Enya, Rob Dickins, and Tom Freston in the late 1990's
MTV trade ad from 1997
Sony congratulates MTV Europe on 15 years of success, Billboard magazine, Sept. 13 1997
Original Launch team for MTV Latin America headquartered on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Oct. 1996
MTV Latin America, Miami Beach, 1996
Bill with Antoinette Zel (CEO) and Tom Freston (Chairman) of MTVN Latin America at the Latin America VMA's, 1996
Juanes and Paulina Rubio, MTV Latin America, Miami 1996
Bill and Tom with Paulina Rubio at the Latin America VMA's
The execs of MTVNLA with Carlos Santana at the Latin America VMA's
Tom Freston, Michelle X, Carlos Santana, MTV LATAM CEO Antoinette Zel, and Bill
The MTVNLA Execs with Johnny Knoxville
MTV Latin America headquartered on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Oct. 1996
Singapore MTV launch with Michelle Yeoh in the front
Many know this iconic photo but few know its ties to MTV... In 1996, during the first national Presidential election in Russia, Yeltsin modeled his campaign after the Choose or Lose MTV campaign to encourage youth voting in Russia (also known as Rock the Vote in the USA). Soon after the famous dance, Yeltsin survived a heart attack.
Bill being interviewed during the 1996 Russian elections
MTV launch in Ukraine, 1996
MTV launch in Ukraine, 1996
Early MTV (1989-1994)
MTV Ski in Chile, 1995
The joke pin a staff member gave Bill for his frequent "apology tours" to China
Bill and Tom Freston with well known investor Mario Gabelli and Paramount's Jonathan Dolgen at a Paramount premiere
The Cardigans
Tom Freston and I ran into Salman Rushdie when he was hiding out at Bono's house
With Seymour Stein, Rob Dickins, and Claude Nobs
a weekend spent with Rod Stewart at Rob Dickin's house
Phil Collins
Meatloaf and Harvey Goldsmith
MTV execs at the Barcelona olympics
John Mellencamp and the Viacom execs - Bill, John Sykes, Philippe Dauman, Tom Dooley, and Judy McGrath
with MTV Asia staff
Shot during one of Bill's many "Town Hall" meetings. MTV Europe headquarters in the former TV-AM building in Hawley Crescent, London, early 1994
MTV Europe's relocation to the Breakfast Television Centre building on Regent’s Canal. Bill purchased the building—complete with three fully equipped studios and all the broadcasting equipment—for only $3.2 million.
Recording broadcasts onsite in the “engine room” meant musicians were constantly wandering the halls. Working there was like being at the epicenter of the entire music world.
Lisa Loeb was an example of one of the many performing artists who passed through the MTV EU in-house our studio downstairs at the former TV-AM building.
with Lisa Loeb and a portrait of Lenin in the MTV Europe headquarters, 1994
Bill with Peter Einstein and Marc Conneely in Moscow
A little girl in Morocco holding an MTV balloon and pin Bill gave her, 1991
A playful note from Tom Freston: "She's taller than you!"
Forest Gump and Bill photoshopped by Rob Dickins, Warner Music Chairman
With Aerosmith at the first-ever MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin, 1994.
A bold ad positioning MTV as "fresher" than the BBC.
Bill at an event with his Asian team in Singapore in the mid 1990s.
Bill and Marc Conneely on the iconic light pole in Bucharest, 1994
1994 VH1 UK launch with Kyle McLaughlin, Naomi Campbell
Celebrating at an MTV sales conference. From the laughter it could have been anywhere. The details were lost sometime late in the evening.
At Gracie Mansion for a VMA reception with key MTV partners and execs
Giving Richard Attenborough an award for his acting in Jurassic Park
At an MTV Europe Christmas Party with Ray Cokes circa 1992.
with Georgia Arnold, head of MTV Staying Alive
with Brian Diamond (MTV Talent and Relations) and Chris Noth (Sex and the City) at the 1993 Zooropa U2 show
with MTV VJ's Davina McCall, Simone Angel, Camila Raznovich; MTV exec Christine Gorham
Bill and Tom Freston at the Reykjavik House, where the Reykjavík Summit meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev took place
MTV Europe strategy meeting at the Reykjavik House
The MTV Europe press team after bringing Jon Bon Jovi into the Houses of Pariament, November 1992
The MTV Europe house band, "Take This, F*** That"
MTV holiday party in the early 1990s
With Joe Cocker for his MTV Unplugged set at Montreaux Jazz Fest, 1992
Bill and Tom Freston in London, early 1990's
Behind the scenes with Maiken Wexø, Ray Cokes, Marcel Vanthilt, and Kristiane Backer all key figures in MTV’s European programming.
With Brian Diamond, head of Talent and Relations
MTV Staff with the Dutch pop duo Loïs Lane, one of the many artists MTV Europe helped amplify during the ‘90s. They instantly entered heavy rotation after I mentioned that I liked them once in a music video curation meeting… I stopped attending to make sure our selection reflected teenage tastes, not those of a 40-something CEO!
At the original office on Mandela Street in Camden, London
Magyar TV "MTV" building in Budapest, 1991
The "MTV" sign is now off… 30 years later
Launching MTV in Israel, 1991
In Beirut, Lebanon with (from left) MTV's Christine Gorham, our partner Osama, me, the Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Rebecca De Ruvo, Marc Conneely and another government aide.
Lebanon, 1991
MTV trade ad from 1990
It was a full-circle moment in Russia with Coca-Cola, one of our very first advertisers. In the early days, we had run their high-quality ads for free, using them to help attract other brands as we grew.
MTV strategy meeting in Sicily, 1990
We grew MTV across the continent using an aggressive, creative, and relentless distribution strategy inspired by Bill's military background and love for geopolitics.
The only MTV logo Bill designed: a map of Europe to show his militant approach to expanding the brand
Vilnius, Lithuania, 1990. The city was still occupied by elite Black Beret Russian troops. Inside the barricaded office of Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis, he and Bill discussed bringing MTV to Lithuania—the first nation to break from the Soviet Union, taking an irrevocable step toward democracy.
Renewing MTV's seven-year contract with Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) in 1989, who developed the groundbreaking satellite Astra 1, making television widely accessible across Europe and helped connect millions, even behind the Iron Curtain.
1989: The original MTV Europe team in an autographed group portrait by renowned photographer Terry O’Neill. Some of them became household names across the continent. Pip Dann, Maiken Wexo, Brent Hansen, Brian Diamond, Steve Blame, Frank Brown, Paul King, Ray Cokes.
Bill in the first MTV HQ - a small office in Camden
Border guards with Bill's MTV umbrella at the fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
HBO (1970-1977)
At a Viacom event in the early 90's (from left) all ex HBO'ers - Bill, Tony Cox, Frank Biondi, Ed Horowitz, Matt Blank and Henry Schliff.
Century Tower Plaza newsletter announcing HBO's new office location
Bill in his New York office surrounded by his National Accounts colleagues at HBO
The HBO team some years later
Bill with The Spinners, a motown group, 1985
With Jack Hayes and Bill's boss at HBO, Stan Thomas in the early 1980's.
George Bullock and Bill, selling HBO subscriptions on a local cable system.
Pioneers of Cable TV (from left) Tom Oliver, George Bullock (TCI Head of Marketing), Bill, and TCI's President J.C. Sparkman.
TCI's JC Sparkman and Dolly Parton in the early 80's, celebrating an HBO launch.
Bill in his early years at HBO