News
Heavy Canada Triples Revenue in Second Year
NEW YORK, NY – December 2, 2008 – Heavy.com, the Web’s leading independent video site, today announced the appointment of David U.K. as Managing Director of Heavy Worldwide. U.K. will oversee all revenue streams at the popular video brand for 18-49 year old men, which counts Molson Canada, Unilever, Virgin Mobile, Warner Bros. Canada, Labatt’s, Maple Pictures, Burger King, Mercedes, Bell Mobility, Toyota and Sony among its many advertisers. Co-CEOs and co-Founders Simon Assaad and David Carson made the announcement.
David U.K. formerly served as Vice President and General Manager of Heavy Canada, where revenues tripled since its 2007 launch. Overseeing Heavy’s Canadian business, U.K. managed all revenue, ad sales, affiliate relations, content development, licensing and distribution. U.K. is also responsible for having opened Heavy’s Toronto office, the first for the company outside of its New York City headquarters.
“David U.K. did wonders with the launch of Heavy Canada, producing figures that exceeded our wildest expectations,” said Assaad, co-founder and co-CEO Heavy. “It is our pleasure to expand his role and name him Managing Director of Heavy Worldwide, which includes Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.”
“In my relatively short time with Heavy, a lot has happened—we launched several original Canadian programming initiatives; Knob Hockey reached 1 Million viewers in Canada two years in a row; Canadian Contraband exceeded 7 Million streams, we received a Digital Marketing Award and launched three Heavy Television shows,” said U.K. “We closed several media up-fronts with premier agencies and clients such as Mediaedge:cia, Virgin Mobile, Warner Bros Canada and Maple Pictures. Our success is owed in a large part to a very strong and supportive client base that allows us to create digital branded programming that is both uniquely entertaining to our users and delivers key clever branding for our advertisers.”
Prior to Heavy, David U.K. launched and managed Standard Interactive, the interactive media division for Canada’s largest private broadcast company, Standard Broadcasting. As Vice President, Sales and Strategic Alliances, U.K.: developed the business model; managed sales and ad operations; led client services; oversaw affiliate site relations product management, developed strategic partnerships and managed non-traditional revenue opportunities. During his tenure at Standard Interactive, David U.K. increased gross revenues year-over-year, and the audience increased 636% with a 174% increase in ranking against the competition.
Prior to Standard Interactive, David held international management positions at a number of prominent media companies, including: Promenade Magazine; UGO Networks Inc., Shift Multimedia and TIME WARNER, among others.
Heavy recently announced the following new hires and promotions: Matthew Pennington, formerly of talkSPORT, is now Managing Director of its UK office; Vincent Lambino, formerly of Ripe TV, has joined as Director of Sales, Linda Gielniak, Detroit Sales Executive, was promoted to National Automotive Director and Edmond Krasniqi was promoted to Executive Director, Client Services, Worldwide.
About Heavy
Heavy.com is one of the web’s leading consumer video companies and the leader for 18-49 year old males, which is a key demographic for marketers and advertisers. Heavy combines its own unique original programming with those of its users to create an environment where you can control and even participate in your own personal video experience. Heavy’s original programming staples include “Knob Hockey”, "Canadian Contraband," “Flex and the City,” “Over the Hills,” “Superficial Friends,” “Heavy Music”, “The Kensington Report”, “Kung Fu Jimmy Chow", “Blisster,” “Behind the Music that Sucks,” and the Webby Award-winning “Burly Sports Show.” Heavy’s original programming is available in Canada on Virgin Mobile Canada, TiVo, Sony PSP and Apple iPod. Heavy launched several Television Shows in Canada on Alliance Atlantis’ IFC, Showcase Action and Diva Channels. Advertisers on the broadband network include Molson Canada, Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, Virgin Mobile, Warner Bros. Canada, Fanta, Maple Pictures, TELUS, Mercedes, Paramount, Bell Mobility, Axe, Alliance Atlantis, Toyota, Sony Pictures Canada, Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Nike. According to the October 2008 comScore Media Metrix, Heavy Canada garners 1.4 million monthly unique visitors.
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Press Contacts:
For Heavy:
The Morris + King Company
Chris Macowski / Lane Buschel
212-561-7459 / 212-561-7454
chris.macowski@morris-king.com
lane.buschel@morris-king.com
