PV Media Group Management Team Bios
Steve Rosenberg, CEO, PV Media Group
During a career spanning 20 years at Universal's television group, Mr. Rosenberg ascended to co-president of Universal Television Distribution and president of Universal Domestic Television, which distributed the studio's first-run, off-network and feature film product to all forms of television and online media worldwide and domestically.
In his domestic role, covering the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Rosenberg led the development and production of all first-run syndication programming, as well as marketing, distribution, advertising sales, business, legal and administrative functions. Additionally, Mr. Rosenberg oversaw an extensive television and film library consisting of more than 5,000 feature films from Universal and in excess of 40,000 hours of series television.
Under his leadership, Mr. Rosenberg turned many off-network and first-run syndication series into broadcast and cable staples, including "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Jerry Springer," "Xena: Warrior Princess," and feature films such as "Apollo 13" and "Meet the Parents." Mr. Rosenberg also pioneered selling first-run shows for dual airings on broadcast and cable.
Mr. Rosenberg joined MCA/Universal in January 1986 as a syndication account executive in the Northeast office. He was promoted to vie president of the Northeast region in 1990 and senior vice president of East Coast sales in 1992. The following year, Mr. Rosenberg was named senior vice president of the entire division and elevated to president Studios USA Domestic Television, which had acquired Universal's television assets, in 1998. Prior to Universal, Mr. Rosenberg served as Northeast sales manager for Tribune Entertainment.
Major Deal Experience:
In 2002, Vivendi Universal, formerly Seagram's, reacquired USA Networks' TV and film assets for $10.3 billion. Mr. Rosenberg handled their complete integration back into Vivendi Universal, identifying synergies, eliminating duplication and establishing infrastructures.
In 1997, Seagram's Universal Studios acquired prolific talk show producer-distributor Multimedia Entertainment from Gannett. Assets included the hugely successful syndicated talk shows "Sally Jessy Raphael" and "Jerry Springer," both of which went on to achieve even greater heights at Universal. Mr. Rosenberg was on the front lines for negotiations, valuation, process and driving decisions, as well as the ultimate integration of the assets into the business units.
Soon thereafter, Mr. Rosenberg helped facilitate the acquisition of Maury Povich Productions for Seagram's Universal Studios. When Home Shopping Network purchased Universal TV assets from Seagram's Universal Studios for $1.6 billion in cash and a 46% stake, the new company became USA Networks Inc. and began trading under the symbol USAI in 1998. Mr. Rosenberg subsequently reported to Barry Diller as president of the entire USA Networks Television Group, and in 2002 led the reintegration of the domestic television assets—then valued at $10.3 billion—back into Universal and through the 2004 NBC purchase and integration of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
Mr. Rosenberg also served on the advisory board of ION Media Networks, formerly Paxson Communications, where he focused on the areas of strategy and partnership opportunities in the TV content sector, including library owners and production companies. ION Media Networks is a network television broadcasting company which owns and operates the largest broadcast television station group in the U.S., with a reach of more than 91 million homes and 83% of primetime television households.
Richard O'Connor, CFO, PV Media Group
Mr. O'Connor spent more than a decade at Universal Domestic Television (UDT), rising to vice president of finance and operations and CFO of the USA Networks Television Group.
He led the daily operational and financial management of the business unit, including all employment contracts, budgeting, accounting and legal requirements for the development, production, distribution and advertising, sales and marketing divisions.
Additionally, Mr. O'Connor was responsible for strategic investment opportunities in new business development, long-term and strategic business planning in new technology, and supporting Mr. Rosenberg in advisory and due diligence for numerous deals. While at UDT, Mr. O'Connor also created and implemented all management reporting and sales analyses for the advertiser sales department, which monitored more than $100 million of inventory sold in broadcast syndication.
Prior to joining Universal, Mr. O'Connor worked for five years at Warner Bros. Domestic Television as a senior accountant.
Mr. O'Connor played a key role in the formation of PV Media Group while serving as a principal partner in Nakita Venture Partners, a venture services company. Over the past two years, Mr. O'Connor consulted with early stage and startup companies, including Marathon Ventures, Rogar Studios and Club Create. He provided venture service, financial, accounting and operational support and advice. Mr. O'Connor has also performed consulting assignments for NBC Universal to help optimize its budgeting process.
Major Deal Experience:
In 2002, Vivendi Universal, formally Seagram's, bought back USA Networks TV and film assets for $10.3 billion. Mr. O'Connor assisted Mr. Rosenberg in the complete integration of the assets back into Vivendi Universal, identifying synergies, eliminating duplication and establishing infrastructures, and through the 2004 NBC purchase and integration of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.
Mr. O'Connor reported directly to Mr. Rosenberg as CFO after he assumed control of the USA Networks TV Group. Home Shopping Network purchased Universal's domestic TV assets from Seagram's Universal Studios for $1.6 billion in cash and a 46% stake in the new company, formed in 1998. Barry Diller changed the name of company to USA Networks Inc. and began trading under the symbol USAi.
Seth R. Page, COO + Corporate Development, PV Media Group
Mr. Page was previously a partner at Corporate Finance Partners, a cross-border boutique specializing in client advisory within the technology, media and telecommunications sectors for mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital placements. Mr. Page is also chairman and co-founder Oyster Optics Inc., an optical security and monitoring solutions provider for commercial and government communication networks.
Mr. Page serves on a number of advisory boards, including Melbourne Partners L.L.C., a business fund that establishes, finances and grows new cutting-edge technology companies; Precision Prospects Inc., a leading performance advertising network for online lead generation; and is an advisor to Gersh Venture Partners LLC, an early-stage fund that focuses on emerging online marketing and financial companies and enjoys a certified 3-year return for investors of more than 150% per year. He also served in an advisory capacity in the formation of PV Media Group.
Having organized early angel investors and as a member of the myGeek.com's advisory board (now AdOn Network, a subsidiary of PV Media Group), Mr. Page stepped in to oversee operations and product development at one of the world's leading site-specific online advertising networks, backed by marquee venture capital firms.
Mr. Page was chief strategist & co-founder of Trade.com Global Markets, Inc., a cross-border financial network with investors including ABN AMRO, Compaq, Thomson Kernaghan, Bank of Butterfield, Standard Chartered, Larson & Toubro, and Raiffeisen Bank of Austria.
Previously, he was vice president of corporate finance at BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P., a New York-based boutique investment bank, where he specialized in the communications, security and internet industries.
Other career highlights include serving as director of investment and business relations for the State of California's European Office of Trade and Investment in Frankfurt and London. In this role, he was responsible for the facilitation of foreign direct investments, joint ventures and strategic partnerships between rapidly emerging California high-tech companies and major European IT, telecommunications and new media groups.
Mr. Page was also a member of the advisory board for Lending Tree, the leading online consumer loan provider, which went public in February 2000 and was acquired by Barry Diller's InterActive Corporation (Nasdaq: IACI) in August 2003. Mr. Page also was an advisor to Lead Filter Corp., an online mortgage lead generation marketplace backed by JERM Ventures and acquired by RootMarkets Inc., a Lew Ranieri and Seth Goldstein company.
Additionally, he was a member of the advisory boards of QuoteShip.com, a business-to-business online freight and cargo exchange, which was acquired by Logistics.com and subsequently Manhattan Associates, and European Telecommunications Holding AG, which was acquired by ICG AG.
Mr. Page is a co-founder of the annual Cal-IT Europe Forum, subsequently acquired by the European Technology Forum and then by c/net, where he was a founding member of the technical advisory board. In 1997, the State of California honored Mr. Page with the Cal-IT Investment Award for his role in forming the strategic alliance between Deutsche Telekom AG and Intershop Communications Inc., as well as other numerous cross-border alliances.
Mr. Page is well known in media circles, having made guest appearances on Bloomberg TV and Pseudo.com, as well as in international publications such as The Wall Street Journal Europe, Die Welt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ComputerWorld, Frankfurter Rundschau, The Wolf Report, Network World, and books, including "Black Ice: The Invisible Threat of Cyber-Terrorism", "Inside Silicon Valley" and "Die stille Transformation: Wie Unternehmen jetzt von IT und E-Commerce profitieren" (Financial Times Germany).
He has 20-plus years of computer, telecommunications, security, and internet experience dating back to the earlier days in Silicon Valley. Mr. Page speaks fluent German and was awarded a scholarship to study at the top-ranked Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany. He was graduated with honors in both economics and German linguistics and literature from the University of California, Irvine.
Major Deals Experience (Investment, M&A, IPO, and Advisory including):
zanox / Axel Springer / PubliGroupe; LendingTree; Xoom.com / NBCi; Sandbox / WallStreetSports; MyGeek / AdOn Network / Prime Visibility / PV Media Group; Trade.com (ABN AMRO, Compaq, Thomson Kernaghan, Bank of Butterfield, Standard Chartered, Raiffeisen Bank; Larson & Toubro); Litronic / Pulsar; LeadFilter / RootMarkets; QuoteShip / Logistics / Manhattan Analytics; Deutsche Telekom / InterShop; Siemens / Extreme Networks; Olivetti / Four11 / Yahoo; Cal-IT Forum / ETF / cnet; European Telecommunications Holding / ICG; Precision Prospects; FunLittleMovies / Contents Gate; Gersh Venture Partners; Melbourne Partners; Oyster Optics; Viva La Mobile / TelcoGames; Nacre / Bacou-Dalloz, etc.
