News Releases
DES MOINES, IA/NEW YORK, NY (May 31, 2016) – Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP; www.meredith.com), the leading media and marketing company serving more than 100 million unduplicated American women and nearly three out of four U.S. millennial women, announced today it has named Melinda Lee as its new Senior Vice President/GM, Video. In this role, Lee will be responsible for managing Meredith’s state of the art video studios across the country including New York, Seattle, Des Moines, among others – which include new video formats like live, 360 and virtual reality – and developing video products, partnerships, and programming to further expand Meredith’s engagement and reach among millennial women across multiple media platforms. She will start today and report to Kim Martin, Chief Strategy Officer.
Lee joins Meredith from Hearst Magazines International where she served most recently as Vice President, Content and Audience Development, overseeing video and digital content initiatives across 50 international territories, 70 digital publisher brands and 430 properties including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Digital Spy and Harper’s Bazaar.
As the principle executive for production and distribution of digital content, she launched the company’s first global content studio network (GCG), assembling and overseeing creative, commercial and production teams across EMEA and APAC, and directing all content strategy, programming and scheduling initiatives with focus on developing, producing and acquiring trending content.
“Melinda brings tremendous experience and skills to this position, particularly in the areas of creating large scale digital video products and distribution strategies across media brands,” says Martin. “Her ability to attract the best talent, execute on existing and new platforms, and create highly engaging video products that appeal to a broad range of audiences especially millennial women makes her uniquely suited for this role.”
Before joining Hearst, Lee was General Manager of music at Getty Images, where she led business development and content strategy. Under her tenure, she expanded and diversified the company’s content catalogs, channels and archives as well as oversaw all new digital product launches for the division.
Prior to Getty Images, Lee co-founded and served as SVP, Content Development & Strategy for Uncensored Interview, an award winning digital media production studio and video content aggregator, which featured exclusive interviews of artists, celebrities and influencers. Lee’s digital media and content experience initiated in 2000 at MTV Networks/Viacom where she led and oversaw the International & Digital Media licensing teams.
“I am thrilled to join Kim Martin and Meredith’s digital and content teams in developing what is already a rapidly growing video business. Given the company’s strong position in reaching female audiences combined with their highly respected brands, there is a tremendous opportunity for us to become the leading voice in engaging video content for millennials,” says Lee.
Lee is a graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers Law School. Her creative work has been recognized each year by multiple industry organizations including the SXSW Interactive Awards, The Webby Awards and The W3 Awards.
Lee resides in Manhattan, and will be based in Meredith’s offices on Third Avenue in New York.
ABOUT MEREDITH CORPORATION
Meredith Corporation has been committed to service journalism for more than 110 years. Today, Meredith uses multiple distribution platforms – including broadcast television, magazines, and digital – to provide consumers with content they desire and to deliver the messages of its advertising and marketing partners.
Meredith's National Media Group reaches 100 million unduplicated women every month, including 72 percent of American millennial women. Meredith is the leader in creating and distributing content across platforms in key consumer interest areas such as food, home, parenting and health through well-known brands such as Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipes, Parents, Martha Stewart Living, and SHAPE. Meredith also features robust brand licensing activities, including more than 3,000 SKUs of branded products at 4,000 Walmart stores across the U.S. Meredith Xcelerated Marketing is a leader at developing and delivering custom content and customer relationship marketing programs for many of the world's top brands, including Kraft, Lowe's and NBC Universal.
Meredith's Local Media Group includes 17 owned or operated television stations reaching 11 percent of U.S. households. Meredith's portfolio is concentrated in large, fast-growing markets, with seven stations in the nation's Top 25 – including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis and Portland – and 13 in Top 50 markets. Meredith's stations produce approximately 650 hours of local news and entertainment content each week, and operate leading local digital destinations.