Participant Media's New Cable Network Taps Executives

Participant Media has named a team of executives for the launch of its new cable network targeted at millennials.

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Kent Rees has been tapped executive vice president, marketing, scheduling and operations; Belisa Balaban will be senior vice president unscripted programming; and Ben McLean will be senior vice president, legal affairs and business development. Rees and Balaban report to Evan Shapiro, president of Participant Television, while McLean will report to Shapiro and Participant Media COO Jeff Ivers. The three will be based in the L.A.

"We are fortunate to have such talent and vision on the team as we build to our launch next summer," said Shapiro. "As we work to create a next generation TV experience, we sought out the next generation of industry leadership. That is what we get with this team.”

Rees will be responsible for creating marketing strategies and operations for Participant and TakePart TV, Participant's recently launched impact-focused YouTube channel. He joins from Bedrocket Media Ventures, where he headed marketing. Rees has also worked at Current TV and IFC.

Balaban will be responsible for spearheading production, development and talent deals for Participant Television's unscripted and semi-scripted content. She was behind the 10-episode documentary series The Swell Life and last year produced the anti-bullying special, It Gets Better.

McLean will oversee legal activities and develop business opportunities for the television division. He was previously at Netflix.

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