Awesomeness Names Veteran TV Programmer Jordan Levin as CEO

Veteran television programmer Jordan Levin has been tapped as chief executive of Awesomeness, the multiplatform media company that caters to teens and young adults.

The hiring of Mr. Levin, currently chief content officer of the National Football League, is the first major move since Awesomeness was acquired by Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal as part of its $3.8 billion acquisition of DreamWorks Animation last summer. Comcast is the majority owner in Awesomeness, with Hearst Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. holding minority stakes.

Besides having oversight of Awesomeness' TV and movie operations, Mr. Levin's portfolio will also include DreamWorks TV. He will report to Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, who made the announcement of the hire to staff on Tuesday.

Mr. Levin succeeds Awesomeness co-founder Brian Robbins, who resigned as CEO earlier this year. Brett Bouttier, president of Awesomeness, will report to Mr. Levin.

Awesomeness operates a popular YouTube channel and makes shows for other outlets, including Hulu. Its movie unit produced "Before I Fall" and the coming Netflix film "You Get Me."

Mr. Shell and Mr. Levin have long ties going back to when both were rising executives at the Walt Disney Co. In his memo, Mr. Shell called Mr. Levin "one of the most seasoned creative executives in the industry."

Programming to teens and young adults is nothing new for Mr. Levin. He was a senior executive at the WB Network and played a key role in the creation of some of its most popular shows including "Dawson's Creek" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Mr. Levin will start for Awesomeness at the end of the month. He joins after spending about two years at the NFL where he focused on nongame programming for its NFL Network and oversaw the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2017 14:38 ET (18:38 GMT)