As Viacom's Executive Vice President of Program Enterprises, Jeff Yapp was handed the job of turning four beloved television brands into real businesses. In four years he grew the division from $15 million to over $1.4 billion, not by squeezing the channels harder, but by building new companies around them.
A network is more than a channel
Jeff oversaw development groups spanning movie studios, gaming, sports, home entertainment, consumer products, radio networks, publishing, and business development, all under the MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo umbrellas. The bet was that a brand people loved could become the front door to a dozen businesses, if someone had the range to build them.
A game studio with Jerry Bruckheimer
Jeff initiated and closed a deal with Jerry Bruckheimer to stand up a new game development studio built around original gaming IP, pairing one of the biggest names in entertainment with a category MTV had barely touched.
Inventing the Dew Tour
He conceived and closed a joint venture with NBC Sports to launch the Dew Tour, MTV's move into action sports. It gave the network a live-event franchise and a foothold in a culture its audience already lived in.
Virtual worlds, years early
The team built early virtual worlds tied to the shows people were watching. Virtual Laguna Beach recreated the seaside town from the hit reality series as a 3D space where fans made avatars, explored the locations from the show, and gathered for virtual events. The follow-on, Virtual MTV, widened it to shows like The Hills and Pimp My Ride, with virtual concerts and social spaces. The work earned an Emmy for achievement in 3D avatar-based virtual worlds, a full decade before the rest of the industry started using the word metaverse.