Wizzard Media, the industry's largest podcasting network and a division of Wizzard Software (OTCBB:WIZD), announced today that Skip Fredricks, a two-time Emmy nominee for production/direction, has joined Wizzard Media as Senior Vice President of Content Programming. In this newly-created position, Fredricks will be responsible for the development, acquisition and packaging of high level, professionally produced content, and securing sponsorship deals for worldwide distribution.
Fredricks, who has won 40 Telly Awards in addition to his Emmy nominations, brings with him over 200 hours of extreme sports content and a network of industry relationships. Fredricks professionally produces live extreme sports content for distribution over a broad range of new media outlets including streaming web video, cell phones and podcasts. In addition to distribution of content, Fredricks brings exclusive distribution rights to over 60 national extreme sporting events, including The USA Surf and Turf Jet Ski Tour and the X-Fest Motocross Tour, and has secured a number of premier brands as sponsors for these events in previous years, including Panasonic, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Ford and Chevrolet.
Fredricks’ two Emmy nominations resulted from his work on XSTV, which he created in 1998 for Fox Sports. XSTV is television’s first and longest running extreme sport lifestyle program, featuring action from around the globe mixed with cutting edge music, fashion, celebrity interviews and more.
Before launching his career in media, Fredricks was a world power boat and national jet ski champion. These pursuits led to his career as a director/producer when he created XSTV for Fox Sports on a shoestring budget, operating out of a garage. Six months later the show went from local cable to national syndication. That success led to numerous other opportunities for Fredricks, including the creation of extreme sports DVDs and games, and directing television commercials and music video, as well as numerous video podcasts. In addition to FOX Sports, Fredricks has produced content for HBO’s The Sopranos and Entourage, as well as Universal Pictures.
“The addition of Skip Fredricks to our Wizzard team is a major coup for Wizzard Media,” said Chris Spencer, Wizzard’s Chief Executive Officer. “Skip is one of the world’s most successful creators of dynamic, multi-platform content. He will be instrumental in developing and packaging content for delivery via podcast and cell phones. We expect his expertise in dealing with content and securing sponsorship dollars to directly benefit our podcast publishers."
About Wizzard Media
Wizzard Media is the industry's leading podcast hosting network, with an unprecedented one billion-plus download requests in 2007. Podcasts are a means for independent and professional content creators to publish audio and video shows for the world to enjoy over the Internet or on mp3 players, such as the Apple iPod and the Microsoft Zune. Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, but Wizzard Media collectively broadcasts millions of podcast downloads per month through media aggregators like Apple's iTunes, Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace and other podcast aggregators. For more information, please visit www.wizzard.tv. Wizzard Media is a division of Wizzard Software, a leader in speech technology development.
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