She spent three years at the cable network, where she was president of programming.
Susanne Daniels has revealed her next move.
The former president of programming at MTV, who announced her departure this morning, will be joining YouTube as vice president originals.
She will report directly to YouTube head of content Robert Kyncl and will oversee the originals team run by Alex Carloss. In her new role, Daniels, who spent three years at MTV after stints at Lifetime and WB, will manage YouTube’s small but growing pipeline of original projects, overseeing development and production.
“Susanne is an executive whose incredible instincts have led her to consistently generate pop culture hits that audiences relate to and root for,” said Kyncl. “Susanne’s deep expertise in programming will be invaluable to us and our top creators and help them foster even more ambitious projects for YouTube.”
YouTube placed a big bet on original programming last year when it began holding conversations with its homegrown creators about financing some of their more ambitious projects. The Google-owned streamer lifted the veil on its plans earlier this year with the announcement of its first slate of funded projects, including a scripted comedy from The Fine Bros., a celebrity prank show from the duo behind YouTube channel Prank vs. Prank, a murder mystery reality series starring Joey Graceffa and a comedy from Smosh’s Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. YouTube is expected to announce additional original projects as the program ramps up.
Daniels’ appointment to the YouTube originals post will fuel the already popular comparisons between YouTube and MTV during its heyday. Online video observers often note that YouTube’s young audiences and sway over youth culture is reminiscent of the role that MTV played in young people’s lives after its 1981 launch.
Daniels will bring traditional entertainment experience to YouTube as it looks to expand its programming ambitions and is a coup for the 10-year-old company in the increasingly competitive online video space, which includes juggernaut Netflix as well as newer entrants such as Facebook and Jason Kilar‘s Vessel.
