Judy McGrath

Former Chairman and CEO, MTV Networks

Judy McGrath is a veteran of Viacom Media Networks, a collection of beloved brands known for their inventiveness. As one of the original launch team members for MTV, McGrath was part of the small team who created the identity and personality of the MTV brand. She was ultimately elevated to Chairwoman and CEO, responsible for the creative and business direction of the company networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Paramount TV, TV Land, LOGO and Nick At Nite.

Throughout her career at Viacom, McGrath championed many young adult landmark series and events, including: The Real World, Unplugged, The MTV Video Music Awards, SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report, to name a few. In addition, McGrath supported an ongoing platform of pro-social initiatives like MTV’s Rock The Vote, VH1’s Save The Music, Nickelodeon's Let's Just Play, and many more.
 
After decades at Viacom, McGrath left to form a joint venture digital content studio with Sony Music Entertainment, called Astronauts Wanted: No Experience Necessary. While at Astronauts, McGrath and her team delivered a movie starring Lily Singh to YouTube, and gave Nora Lum, aka Awkwafina, her first series, called TAWK, in partnership with Verizon. Astronauts Wanted is now owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. McGrath has been an advisor to Group Nine Media and VICE.
 
The Emmy award-winning McGrath began her career at Conde Nast Publications as a writer for several of their magazines prior to joining MTV. She is on the boards of Amazon and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.