ROBERT PITTMAN

Outlier

-Early on we made a key decision that we would be the voice of Young

America.- Robert Pittman, (The Man Behind the Monster)

THESIS

Our research will show that

Robert Pittman is a good
example of Malcolm
Gladwells theory of success
because of his risk taking in
and the date of his birthday
that influenced his decisions.

I. EARLY LIFE

Born on December 28, 1953 in Jackson, Mississippi ( Jrank encyclopedia)

Father was a priest and mother was a homemaker
at age 15 grew an interest in disc jocking for local radio station

III. Secondary Schooling; Early Career

Bounced around from University of Pittsburg and Oakland

University
At age 23, started to get more involved in radio for NBC
in Chicago and Pittsburg
Finally moved to the big times, in New York and started
becoming more noticed in the business world
Became a Pilot
In 1978 produced and co-hosted a music video and new
show for NBC, influenced his idea for his future endeavor.

PINNACLE OF SUCCESS AND

CAREER

A. FOUNDATION AND EARLY

BEGINNINGS OF MTV
Cofounded MTV in 1981 and revolutionized the music and
public cable and broadcasting history.
Increased record sales, and made MTV the most profitable
basic cable company ever in cable history.
CEO for six years
Won numerous awards for his creation of MTV

FOUNDATION AND EARLY

BEGINNINGS
MTV has sense changed American culture, fashion, and music
due to his company branding and entrepreneurial skills, which
will forever have an effect on this generation and many to
come.
Won numerous awards for his creation of MTV

They came back with the idea for a big M , with TV spray-painted over it.
We cut the paint drips off the TV , and that's the logo. It's unbelievable
that we paid about $1,000 for one of the decade's best-known logos Robert Pittman (LA Times, The man behind Mtv, 1991)

RE-BRANDING OF AOL
Became

CEO of AOL and and took the operating systems from six million to

thirty million and used mass marketing as a revenue source which helped curious
people utilized the internet, and helped lead a company to the internet age.
According

to an article published in the Economist, Pittmans latest challenge was to turn AOL, the world largest on-

line service and Internet-access provider, into a household name for more than its notorious service problems. He
arrived (in October of 1996) to run AOLs consumer side, America Online Networks. His goal is to make AOL a mass
media company. - (Robert Pittman Jrank encyclopedia)
As

he told Mediaweeks Cathy Taylor, so for me to be convenient I have to say, Ok, you like to watch TV? Ok, so let me

get you a great TV guide.You want to go to the movies? Let me get you great movie reviews all in one place. All I have
to do is have parity. Make sure that nobody has a killer application that we dont have access to. So, for us, weve got the
easy job.- (Robert Pittman Jrank encylopedia)

OTHER BUSINESS
ENDEAVORS

Saw expansion of Nickelodeon aimed towards younger children and VH1 for older audiences

After he left MTV, he became the CEO of Six Flags Amusement Parks, and took the total attendance
from 17 million to 25 million to make the company profitable

After Six Flags he went to Century 21, and franchised the business and was one of the early
industries to adopt the internet as a source of costumer generating tools.

Created iHeart Radio music festival that has become a big name in music festivals, in 2013

Century 21 has become the

biggest reality

Robert Pittmans aim towards an older child age range, is the reason
why shows like Spongebob or Rugrats were put into Production

Robert Pittmans Work in the

90s is one of the reasons Six
Flags is one of the largest
amusement parks

Pittman believes a foundation with the stars leads

to a great music festival, so he is in contact with
the celebrities, such as Ariana Grande or Nicki
Minaj

AWARDS

Pittman's many honors include: Robert F. Kennedy Memorials 2000 Ripple of Hope Award for his commitment to civic and
community affairs and his contributions to the advancement of education; induction into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of
Fame in 1999; Cablevision Magazine's "20/20 Vision" award for the 20 people who have had the greatest impact on the cable
industry; selection as one of Advertising Age's "10 Marketers Who Changed American Culture and "50 Pioneers and
Visionaries of TV" and recognition as one of Business Week magazine's Top 25 Executives of 1998. He was also named one of
Life Magazine's "Five Origin al Thinkers of the '80s"; recognized as the eighth of Life Magazine's "50 Most Influential Boomers";
included in Time Magazine's 1984 Man-of-the-Year issue "Seven Others who Succeeded"; received the "Star of Hope Award in
January 2014 from the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi; was named Success Magazines Pioneer of the New
American Start-Up in 1989; received the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business Award for Entrepreneurial
Excellence and the 1984 Council of Fashion Designers of America award; Performance Magazines 1982 Innovator of the Year
award for his work developing MTV and Billboard Magazines Radio Program Manager of the Year - (Jrank encyclopedia)

CONCLUSION

Robert

Pittmans business and entrepreneurial skills has lead this generation to a series of cultural revolutions. This is

important to know, because Robert Pittman is the source of majority of our generation culture between establishing
MTV and securing AOL for internet usage, without his branding and business skills, all of the companies would have
failed to become the big hotshot names in their industries. This matters, because its important to know how the
things we use on a daily basis comes to be behind the scenes, and this is due to Mr.Pittman.

CONCLUSION
Gladwell's

theories are very relevant in his success because Robert Pittmans age allowed him to have the

mindset to be creative and have a new mindset on branding and what our country was lacking. Also his
aggressive risk taking and taking advantage of all the opportunities given to him, allowed him to become CEO
of multiple corporations, and with that turn them into do you have revenue generating machines.

CONCLUSION

Now what if the risk to create something new

was to much to prevail Robert Pittman, how
much of a butterfly effect would it have on our
generation?

WORKS CITED
Network Trailblazer: A Conversation with Bob Pittman." Network Trailblazer:A Conversation with Bob Pittman. N.p., 8 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.
Pittman, Bob Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Chronology: Bob Pittman, Social and Economic Impact." - Aol, Mtv, Warner, and President. Net, n.d. Web. 09
Sept. 2015.
"The Man Behind the Monster : It May Be Hard to Recall Life before MTV, but Bob Pittman, Who Shaped and Sold the Concept, Remembers It Well." Los Angeles
Times. Los Angeles Times, 28 July 1991. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.
"When Music Was Still on MTV: The Birth of an Iconic Channel." Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair, Nov. 2000. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications- Encyclopedia of Television- Pittman, Robert W. The museum of Broadcast Communications- Encyclopedia of television- Pitttman,
Robert W. Web.16. Sept 2015
Sally Debell Smith. Robert Pittman Begins A New MUSIC CHANEL The New York Times. January 1, 1985
Michael Gross. the Couple of the Minute. New York Magazine July 30, 1990
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Part One: Opportunity." Outliers: The Story of Success. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 20-21. Print.Multimedia
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Three Lessons From Joe Flom."Outliers: The Story of Success. New York:
Bay, 2008. 156-57. Print.

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