Not Sponge-worthy, after all: Scannell departs Viacom in Nick of time

This was, according to insiders, hardly the sort of revelation that had cable watchers wetting their Dora the Explorer underpants in shock. No, when Tom Freston picked Judy McGrath to run MTV Networks last summer, guess who lost out? Herb Scannell.

McGrath is in her early fifties, and Scannell in his late forties. Waiting her out, one insdusty watcher notes, wasn’t an option – even for the well-regarded, low-ego Scannell.