media
EIGHTEEN TO 34?
RYAN OF RYAN TOYSREVIEW
TRY 12 AND YOUNGER
Pocket.watch entertains the (much) younger set
30
HOLIDAY 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
Since leaving Nickelodeon, Hecht
has been president of Spike-TV,
headed up CNN’s Headline News
Network, and launched the nonprofit
media company Shine Global with his
wife, Susan MacLaury. Last year, he
returned to indulging his inner child as
chief content officer of pocket.watch,
the digital destination that bills itself
as “The entertainment headquarters
kids have been waiting for.” Major
investors include Viacom, United
Talent Agency and Robert
Downey, Jr.
The Big Idea
“When Nickelodeon started,
there were Saturday morning car-
toons on TV, but not a home base just
for kids,” says Hecht. “Cable gave us
the real estate for a 24/7 channel for
them. And we really felt there was a
space in the market for a new kids’
media brand that would appeal to
Generation Alpha [children born after
2011] that was watching YouTube as
their primary screen.”
Where the Inspiration
Comes from
As a father, Hecht looked to his
school-age son for inspiration. “I had
the idea that my son could be head
of development for Nick,” he recalls,
laughing. “I told a story about Alex,
and he started getting mail. Then, I got
a call from my bosses at Viacom ask-
ing me, do you really have an 11-year-
old as the head of development?”
Now the same dynamic is play-
ing out with his granddaughter, he
says. Hecht’s daughter, Kate, recently
moved to Montclair with her husband
and 4½-year-old daughter, Lily. “We
watch YouTube together, and some-
times we try to make [the characters]
part of the pocket.watch family,”
he says.
W
hen you’re the
chief content
officer in a
company that
creates online
entertainment
for kids — and your shows garner 1.5
billion views among them per month
— it helps if your watchword is “You
don’t stop playing because you get old,
you get old because you stop
playing.”
It’s that philosophy,
says longtime Montclair
resident Albie Hecht, that
defined his success as
president of Nickelodeon
HECHT
Entertainment, where
he oversaw the development
and production of hits including
SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the
Explorer, and where he co-created and
executive-produced the Kids Choice
Awards.
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER