MXG names Swartz to oversee TV unit

Ex-Disney exec shopping 'X-Girls,' 'Fashion'

By JILL GOLDSMITH

NEW YORK -- MXG Media, an Internet site geared to teenage girls and one of USA Networks' Inc. latest investments, will announce today that it has appointed Rob Swartz, a former creative exec at Walt Disney's Touchstone Television and NBC Entertainment, to launch an MXGtv television division.

MXG, which recently received a $26 million investment from Barry Diller's USA Networks, said its nascent TV group will develop programming to be distributed via broadcast, cable and the Web. Diller's group also has two seats on the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company's board.

Swartz, who helped develop "Felicity" and "Boy Meets World," is shopping around two MXG offerings in development, "X-Girls" and "Fashion Junkies," to broadcast and cable nets.

"X-Girls," a half-hour show, features female extreme-sports athletes "in different, extremely challenging situations."

"Fashion Junkies" presents an interview with a teen star with talk of fashion, love and career. Clothing and related items can be purchased at MXGtv.com, an online interactive video network that Swartz also will oversee. In addition, the site will have streaming video programming of its own.

"We look forward to leveraging both Swartz's long-standing relationships within the television community" as well as USA Networks' expertise in contextualized commerce, said MXG chairman Hunter Heaney.