Orbiting mastheads in a digital universe

by Daysha Taylor, October 31st, 2006, 7:00 am

In the past, traditional media companies were slow to develop a true digital content strategy. Media executives didn’t seem to understand that content is about connecting people through information — not just about providing it.

With billions of dollars in advertising revenues orbiting through the digital universe and headlines like: “MySpace worth $10 billion to $20 billion in a few years?,” it’s no wonder that media companies are snapping up digital content professionals like teenagers are buying iPods. Consider these appointments:

Publishing

The New York Times has named Michael Rogers as its first Futurist-in-Residence to keep the company current with the rapidly changing digital marketplace. Roger’s experience includes production work on the first-ever CD-ROM magazine for Newsweek and development of Prodigy’s and AOL’s first interactive services. He’s a contributing writer for Rolling Stone magazine and creator of the Practical Futurist column on MSNBC.com.

With print advertising on the decline and readers migrating to the Internet, NYTimes.com has named former GateHouse Media exec Robert Kempf to lead product operations at Boston.com, the online portal for The Boston Globe newspaper.

Former British Sky Broadcasting COO Richard Freudenstein is the News Corporation’s pick to lead its newly-formed News Digital Media division in Australia. With online advertising there expected to reach $1 billion in 2007, News Corp. (through an Australian-based subsidiary) plans to expand its online content operations throughout the region.

Australian news publisher and News Corp. rival John Fairfax Holdings stepped up to the digital plate by appointing Jack Matthews as CEO of its newly created Fairfax Digital unit. After reporting a 16% decline in profits due to an advertising slump, the company hopes Matthews (the former Playboy executive who brought Hefner’s bunnies to pay-per-view) can help add new, interactive features to Fairfax’s Web sites.

Guardian Newspapers named Tom Turcan to lead its digital media development operations and ramp up its online activities. Turcan worked for News International’s dot com operations in the early 1990s, GCap Media’s Capital Radio unit, and Dovetail (created when the BBC and Dennis Publishing merged their subsciption arms).

Television/Film/Radio

Former Nokia multimedia business group exec Bob Shallow is Gemstar-TV Guide’s new VP and general manager of its Mobile Entertainment Group, which is responsible for channeling the demand for digital content through mobile applications.

The BBC is expanding its business development team with the appointment of Gill Pritchard. Pritchard will head business development activities and will be responsible for launching BBC’s iPlayer, which will allow consumers to download television and radio programs via the Internet.

Hearst-Argyle Television appointed veteran news director Jacques Natz as director of the its Digital Media Content division. Natz will run Hearst-Argyle’s various digital media businesses including the expansion of local content via the Web, mobile devices, and multi-casting applications.