By: Dave Astor Tribune Media Services (TMS) has made a number of senior management changes in its TV and entertainment operations.
The moves come less than three months after TMS bought a majority interest in rival TVData. Together, the TV-listing operations have more than 4,000 customers (including about 2,000 newspapers) and approximately 500 employees.
Art Bassin, former president and CEO of TVData, resigned effective July 31. He'll consult for TMS' Entertainment Products Division (EPD) and Television Products Group (TPG), which is part of EPD. Three other executives are scheduled to leave during the next few months.
Fourteen executives have new titles, including 11 at the TPG in Glens Falls, N.Y. They are:
o Jim McCormick, who moved to general manager for systems and operations from executive vice president of systems and operations for TVData.
o Brian Ward, to executive director for operations from executive director for TMS' TV Information Products.
o Kathy Tolstrup, to general manager for sales and marketing from president of newspaper and advertising sales for TVData.
o Cameron Yong, to executive director for newspaper sales in the U.S. and Canada from senior vice president for newspaper and advertising sales for TVData.
o Dolores Boucher, to sales manager for community newspapers from vice president, newspaper advertising services for TVData.
o Manolo Arnanz, to executive director for international print and new media sales from vice president international for TVData.
o Jen Casolaro, to executive director for marketing from vice president, national advertising sales for TVData.
o Ken Carter, to executive director for business development and international strategy from executive vice president of finance and business development and president of Cable Connection.
o Roger Moore, to executive director for TV America from president of the publishing division for TVData.
o Debbie Meier, to executive director for human resources from human resources manager for TMS.
o Lanna Langlois, to director of finance for TV products from senior vice president of finance for TVData.
At EPD, the three appointments are:
o Jeff Rowe, to general manager for online and movie products from general manager of online products for TMS.
o Rick Gables, to general manager for national advertising from executive director of national advertising for TMS.
o Robyn McCormick, to advertising sales manager, monthly publications and online products from vice president, national program promotion for TVData.
Barbara Needleman, TMS vice president for entertainment products, said various teams are looking at TMS and TVData operations to see what other changes might be made in areas such as content and staffing. She said recommendations are expected no more than "60 to 90 days" from now.
TVData is still operating under the TVData name.
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CAUSE MARKETING DIDN'T HELP
Children's Express Is Out of Business
A "cause marketing" initiative didn't help Children's Express (CE), which has folded after running out of money.
The 26-year-old news organization was $2.4 million in debt, according to
The New York Times, which said CE's board is investigating whether poor decision-making and/or misuse of funds were among the reasons for CE's demise.
This March, CE Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Charles McConnell said CE was trying to widen its financial base by inviting companies to sponsor or partner various CE efforts. But this cause-marketing plan did not save the kids' journalism organization, whose clients included newspapers. McConnell could not be reached for comment.
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ET CETERA ...
Cartoon News, "the current events educational magazine" that's published every two months in print, goes online-only effective Sept. 1. Subscribers will receive CN content almost daily via e-mail. Syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie is CEO and editor in chief of the 5-year-old publication (
http://www.CartoonNewsMagazine.com). ...
David Schile has been added to the Copley News Service staff to promote the syndicate's Internet marketing and sales efforts. ...
The New York Times Syndicate (NYTS) is distributing articles from The New York Times Magazine in a revamped package that's called "Select" rather than "Centerpiece." Photos and illustrations are now included. ...
The weekly "NextGen" column by Jane Rinzler Buckingham of NYTS has a new format. Each installment highlights eight to 10 upcoming or fading trends, along with color art. ...
Martha Stewart's "askMartha" column from NYTS is now also available in Spanish for publications in the United States. ...
TMPress Syndicate Features (
http://www.telemediapress.com) is launching zoned "Top TV Listings Modules" in various regional markets. ...
Lexington (Ky.)
Herald-Leader/Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Joel Pett, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, has a new book collection called "Thinking Inside the Box." ...
Andrews McMeel Publishing released two comic collections: "Excuse Me While I Wag" by "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams of United and "Death by Field Trip" by "FoxTrot" creator Bill Amend of Universal. ...
Former Universal executive Victoria Houston has a new fishing-themed mystery novel out called "Dead Water" (Berkley/ Prime Crime). ...
"Beyond Argument: A Handbook for Editorial Writers" is being published with grants from the Scripps Howard Foundation and National Conference of Editorial Writers Foundation. The book -- edited by Michael Zuzel, editorial writer/columnist at
The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash., and Maura Casey, associate editorial page editor of
The Day, New London, Conn. -- includes cartoons by Jeff Danziger of TMS and Signe Wilkinson of the
Philadelphia Daily News and Washington Post Writers Group. ...
Mike Black is self-syndicating the "Dark Humor" cartoon panel (
http://www.darkhumorbymikeblack.com). ...
Los Angeles Times Syndicate International promoted three executives -- Ryan Stephens, Jessica Napoli, and Eric McPherson -- in its New York and Hong Kong offices. ...
The self-syndicated 'Wild Side" nature column by Dr. Scott Shalaway (
sshalaway@aol.com) recently marked its 15th anniversary. ...
Aug. 15 is the deadline for the seventh International Cartoon Contest in Israel (
http://www.haifa.gov.il/culture/indexEng.html). ...
Five firms involved with online syndication made announcements:
o Clickability launched "Clickability Interactivity Reports," which provide information about the way readers use Web content. ...
o Comtex News Network added six content providers, including Collegiate Presswire. ...
o Context Media unveiled its "iBuilder" Web-authoring platform. ...
o Kinecta signed the United Kingdom's Future Publishing as a customer, and is also partnering with Cast-Info of Spain, DigitalML of Europe, and Empower InfoServices of Australia. ...
o NewsEdge will provide syndicated news to BackStream, which has more than 100 corporate customers.
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