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Friday, February 1, 2002 Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · iVillage Inc., a women's media company, announced the appointment of Vanessa Benfield to Senior Vice President, Sales at iVillage. Ms. Benfield oversees the activities of the iVillage sales team as well as helps drive new partnerships and advertising revenue opportunities for iVillage. She reports directly to Douglas W. McCormick, iVillage Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. · Primedia Inc., a targeted media company, announced that Gary Weidy was promoted to senior vice president, Human Resources. Weidy will work on human resources issues with the corporate development group and with operating companies in the Primedia Business Media and Magazine Group. · Hilary A. Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of Red Herring Communications, publisher of Red Herring magazine, announced the appointment of Michael Novelly as Chief Financial Officer. As Chief Financial Officer, Novelly will oversee the financial and human resources divisions of Red Herring Communications. Novelly joins Red Herring Communications from Quokka Sports where he served as VP Finance, Corporate Controller and Chief Financial Officer of NBC/Quokka Ventures. · CMP Media's TechWeb, a network for business technology professionals, announced Fredric Paul has been promoted to editor-in-chief of TechWeb. Mr. Paul, who joined TechWeb in July 2001 as Executive Editor, is responsible for TechWeb's content and day-to-day operations. · Primedia Business-to-Business announced that William F. Gloede has been named editor of Cable World magazine, the weekly newsmagazine for the business of broadband, effective February 11. Since March 2000, Mr. Gloede had been group editor of Mediaweek and Editor & Publisher magazines, published by VNU Business Media Inc. He had been with Mediaweek since its inception in January 1991 and had been its editor since April of that year. · Cygnus Expositions, the Minnesota-based exposition division of Cygnus Business Media, announced the promotion of Robert Brice to Show Manager of its events serving the fire industry. In this new role, Brice will work in conjunction with Firehouse Magazine, Public Safety Product News and Firehouse.com to oversee the sales, marketing, production and presentation of Fire Rescue West in San Jose, Firehouse Expo, held annually in Baltimore, and Firehouse World Exposition & Conference, set to launch February 2003 in San Diego. · Mark Berryhill has been named Vice President of News of Meredith Corporation's Broadcasting Group. Berryhill brings more than 17 years of broadcasting experience to this newly created position, according to Meredith Broadcasting Group President Kevin O'Brien. · Mark Tomasik, managing editor of Scripps Howard News Service in Washington D.C., has been named executive editor of Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing Co. in Stuart, Fla. The appointment will become effective in March. Tomasik, 45, will oversee the news operations of the three Scripps Treasure Coast daily newspapers, The Stuart News, Press Journal in Vero Beach and The Tribune in Fort Pierce. Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing Co. is an operating unit of The E. W. Scripps Company. · Pulitzer Inc. announced the appointment of Jan P. Pallares to the position of corporate controller. Pallares, 39, was formerly with Knight Ridder, Inc., serving since July 2000 as vice president of finance and new business development at The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Content Deals · Yahoo Inc. and SportingNews.com, a provider of online sports coverage, announced an agreement to distribute TSN content and co-promote fantasy games covering professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey. The new relationship enables Yahoo Sports and SportingNews.com to jointly market a variety of free and for-pay fantasy games. · Congressional Quarterly, Inc. and LexisNexis Group announced a strategic alliance whereby LexisNexis will become the exclusive distribution partner for CQ's premier content on Congress, politics and public policy. Under terms of the partnership, subscribers to the LexisNexis flagship services will be able to access a wide range of CQ's legislative products. Officials at CQ and LexisNexis said CQ.com OnCongress will continue to serve customers with a need to track legislative activity closely, while research and other ad hoc informational needs will be served via LexisNexis. As part of the arrangement, LexisNexis announced that it will discontinue its own legislative tracking service, called LexisNexis Political Universe. CQ will fulfill remaining subscriptions of certain current Political Universe customers and will acquire the customer list from LexisNexis as part of the new association. · ShopNBC and LIFE Magazine announced the formation of a strategic marketing agreement to jointly develop special projects and programming using the merchandise and other assets of LIFE to promote and sell products on ShopNBC and ShopNBC.com. As part of the agreement, ShopNBC will provide on-air commercial spots and live promotions. In turn, LIFE will provide merchandising and marketing expertise to jointly develop unique branded product offerings. Launches and Redesigns · The CIA relaunched the Electronic Document Release Center (FOIA) with the new CIA Electronic Reading Room. Documents can be searched from the main page or via an advanced interface that allows you to limit a search by date. A browsable list of Frequently Requested Records is also available. As stated on the CIA website, the CIA established the site to provide the public with an overview of access to CIA information, including electronic access to previously released documents. · Advanstar Communications announced the launch of TelecomPlanet.com, a new website dedicated to productivity tools and information for a global audience of telecommunications professionals. Through a partnership with telezoo.com, which provides an online catalog and commerce platform for network and telecom product and services, TelecomPlanet.com delivers research, comparison and procurement tools for buyers of communications solutions. · Rediff.com India Limited, one of India's leading Internet, communications and consumer services companies, has increased its interest-specific content and service offerings, providing users with an online healthcare resource. Additionally, Rediff.com is in the process of launching a series of interest-specific channels. · Disney Interactive announced the launch of Plaid Banana Entertainment, a new publishing label under which Hulabee Entertainment, a digital media company established by Humongous Entertainment co-founders Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert, will create a complete line of software in the kid's adventure genre, featuring all-new stories and characters. Designed for kids ages three to nine, Disney says that Plaid Banana products focus development on interactive adventures filled with bright, bold colors, immersive, fun places for kids to explore, and clever and entertaining plots that unfold through the eyes of original, memorable characters. The line will debut in March 2002 with its first two titles: Moop & Dreadly in The Treasure on Bing Bong Island and Ollo and the Sunny Valley Fair. Miscellaneous · Audible, Inc. announced that it has executed a $3.5 million private equity investment agreement with the New York-based institutional investment firm, Special Situations Funds. Audible is a provider of downloadable spoken audio. Audible expects to close the transaction shortly, subject to standard closing conditions. · Penton Media announced that the former JPA has changed its name to Penton Digital Media Research. Penton Digital Media Research produces market research reports in the areas of digital media, consumer media technology, software and graphics. · Bobit Publishing Company, publisher of Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation and other trade magazines, has been awarded a two-year contract to run the National Limousine Association, effective Feb. 1. · FamilyFun, a family magazine, and Disney Online announced that Family.com will be re-branded FamilyFun.com starting February 4th. This new development is part of The Walt Disney Company's strategic commitment to build the FamilyFun brand on multiple platforms. Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2011 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
