Revolving Door Newsletter: 05.06.11

OWN CEO Out; WaPo Loses Five Staffers

May 6, 2011

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Judy McGrath, the woman who helped build MTV into the global giant it is today, steps down after almost seven years as CEO. She will not be replaced. McGrath came to MTV as a copywriter from Conde Nast in 1981 and served as president from 1994-2002. The departure stunned employees, but there are rumors that Viacom boss Philippe Dauman hastened her decision by making her an offer that would alter her role. The release announcing the news said McGrath wanted to pursue other opportunities, without naming any of them... Elsewhere, McGrath's former MTV colleague is shown the door at Oprah's four-month old channel. After dissatisfaction with ratings, OWN board members dismiss Christina Norman from the top spot. Peter Liguori, the COO for Discovery Communications, will take over the channel on an interim basis.

The Washington Post loses five staffers. Politics editor Wes Kosova departs for Bloomberg while immigration reporter Shankar Vedantam jumps to NPR's science desk. Additionally, features digital editor Nancy Kerr goes to USA Today... The Wall Street Journal has its 17th straight quarter of print circulation and revenue growth. That's pretty astonishing when you think about it... Every Day With Rachael Ray steals publisher Paul Jowdy, formerly of Details. He moved to the men's magazine from Bon Appetit in January...

In a shocking move, CBS parts ways (it seems) with Gus Johnson, the play-by-play announcer loved (by most) and intensely disliked (by some) for his exaggerated, excited calls. Johnson made his name during March Madness and he's been announcing for 16 years. He has also called games on the Big 10 Network for the past two years and is rumored to be in discussions with Fox Sports about calling its slate of college football games. Johnson will land somewhere, but March Madness will never be the same...

Fox News ends its contracts with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. The pair had until May 1 to announce whether they would be running for the Republican presidential nomination. After failing to do so -- Santorum launched an exploratory committee while Gingrich remained mum -- Rupert Murdoch and the gang cut ties with their two pundits. Santorum was making around $100,000 per year with Gingrich pulling in nearly $1 million... CW promotes Thom Sherman to executive vice president, development. He had been head of scripted development there... The Associated Press' digital general manager Nick Ascheim jumps ship to take the role of SVP, digital media at BBC Worldwide's Americas operation... Hulu loses Eugene Wei, senior vice president for audience. He's starting his own company... Kevin Goldman loses his job as NBC's communications vice president, possibly because network executives discovered emails between him and his friend Katie Couric...

TechCrunch and Mashable continue an absurd little spat. Is there anyone Michael Arrington's publication won't fight with these days?... Howcast co-founder Daniel Blackman leaves to join Newsweek/Daily Beast Co. as chief digital officer... And there are changes at Livestrong.com, the Los Angeles Daily News and more...

May 6, 2011: Eddy Hartenstein has been named chief executive at Tribune Co. He will remain publisher at Los Angeles Times Media Group. (LA Times)

May 6, 2011: Robb Weller has been named executive vice president, programming and production at MUSL TV. He had been producer at Weller/Grossman Productions. (release)

May 6, 2011: Zia Namooya has been named business director at Spicerack. He had been social media director at Social Media Library. (release)

May 6, 2011: Thomas Heffernan has been named chief financial officer at North Jersey Media Group. He had been president at Ferrari Maserati of Central New Jersey. (release)

May 6, 2011: Paige Young has been named vice president at Publicis Consultants USA. She had been director of marketing and corporate communications at Expedia. (release)

May 6, 2011: Kathy Thomson has been named president and chief operating officer at Los Angeles Times Media Group. She had been VP, business operations at FLO TV Incorporated. (release)

May 6, 2011: Cory O'Brien has been named social media director at Heat. He had been account manager at Swirl. (mb)

May 6, 2011: Laurie Passman has been named news director at KOB in Albuquerque. She had been assistant news director at KTVK in Phoenix. (TVSpy)

May 6, 2011: Guillermo Vega has been named executive creative director at W+K Sao Paulo. He had been creative director at Young & Rubicam. (AgencySpy)

May 6, 2011: Rachel Leven has been named editorial assistant at The Hill. She had been intern at USA Today. (FBDC)

May 6, 2011: Marina Morrison-Keiler has been named director of PR at Citizens for Humanity's Goldsign brand. She had been West Coast director at Wetherly Fashion Group. (PRNewser)

May 6, 2011: Jennifer Thompson has been named SVP of the crisis and issues practice at Edelman's Chicago office. She had been managing director in the international operations segment at Oshkosh Corporation. (PRNewser)

May 6, 2011: Michael Freitag has been named partner at Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. He had been partner and head of the restructuring and reorganization practice at Kekst & Company. (PRNewser)

May 6, 2011: Steven Ainsley has been named publisher at Miller-McCune. He had been publisher at The Boston Globe. (release)

May 6, 2011: Paul Jowdy has been named publisher at Every Day with Rachael Ray. He had been publisher at Details. (FBNY)

May 6, 2011: Carlos Diaz has been named sports anchor at HLN's Morning Express with Robin Meade. He had been correspondent at Extra. (TVNewser)

May 6, 2011: Mitzi Miller has been named editor-in-chief at Jet. She had been an author and former associate editor at Jane. (MinOnline)

May 6, 2011: Wes Kosova has been named assistant managing editor at Bloomberg Businessweek. He had been national political editor at The Washington Post. (FBDC)

May 6, 2011: Shankar Vedantam has been named science correspondent at NPR. He had been immigration reporter at The Washington Post. (FBDC)

May 6, 2011: Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso has joined Stamen Design. He had been cartographer at The Washington Post. (FBDC)

May 6, 2011: Nancy Kerr has been named editor at USA Today. She had been features digital editor at The Washington Post. (FBDC)

May 6, 2011: Eva McCloskey has been named chief curator at Co:Collective. She had been director of publicity at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. (mb)

May 4, 2011: Adam Bornstein has been named editorial director at LIVESTRONG.com. He had been fitness editor at Men's Health. (release)

May 4, 2011: Audrey Hudson has been named congressional correspondent at Human Events. She had been reporter at The Washington Times. (FBDC)

May 4, 2011: Michael Rinzel has been named director of digital content at WQXR. He had been senior director of digital programming and production at VH1. (FBNY)

May 4, 2011: Daniel Blackman has been named chief digital officer at The Daily Beast Newsweek Company. He had been co-founder at Howcast. (FBNY)

May 4, 2011: Dakota Smith has been named general assignment reporter at Los Angeles Daily News. She had been editor at Curbed LA. (FBLA)

May 4, 2011: Nick Ascheim has been named SVP, digital media at BBC Worldwide Americas. He had been digital general manager at Associated Press. (paidContent)

May 3, 2011: Nicola Bridges has been named senior vice president for product and audience development at RealAge. She had been senior vice president of content, programming and products at Health Guru Media. (mb)

May 3, 2011: Brad Feldman has been named senior director, creative strategy at Yahoo! He had been executive director, integrated marketing at Time Inc. (mb)

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