Industry Moves: EW Scripps; EA; NEA; Disaboom; CitizenHawk
This story was written by Amanda Natividad.
-- E.W. Scripps: Broadcasting veteran Brian Lawlor has been tapped to lead the company's TV division as its SVP. Effective Jan 1, 2009, when Bill Peterson retires, Lawlor will oversee the 10 stations plus digital businesses. Since the beginning of this year, he has been corporate VP-sales for the TV division, and earlier, served for four years as VP and GM of WPTV, Scripps' NBC affiliate in West *Palm* Beach. Release.
-- Electronic Arts: Geraldine Laybourne joins EA's board of directors. She previously founded Oxygen Media, and served as its chairman and CEO until 2007. Before that, Laybourne spent 16 years at Nickelodeon, where she managed the TV network and creative programming. As we reported earlier, EA's Kathy Vrabeck has resigned as head of the casual entertainment division, leaving EVP Rod Humble to take over the division as it is folded into The Sims unit. Release.
-- New Enterprise Associates: Hugh Panero is moving to the VC side of the industry, having signed on as a venture partner at NEA. The journalist-turned-entrepreneur co-founded XM Satellite Radio in 1998 and served as its CEO until it merged with Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI) Satellite Radio. Prior to XM he served as president and CEO of pay-per-view network Request Television. Release.
-- Disaboom: The social net has promoted its president and CFO John Walpuck to CEO. He succeeds co-founder and chairman J.W. Roth, who will now focus more on getting venture capital. Prior to joining Disaboom, Walpuck was SVP and CFO of media software company Nine Systems. Disaboom, which caters specifically to people with disabilities, also reported its Q3 earnings, announcing a 38 percent growth in revs and a 60 percent increase in monthly uniques from August to September. Release.
-- CitizenHawk: CitizenHawk announced a new CEO this week, former *ValueClick* executive Dave Duckwitz. In his new role he will lead overall business and strategy for the digital brand-management provider. When he was with *ValueClick* he most recently served as SVP-operations at the commission junction division. Release.
By Amanda Natividad