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MUMBAI:
US newspaper organisation New York Times has announced that
BBC DG Mark Thompson will become its next president and CEO.
He will
also become a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Thompson
will report to the board of directors and to Times Company
chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. He is relocating to New York
and is expected to start his new role in November.
The
decision to hire a non American who does not comes from print
has surprised some people. At the same time, The New York
Times is one ofthe
few newspapers in the US which has survived the onslaught
on the Internet and has a pay model online.
Sulzberger said, "Mark is a gifted executive with strong
credentials whose leadership at the BBC helped it to extend
its trusted brand identity into new digital products and services.
Our board concluded that Mark’s experience and his accomplishments
at the BBC made him the ideal candidate to lead the Times
Company at this moment in time when we are highly focused
on growing our business through digital and global expansion."
Thompson
said, "The New York Times is one of the world’s
greatest news providers and a media brand of immense future
potential both in the U.S. and around the world. It is a real
privilege to be asked to join the Times Company as it embarks
on the next chapter in its history. I’m particularly
excited to be coming to The New York Times Company as it extends
its influence digitally and globally. I look forward to working
with the board, Arthur and his highly talented management
team to build on the success that has already been achieved
and to explore new ways of bringing journalism of exceptional
quality, integrity and depth to readers and users everywhere."
At
the BBC, Thompson developed new products and generated new
revenue streams on multiple platforms. The businesses he supervised
included BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, a fast-growing
media and entertainment company designed to maximise BBC profits
by creating,acquiring
and developing media content and media brands around the world.
It has annual revenues of approximately $1.5 billion.
Most
recently, he has led the BBC’s multimedia coverage of
the London Olympic Games, coverage which has won near universal
acclaim at home and around the world. While reaching historically
high audiences in TV and radio, the BBC also used London 2012
to pioneer multiple new digital services and technologies.
Thompson
has been responsible for the BBC’s services across television,
radio and online including 10 national TV channels and 10
national radio stations, 40 local radio stations and an extensive
global Web site. The BBC World Service broadcasts to the world
on radio, on TV and online, providing news and information
in 27 languages. With a global workforce of more than 20,000
people, the BBC produces over 400,000 hours of content each
year.
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