Former BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) CEO Tony Ball – amongst the frontrunners to be named ITV (LSE: ITV) CEO – is joining BT’s board from mid-July as a non-executive director. Ball’s is the only name to concretely emerge as a candidate to replace Michael Grade.
It’s unclear whether the appointment makes him joining ITV any more or less likely, but a non-executive board seat isn’t a full-time role and would give him an interest in BT’s Vision IPTV service as well as its involvement in Project Canvas, the BBC VOD initiative that also counts ITV as a consortium member.
Ball is currently Kabel Deutschland chairman, having built the cable TV company up in Germany over the last four years. But it’s now facing a challenge from a stronger, News Corp-controlled Premiere AG (aka Sky Germany). And he already has other background interests – a board seat on the Olympic Delivery Authority and a trusteeship with the Media Trust charity. Release.
— Yahoo: Kristof Fahy, Yahoo’s European VP for marketing, has been promoted by CEO Carol Bartz to lead all the company’s marketing operations outside the US, reporting to chief marketing officer Elisa Steele. Head of European consumer marketing James Tipple is promoted as Fahy’s replacement. From NMA.
— NME Faith Hill is the new publisher of IPC Media’s music mags NME and Uncut, moving over from the publisher’s womens unit IPC Southbank. Via Mediaweek.
— Independent Jo Redfearn is leaving her role as director of classifieds at Independent News and Media after 16 years. From Mediaweek.