paidContent » charlie koones

EconCeleb Video: Harvey Levin: ‘If We Screw With You, Never Work With Us Again’

Amanda Natividad — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:49:32 +0000

At our EconCeleb spotlight Q&A with Harvey Levin, managing editor, TMZ.com and host & executive producer, TMZ, he and interviewer Charlie Koones, former president and publisher of Variety, talked about Levin’s own philosophy for the show. Levin also clarified where he draws the line between what he will report on and what he won’t — stolen documents and medical records are a big no-no, but Alec Baldwin’s voicemail to his daughter was okay…yeah, that makes it really clear.

Full coverage is in the full writeup. Bonnie Fuller’s keynote Q&A video, several panel videos and all the writeups are at our EconCeleb channel. Video is embedded after the jump… (and RSS readers will have to click through)…

Thanks a ton to our sponsors: KickApps, Yahoo OMG, PerezHilton.com, GumGum, Paltalk, Meebo and Celebuzz.

@ EconCeleb: Harvey Levin: ‘We Don’t Want To Be A Red Carpet’

Staci D. Kramer — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:42:15 +0000

As managing editor of TMZ.com, Harvey Levin can be a celeb’s best friend or worst nightmare — not that he’s trying to be either. That’s coming through loud and clear in our second keynote Q&A of the afternoon here at EconCeleb. Interviewer Charlie Koones, former president and publisher of Variety and former board member of our parent company ContentNext Media, put it bluntly from the start when he asked: “It seems like you one day said, ‘Screw it. I’m not playing that game. Is that an accurate portrayal?” Levin was just as blunt: “Yes.”

He explained the thinking behind the WB-AOL (NYSE: TWX) joint venture that borrows some of its psychology from his previous show Celebrity Justice: “If a publicist was pissed at a celebrity show, they could get the story pulled by saying you’re never going to get on again if you run this story. … (I decided) we can do an honest show and not be beholden to anybody. We’re going to be really honest and tell real stories. … It’s not as if we don

The Next Phase Of Our Company: Scaling From The Inside Out

Rafat Ali — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Some time around late summer last year, about six months after we moved into our (first-ever) office in Santa Monica, I realized we needed to start asking the “BIG S” question for our growing B2B media company: How Do You Scale?

As we keep defining the new models in B2B publishing, the “how” part is what we’re in the process of building out. More when we actually do it — no point talking about vaporware. What we’re announcing today are two new senior executives and a new board member who will help us build.

More in extended…

– Nathan Richardson, Chief Executive Officer: I am stepping out of my position as CEO (something I was never comfortable with, as people who know me can attest…I always liked the Editor and Publisher title better); but will keep the role of Chairman. We are very pleased to have chanced upon a perfect fit: Nathan Richardson is the new CEO of ContentNext Media. He is also joining our board. He will lead the company in the next phase of platform growth, including going deeper and wider into the sectors we cover.

Nathan was most recently the head of Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) Online, a brand that includes WSJ.com, Marketwatch and Barrons. He joined Dow Jones in 2005 after spending three years as head of the biggest finance site online, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Finance. While at Yahoo, Institutional Investor named Nathan the #1 Executive in Online Finance, the “impresario” of the finance space. Since leaving DJ Online in 2006, Nathan had been on sabbatical to serve as the Country Director of the International Rescue Committee’s operations in Liberia. He also works with several non-profits and sits on the board of PlayNetworks. In his early career, Nathan worked at Citibank in Emerging Markets, and spent time in the Peace Corps. He graduated from Babson College and Georgetown University. You can contact Nathan at nrichardson AT contentnext.com

– Patrick Dignan, Chief Sales Officer: This is a new position at our company. Patrick Dignan is joining our executive team as the head of all our sales efforts, after a 20-year career in publishing sales. He will lead our growing sales team, define our go-to-market sales strategy, and develop a market relationship with clients and agencies. He was most recently with Forbes.com, where among other positions he had been the director of East Coast sales for the business website. Previously, he was the publisher of Family PC and Saveur magazines and advertising director for Philly.com. Pat received his B.S. from Boston College. You can contact Patrick at pdignan AT contentnext.com.

– Charlie Koones, our new board member: At the same time, we are expanding our already-strong board to bring on key expertise in the entertainment media sector. Charlie Koones is joining our board…till recently he was the president and publisher of Variety, and left in January, after spending 17 years within the Variety/Reed Business family. Koones was a primary architect of Variety

@ CES: Hollywood Talks Techology; Caruso Cameo

Staci D. Kramer — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Back in the Hilton Theater Monday afternoon for a session with execs from Hollywood — Albert Cheng, EVP-digital media, Disney-ABC Television Group; Dan Fawcett, president, Fox Digital; Tom Lesinski, president, Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment; and four days into the job, Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Variety’s Charlie Koones moderated an across-the-board look at the issues of the day. A few of the highlights:

– Original online content: Fawcett: “We aren’t doing it as much as we should be. We’ve done stuff on mobile. … A little bit of the ‘fly on the tail of the elephant’ time to focus on it. We have to figure out the right business models and how to recruit production costs.” Cheng: In an ABC original-content test, the ABC player had more views than the top six user-gen sites where the video was shown.

Mobile: Cheng: On-demand is winning out over linear. “Not surprising considering we’ve already trained people to get what they want when they want it.” He wants better EPGs. Lesinski: Paramount’s mobile efforts are focused more internationally than the U.S. “Our goal is to start training to watch long form.” With that in mind, Paramount licensed a movie package including The Godfather to Nokia (NYSE: NOK) in Europe.

– Apple: Gewecke: From our standpoint, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is a great partner. … Certainly, there’s a need for technology to grow the market — especially in download to own. Lesinski: The deal with Apple for its library has been “surprisingly successful” selling older titles for “much higher margins.” It’s a “real revelation in terms of what Apple can do to create monetization for the studios.”

– Video sites: Cheng: “Platforms are made to do good and sometimes made to do evil, too. … The technology is kind of cool but without the shows or movies we have on this panel its sort of an empty box.”

CSI: Miami in Las Vegas: After the session, I saw David Caruso go up to chat with Paramount’s Lesinski. (The Viacom-Paramount-CBS (NYSE: CBS) connection.) Caruso also attended our LA year-end digital review last month, creating a bit of a mystery about his interest in digital. We talked for a bit but I had to promise to hold off on details. I can say this — it’s technology based and he’s as serious as Horatio Caine on a case. No sunglasses though.

Industry Moves: Variety Publisher Charlie Koones To Leave

Rafat Ali — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 02:38:00 +0000

In a bit of a surprise move, longtime Variety publisher and president Charlie Koones is leaving, as of March 1. Koones has been at Variety, part of Reed Business, for the last 17 years. The official statement says he wants to “pursue entrepreneurial ventures in media and entertainment”. Koones was also responsible overall for the Reed Business Entertainment Group, which has other publication such as Mutichannel News, Video Business and Broadcasting & Cable.

Neil Stiles, currently division managing director for Reed Business Information in the U.K., will succeed Koones as president and publisher.