Business

Changes at Disney´s Internet and gaming division
by Zuzana Zelenakova

Sunday, The Walt Disney Company announced some quite profound changes to its Internet and gaming division that has been staying behind lately. The leadership of the Interactive Media Group will be divided among former Yahoo executive James Pitaro and Playdom CEO John Pleasants. They are to replace Steve Wadsworth, who resigned from the post last month in order to move on and find new possibilities in his life. James Pitaro will have responsibility over Disney Online, that is the company´s Internet portfolio, while John Pleasants will lead the digital game businesses and continue to run Playdom at the same time. Playdom belongs to the most prominent social game develop! ers on MySpace as well as Facebook. On July 27, 2010 Playdom was acquired by The Walt Disney Company for $763 million as a part of its Interactive Media Group. "John has shown incredible agility and skill in helping companies achieve success in the ever-shifting digital games business, while Jimmy has vast knowledge of the online world and has been hugely successful at creating and building audiences around branded online content," said Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger in a statement. “As co-presidents, I’m confident they will make Disney’s digital content and businesses even more robust and successful.” Pitaro is a former Vice President and General Manager of Yahoo Sports. He became a part of the sports team in 2006. He contributed greatly to the continued growth of the division. Before that he held the function of Vice President of Business Affairs for LAUNCH Media, Inc, the company that Yahoo acquired in 2001, and that of Vice President a! nd Head of Business Affairs for Yahoo Music. On the other hand! , John P leasants, before joining Playdom served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Elecvtronic Arts.

related story (sgx18310): http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101003/tc_nm/us_disney_interact...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite cho! ices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 11:49 AM