NEW YORK, NY and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 19, 2014) - Hearst Corporation today announced the formation of a new Silicon Valley digital product development group to accelerate its high-growth, multi-screen digital media offerings. The announcement was made by Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO of Hearst Corporation, and Philip R. Wiser, chief technology officer.
The new technology group will work across Hearst businesses to extend the digital reach of Hearst's premier brands and will develop new solutions that enrich the user experience as audiences increasingly migrate to mobile devices. Already with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors to its online media brands worldwide, Hearst has amassed one of the largest global online consumer footprints in media today.
Rick Marini, formerly CEO of BranchOut, and the product, UX and engineering teams from BranchOut will be forming the core of the new group. They bring deep experience in building large-scale consumer-facing services and have previously launched a variety of cross-platform services while at BranchOut, Talk.co, SuperFan and Tickle.com. Marini will report to Wiser.
Commenting on the announcement, Swartz said: "The Hearst Digital Product Development Group is well positioned to create immersive digital media experiences for a variety of audiences across mobile platforms. Our overall goal is to capture the attention of users with a new wave of engaging mobile apps and services. I'm happy that Rick and his team will be leading our efforts from our new outpost on the West Coast and I welcome them all to Hearst."
"Hearst has a mission to advance our technical capabilities with a particular focus on the development of highly engaging multi-screen experiences," Wiser said. "We have many of the world's top brands and large-scale audiences that want to connect with them throughout the day, on many screens. We have made solid progress in the past several years growing our digital product portfolio and now intend to supercharge our mobile efforts."
Marini added, "We are incredibly excited by the Hearst team's vision for the future of digital media and how our team will be a key part of that. Hearst is a world-class media organization with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. The opportunity to develop high-impact digital products for millions of consumers is why we decided to join Hearst."
About Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation ( www.hearst.com ) is one of the nation's largest diversified media and information companies. Its major interests include ownership of 15 daily and 34 weekly newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle , San Francisco Chronicle , San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union ; hundreds of magazines around the world, including Good Housekeeping , Cosmopolitan , ELLE and O, The Oprah Magazine ; 29 television stations, which reach a combined 18 percent of U.S. viewers; ownership in leading cable networks, including Lifetime, A&E, HISTORY and ESPN; significant holdings in automotive, electronic and medical/pharmaceutical business information companies; a 50 percent stake in global ratings agency Fitch Group; Internet and marketing services businesses; television production; newspaper features distribution; and real estate. Follow us on Twitter @HearstCorp and subscribe to Hearstlink .
Contacts: Paul Luthringer pluthringer@hearst.com 212-649-2540 Lisa Bagley lbagley@hearst.com 212-649-2337
