The online video Web site Hulu, in a state of flux as its owners decide what to do with it, said Thursday that the person in charge of content for the site, Andy Forssell, would become its acting chief executive.
Mr. Forssell will succeed Jason Kilar, at least temporarily. Mr. Kilar, the founding chief executive of Hulu, said in January that he would step down by the end of March. He reaffirmed that plan in a message to Hulu employees on Thursday. Mr. Kilar hasn’t said whether he is taking a new job elsewhere.
The message to employees, subsequently published on the Hulu Web site, tacitly confirmed that the active owners of Hulu, the Walt Disney Company and News Corporation, are contemplating a change to the ownership structure of the company.
“Disney and News Corporation are currently finalizing their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process,” Mr. Kilar wrote. “Once the plans are finalized, a permanent decision will be made regarding the C.E.O. position.”
Comcast also owns part of Hulu, through its 2011 acquisition of NBC, but it gave up NBC’s management role of the site at that time. So it’s up to Disney and News Corporation to decide what to do. One of the companies may opt to buy out the other owners’ shares. Or Disney and News Corporation may choose to sell Hulu to a different company. Mr. Kilar did not indicate when a change could take place.
But until it does, Mr. Forssell will be in charge. He has been at Hulu since the beginning, and he is currently the senior vice president of content, meaning that he oversees relationships with networks like ABC and Fox and manages the acquisition of original video for the site.
Mr. Kilar said in his message that Hulu’s focus “remains on delivering a fantastic 2013 for customers and shareholders” and indicated that records for revenue and subscriber additions would be set in the first quarter of the year, despite the owner uncertainty.
Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/hulu-names-an-acting-chief-executive/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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