By John Kell
Time Inc. has tapped an Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) executive to
spearhead the magazine publisher's overall technology strategy, an
appointment that comes ahead of a planned spinoff from Time Warner
Inc.
Colin Bodell will assume the chief technology officer and
executive vice president roles next month. In the newly created
position, Mr. Bodell will have oversight of day-to-day
information-technology operations.
He will also play a key role in digital product development,
Time Inc. said, and report to Chief Executive Joseph A. Ripp.
The appointment comes as Time Inc.'s magazines have been hit by
a shift of ad spending to the Internet. Magazine-industry ad
declines are expected to persist in the years ahead, putting
pressure on publishers to generate more revenue from digital
products.
Time Inc. is expected to spin off from Time Warner in the second
quarter of this year.
Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Bodell was vice president
of Amazon's digital-store platform, helping organize the Kindle's
book, periodical and magazine store as well as technology that
supported the e-commerce company's digital content across the
Internet, Kindle and third-party devices.
He first joined Amazon in 2006, and also held senior executive
posts at Webgain, Intellicorp and Micro Focus.
Write to John Kell at john.kell@wsj.com
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