Former President of Ziff Davis Media’s Consumer/Small Business Group Jason Young has been promoted to CEO of Ziff Davis Media, New York. He succeeds Robert Callahan, who had been in the position for six years and will remain chairman of Ziff Davis’ board.
Young has been with Ziff Davis since 1990 and, as senior vice president and general manager of Ziff Davis Internet from 2002 to 2005, he helped establish the company’s digital footprint.
“In the past six years, we have transferred from a print-based company to being digitally oriented. My intent is to continue that evolution,” Young said.
Ziff Davis Media is an integrated media company serving the technology and video game markets. It publishes six magazines and reaches 28 million users through its Web sites and events.
Young’s promotion coincides with the sale of Ziff Davis Enterprise Group to Insight Venture Partners, a deal worth $150 million.
Despite the sale, the company’s focus remains on leveraging its position to continue its growth on the digital side, and to integrate its offerings, including print, online, event and research products.
“The growth of the business is centered on the digital medium – the proportional focus is on that area,” Young said. “We will have continued strength and contributions from our print titles, as well as the event assets we’ve built out. The digital side gets the focal point of attention, though, and we’ll continue figuring out for our customers how we leverage all these [media].”
Although online initiatives will drive Ziff Davis’ growth, other platforms will not fall by the wayside, ignored.
“The challenge is to understand where our customers’ demand will be – by platform – such as understanding how readers and marketers will continue to use print, and making sure we’re calibrating resources appropriately,” Young explained.
Young is a graduate of Tufts University and resides in Larchmont, NY. He is 38 and married with three children.
The biggest challenge he faces in his new role is continuing the growth initiated by former CEO Callahan, heading towards a future of market-leading digital offerings.
“We will look to evolve through organic product launches around established magazine brands, as well as with new brand positions,” he said. “We will also look for appropriate tuck-in acquisitions that complement those positions.”
