Veoh names former Yahoo ad executive as new CEO
Online video company Veoh Networks Inc. said Wednesday that it had hired former Yahoo Inc. advertising executive Steve Mitgang as chief executive.
San Diego-based Veoh said founding CEO Dmitry Shapiro would make way for Mitgang by becoming the chief innovation officer.
As a senior vice president at Yahoo, Mitgang, 46, managed the company’s next-generation search advertising system, dubbed Project Panama. The technology seeks to better match ads with users of its search engine to drive higher revenue.
Mitgang said his job at Veoh would be to build a one-stop shop for advertisers seeking to connect with viewers of online video.
“The video marketplace is still in its very early days,” Mitgang said. “If we think about a world where there are billions of videos to choose from, there’s still an opportunity for a company to help people discover, access and watch all kinds of videos, while enabling advertisers to engage those viewers.”
Veoh features more than 100,000 videos produced by professionals and amateurs. It also hosts videos from movie studios and magazine publishers, including Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and National Lampoon Inc.
Among Veoh’s investors is former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner, whose Internet production company, Vuguru, has produced an online video series called “Prom Queen” aimed at teens. Other investors include Time Warner Inc., Spark Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Mitgang said Veoh recently finished its third major round of venture financing, but he would not disclose details.
The company also said it had hired Jennifer Betka, a former executive at Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., as senior vice president of marketing.
