ESPN exec hired to boost WSJ revenue

Dow Jones & Co. announced Thursday that ESPN sales and marketing executive Michael F. Rooney will join the company in the newly created role of chief revenue officer for the Dow JonesConsumer Media Group, including The Wall Street Journal in print and online. He will begin in his new role on May 23.

Rooney, 53, will set and execute strategies for generating advertising revenues, leading the sales and advertising sales marketing staffs and being the lead representative with advertisers for The Journal, Dow Jones Online, Dow Jones International Marketing Services and Dow Jones Integrated Solutions.

He will report to L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president of Dow Jones, president of the Consumer Media Group and publisher of The Journal.

“Dow Jones and our advertisers will benefit from Michael’s proven track record at ESPN in serving advertisers through solutions-focused sales efforts across media channels, including print, online and broadcasting,” said Crovitz in a release. “At Dow Jones, he will develop strategies to help advertisers best reach our unique audience of 14 million highly affluent and engaged consumers across print, online and other digital channels and also across our market-leading brands. He will build on the solid momentum of ad sales at the print Journal that continues to take market share and online sales that grew 30% this past quarter.”

Under the new organization, Rooney will lead separate sales and advertising sales marketing teams at the print Journal, Dow Jones Online, Dow Jones International Marketing Solutions and Dow Jones Integrated Solutions. He will accelerate the company’s efforts to foster greater collaboration among these diverse sales teams to deliver the best sales solutions across channels and brands to advertisers.

Read the release here.