Ex-Dow Jones president to join Time Inc.

Todd Larsen, who left the role of president of Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, earlier this year, will take a job at Time Inc. overseeing its magazine unit, according to a story in The Journal.

Keach Hagey writes, “In his new role, Mr. Larsen will oversee some of Time Inc.’s high-profile titles, including Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. His hiring comes nine months after digital-advertising veteran Laura Lang took the reins of Time Inc.

“The creation of the news and sports group reverses a decision by Ms. Lang’s predecessor, Jack Griffin, who separated the groups. At the time, Mark Ford was placed in charge of the Sports Group, while John Q. Griffin—no relation—was placed in charge of the News Group. John Q. Griffin left Time Inc. in May 2011 and wasn’t replaced.

“Mr. Ford will report to Mr. Larsen, according to the people.

“Time Inc.’s news and sports titles face significant challenges. Sales of Time magazine, the company’s most prominent news title, were down 31% on the newsstand in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The number of advertising pages was down 19.1 % in the first half of the year, compared with a year earlier, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Time Worldwide Publisher Kim Kelleher left in July, and hasn’t yet been replaced.”

Read more here.