News International Promotes Milner To New Group Role
News International has promoted Clive Milner to the newly created role of group managing director of its newspaper division, with a brief to oversee cross-title projects.
The new role will see Milner, currently managing director of Times Newspapers Limited, assume responsibility for improving the commercial performance of a range of papers including the Times and the Sun.
Milner will take on the position with immediate effect, but will retain his duties in the broadsheet division. He will report directly to News International executive chairman, Les Hinton, alongside managing director of News Group Newspapers, Camilla Rhodes.
Commenting on the appointment, Hinton said: “As we continue to work on improving the performance of our newspaper division, it has become clear we need high-level management to oversee the increasing number of projects across all sections of the company.”
He added: “Clive’s undoubted talents will be put to wider use within the company. He will oversee a number of group-wide projects designed to improve the performance of our newspapers. He is ideally placed to add this critical role to his current duties.”
Milner joined News International in 1981 as sales executive. He has held a number of roles within the company including managing director of News Group Newspapers and most recently managing director of Times Newspapers since December 2001.
News International’s decision to launch a tabloid edition of The Times appears to be paying off and the latest ABC circulation figures show that the move helped boost circulation at the paper by 2.3% during December to 636,331 (see Tabloid Launch Boosts Circulation At The Times).
The compact version of The Times hit the news-stands at the end of November and was initially intended for commuters in the London metropolitan area. However, News International recently unveiled plans to extend its availability in a move that will take its total print run to over 250,000 (see Times Announces Launch Of Tabloid Edition In London).
Reports suggest The Independent is planning to extend its recently adopted tabloid format to its Saturday and Sunday papers in another first for the industry. It is also thought that The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian are on the brink of revealing compact editions.
News International: 020 7782 3922 www.newscorp.co.uk
Recent Press Stories from NewsLine NRS National Newspaper Round-Up – November 2003 Free-Sheet Publishers Combine For Advertising Deal Times Online Launches Brand Marketing Campaign
Subscribers can access ten years of NewsLine articles by clicking the Search button to the left