BUZZMEDIA Adds Digital Media Veteran Stephen Hansen As President

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BUZZMEDIA (www.buzz-media.com), one of the fastest growing digital media companies, today announced the hire of highly accomplished digital executive Stephen Hansen as president. In this role, Hansen will lead product and technology development, sales, marketing and management, and will report to BUZZMEDIA CEO Tyler Goldman.

"BUZZMEDIA is growing at a rapid rate and I can't think of a better equipped person to join us at this time to help drive our business and bring essential operational expertise to the team," said Goldman. "Credited with building some of the world's leading organizations in finance, technology and entertainment, Steve is an exceptionally strategic thinker and perfectly positioned to steer BUZZMEDIA's success as a premier next generation media company."

Before joining BUZZMEDIA, Hansen served as president and chief operating officer of TrueCar, Inc., where he managed technology, product development, business intelligence, strategy and administration. He got his start at auditing firm KPMG where he ascended to partner before leaving to serve as a senior vice president at Universal Studios. Hansen joined GeoCities as COO in 1997 where he oversaw the online community through its IPO and subsequent $5 billion sale to Yahoo!. Joining BUZZMEDIA is the logical culmination of Hansen's work to date, from Universal Studios to GeoCities to WePlay, the online community he founded in a joint venture between Creative Artists Agency and Major League Baseball to promote active, healthy lifestyles for kids through sports.

"BUZZMEDIA is delivering on the promises of a new media company that we have all envisioned since the early days of the Internet," said Hansen. "The company supplies highly contextual media experiences that consumers and marketers demand across more than 40 top digital entertainment brands. While many have been talking about content, community, curation and culture, BUZZMEDIA is delivering 24/7 on this promise to more than 100 million consumers and I'm thrilled to be joining the team."

Hansen joins several notable recent hires that support BUZZMEDIA's continued growth, including Chief Information Officer Sunny Walia, previously vice president of engineering and operations at Demand Media; Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing and Branded Entertainment Mike Praw, previously vice president at MediaLink; and Senior Vice President of International and Performance Sales Ross Cimino, previously head of performance sales and U.K. operations for Gorilla Nation.

About BUZZMEDIA

BUZZMEDIA is the leader in pop culture and millennial audience reach, reaching more than 30 million monthly unique visitors and one in four millennials in the U.S. every month. BUZZMEDIA publishes more than 40 authoritative brands whose voices define categories and culture, including SPIN, Celebuzz, Stereogum, Videogum, Buzznet, TheSuperficial, Idolator, PureVolume, Hype Machine, AbsolutePunk, What Would Tyler Durden Do?, SocialiteLife, Go Fug Yourself, Just Jared, Pink is the New Blog, Gorilla vs. Bear, RCRD LBL, TheFrisky, Concrete Loop, Brooklyn Vegan, Punknews and XLR8R. As measured by comScore, BUZZMEDIA is the largest digital publisher in entertainment news and the fourth largest digital publisher of original music content in the U.S. BUZZMEDIA uses its massive reach, deep audience engagement and understanding of the young adult audience to provide customized, innovative marketing and advertising solutions across its branded properties.  

Media Contact:
Julie Nicholson, Weber Shandwick
(212) 445-8371
[email protected]

SOURCE BUZZMEDIA