Tribune Media Names John Batter CEO Of Gracenote
By: Matt Tamanini Aug. 26, 2014
Tribune Media Company today announced the appointment of John Batter as chief executive officer of Gracenote and executive Vice president of Tribune Media. An experienced technology and entertainment executive, Batter will set the strategic direction and drive growth for Gracenote's core music and video metadata and technology businesses, as well as lead the company's day-to-day operations. Batter will begin his new role at Gracenote on Sept. 2, reporting to Peter Liguori, president and chief executive officer of Tribune Media.
"As we look to develop and grow our metadata business, we decided to bring in a CEO with strong operational experience to lead this effort globally," said Liguori. "John's strong digital experience in on-demand streaming services and video games combined with his studio experience make him a terrific fit to lead Gracenote into the future. As a customer of TMS while at M-GO, John has a deep understanding of the business, the emerging platforms and players, and the role metadata has in reimagining entertainment experiences."
Tribune Media is expanding its metadata business to meet growing international demand from TV and music customers. Tribune acquired worldwide music leader Gracenote in February 2014, extending the business into music services, automotive infotainment and international markets for TV. Tribune united Gracenote with Tribune Media Services (TMS), a leader in EPG and TV data for North America, Latin America and Europe, and later expanded into India, the Middle East and parts of Asia with the acquisition ofWhat's-ON.
"After the acquisition by Tribune, Gracenote has emerged as a driving force in entertainment data, serving as the backbone for many of the most important TV and music products and services today," said Batter. "As more devices and entertainment services become connected and personalized to users, the importance of Gracenote's metadata is becoming clear. This is a unique opportunity to join the talented team at Gracenote to drive the evolution of data and technologies into new services and features for our customers around the world."
Batter was most recently CEO of M-GO, a digital movie and TV streaming service created as a joint venture between DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor. During his time at M-GO, Batter built the business, forged partnerships with top consumer electronics companies and signed content deals with major Hollywood studios and TV networks. Prior to M-GO, Batter served as president of production at DreamWorks Animation, where he led the company's worldwide production, post-production, technology and studio finance divisions.Earlier in his career, Batter held leadership roles at Electronic Arts (EA), serving as general manager in the company's mobile and studio groups.
About Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc. provides music and video content and technologies to the world's hottest entertainment products and brands. Gracenote is the industry standard for music and video recognition and is supported by the largest source of music and video metadata, featuring descriptions of more than 180 million tracks and TV listings for 50 countries. Gracenote is a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company (OTC:TRBAA) and has 15 offices with worldwide headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, visit our website www.gracenote.com or follow us at @GracenoteTweets and www.facebook.com/PoweredbyGracenote.
About Tribune Media
Tribune Media Company (OTC:TRBAA) is home to a diverse portfolio of television and digital properties driven by quality news, entertainment and sports programming. Tribune Media is comprised of Tribune Broadcasting's 42 owned or operated local television stations reaching 50 million households, national entertainment network WGN America, available in 72 million households, Tribune Studios, and Tribune Digital Ventures, including the websites Zap2it and TVByTheNumbers, and Gracenote, one of the world's leading sources of TV and music metadata powering electronic program guides in televisions, automobiles and mobile devices. Tribune Media also includes Chicago's WGN-AM, the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV. Additionally, the company owns and manages a significant number of real estate properties across the U.S. and holds other strategic investments in media.For more information please visit www.tribunemedia.com.
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Media Contact/Tribune Media: |
Investor Relations/Tribune Media: |
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Christa Robinson |
Donna Granato |
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Chief Communications Officer |
VP, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations |
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(212) 210-2794 (office) |
(212) 210-2703 (office) |
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Gracenote Contact: |
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Graham McKenna |
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VP, Marketing &Communications |
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(510) 428-7288 (office) |
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SOURCE Gracenote, Inc.
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