CNBC says it’s hiring Guardian News & Media’s mobile business manager Torsten de Riese to be its digital director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
De Riese had held the mobile post for just seven months, after working as a business development manager more generally for six years, trying to make money from Guardian.co.uk’s Open Platform, digital newspaper archive, new Arabic site and digital content syndication.
Guardian.co.uk’s iPhone app, led by mobile product head Jonathon Moore, has proved popular, and its free Eyewitness iPad photojournalism app well liked.
But, from de Riese’s commercial vantage point, we’re waiting to see whether GNM will flip the model from one-off to recurring payments, and what it will do with iPad. It’s unclear what, if any, impact de Riese’s exit may have on these developments. GNM is advertising to replace de Riese.
At CNBC, De Riese will report to EMEA distribution VP Justine Powell and to EMEA business development VP Anthony Lilleyman.
Right now, the CNBC.com homepage, when accessed from Europe, remains rather U.S.-centric.
Disclosure: Our publisher ContentNext is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian News & Media.