— UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB has given more detail on the post to be taken up by AOL UK MD Andy Jonesco. Currently on gardening leave, Jonesco takes the new position of MD, Online Business Unit (OBU), tasked with exploiting web advertising opportunities and, according to mad.co.uk, “he will oversee development of a full-service portal for Sky customers that will provide a full suite of web tools together with a range of rich content from Sky and third parties”. Shouldn’t be too much trouble – apart from the Google Video-powered new user-gen video site SkyCast, BSkyB already has a deal with the search site that gives sky.com customers branded Gmail accounts and more (a variant of Mountain View’s white label Apps On Your Domain package); might it be possible to speculate Google Personalized Homepage to tick the “portal” box? Meanwhile, Paul Wright has been appointed sales director for Sky Digital Media, a web ad sales division.
— Emap: The AOL exodus continues. Interim head of portal development Jonathan Turpin has left to take up the first of Emap’s three new digital director positions. Turpin will become digital director in the company’s radio division; two more digital appointments are coming soon in its lifestyle and specialist consumer divisions. Turpin has previously been CEO of the Fish4 classifieds network and held positions with early BBC online properties.
— Lastminute.com: Elsewhere in UK shake-ups, travel retailer and 90s dot.com poster child Lastminute.com has appointed Alistair Daly as marketing director. The company last month lured new CMO Simon Thompson from Motorola Europe, but Daly will report to UK MD Mark Jones.