Rodale Names New President

Rodale has found its new president, tapping Scott Schulman to grow revenue and develop strategy for the health and fitness publisher. He'll start Oct. 28 and report to chairman and CEO Maria Rodale. Schulman is a 13-year veteran of Dow Jones & Co., having worked in various roles, most recently as president of the corporate markets group. He left in June 2012 along with several other executives after Lex Fenwick came in as chief executive. As publisher of WSJ.com, he was credited with leading the site to profitability by introducing new revenue streams and expanding its online subscription model, according to Rodale. Maria Rodale said Schulman “understands the business of digital content, but also is comfortable and adept at making the bold moves necessary to significantly drive revenue and profitability.” Schulman said that while Rodale has made strides in translating its brands to various platforms, he sees opportunities to expand its digital business, overseas editions, licensing and events, while stressing that print will remain an important part of the mix. "They're in a fantastic space," he said. "There's a lot more interest in the marketplace from people who want to improve their health and quality of life." The announcement caps a search that began in July, when Maria Rodale said she would seek a president and COO to help run the 83-year-old family-controlled company. The search’s announcement prompted some industry head-scratching about whether Maria Rodale, who came into the role in 2009 from a nontraditional CEO path, would step back from her involvement at the company; with today’s news, she repeated her insistence that she would continue as an active CEO at Rodale. A company spokeswoman said Rodale would continue to search for a COO. Update: The COO search apparently is off for the foreseeable future, the rep said. Rodale, which publishes mass titles Men’s Health and Women’s Health as well as enthusiast titles Runner’s World and Bicycling, reported that it’s having a strong year across various measures, including a 12 percent increase in ad pages for the first half of the year versus the year-ago period and notable increases in books, events and digital.

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Rodale Names New President

Scott Schulman helped develop Dow Jones' subscription model

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