NBC News president Deborah Turness is bringing on a deputy from her former network: Britain’s ITV.
Beginning in January, Julian March will be NBC News’ Senior Vice President of Editorial and Innovation, a new position. March is currently Director of Online for ITV where, until July, Turness was Editor.
March will have responsibility for all digital businesses, taking over for Vivian Schiller who is moving to Twitter where she will be head of news. But his duties will go beyond digital to daily editorial as Turness seeks to further integrate NBC News digital and broadcast.
“Julian is the perfect person for this exciting new strategic and editorial role,” Turness said in a memo to NBC News staff. “He is not only a talented, extremely capable and dynamic journalist with decades of television news experience, he’s also a proven digital leader and innovator with a very unique understanding of the intersection of broadcast news and digital.”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” said March. “As the competition for our audience’s attention and trust becomes fiercer, we must find more effective ways to tell our stories. NBC News is well-placed to take on this challenge, and I am so excited to be a part of their exciting future.”
Prior to ITV, March spent 11 years at Sky News, where he launched the award-winning Sky News app, and produced over 3,000 hours of live television, including coverage of major breaking news stories such as the 7/7 London bombings and the Indian Ocean tsunami.