Monday, October 4, 2010

Disney Names Playdom's Pleasants, Yahoo's Pitaro As Co-Presidents

Burbank-based Walt Disney said this weekend that it has promoted John Pleasants, the former CEO of Playdom, as co-President of its Disney Interactive Media Group, along with James Pitaro, most recently of Yahoo!. According to Disney, the new structure of its interactive media unit will "enhance the strategic focus and responsiveness" of its digital games business. Pleasants joined Disney in July, when Disney paid more than $760M for social games developer Playdom. Disney said Pleasants will continue to run Playdom. Pitaro will oversee Disney Online, which runs's Disney's branded web and social media sites. Pitaro was most recently Vice President and head of Media for Yahoo!. Disney said the move to co-presidents is designed so that the two businesses can "share consumer insights and technological resources."Disney said Pleasants will be based in the Bay Area, and now will oversee such assets as Tapulous, Club Penguin, and the World of Cars. Pitaro has also served at Launch Media, and now heads up running Disney.com, Family.com, and Disney's social media marketing agency, DigiSynd, among other properties. Pleasants and Pitaro replace Steve Wadsworth.

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