On the job only a month, Time Inc. Chief Digital Officer Randall Rothenberg is returning to his former post as president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Sources say he’s taking a hefty pay cut to flee Time Inc., where last Thursday his short-time boss, Jack Griffin, was ousted as CEO after just five months.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes spent five hours at the Time & Life Building on Friday, the day after Griffin’s exit, trying to reassure staffers that none of the changes Griffin put in place would be undone by the triumvirate — Editor-in-Chief John Huey, General Counsel Maurice Edelson and Chief Financial Officer Howard Averill — now running the company on an interim basis.
While Bewkes admonished execs for media leaks, he said that Griffin was a “good individual” who was not a good fit for Time Inc.
Time Inc. is not expected to name a replacement for Rothenberg even as the company tries to push digital revenue to more than 10 percent of total annual revenue of $4 billion.
Rothenberg made about $600,000 a year at the IAB in 2009, the last year for which figures are available. He is believed to be returning for a salary close to $700,000, less than the $750,000 paycheck he was expected to pull in at Time Inc.
David Moore, CEO of 24/7 Real Media and the head of the IAB search committee, said that talks with Rothenberg commenced on Saturday and ended Monday night.
While the betting is that Time Warner CEO Bewkes will pick an insider to replace Griffin, there is now talk that an “outside insider” — someone who is technically out of the company at the moment but who had a long run inside — could get the nod.
Two of the names that have surfaced in that category include: Eileen Naughton, former president of Time magazine, now at Google, and Jack Haire, former executive vice president in charge of Time and Fortune, who is now working for the Newhouse empire as the president and CEO of Parade Publications. Neither returned e-mails seeking comment.
Johnson gone
Roy Johnson is out as editor-in-chief of Men’s Fitness at American Media Inc. following a 9 percent ad-page tumble.
There will be no replacement. In his farewell e-mail, Johnson left no doubt that it was an AMI move tied to tough times.
“I just wanted you all to know that I am no longer the Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Fitness,” he wrote. “For the second time in my career, the harsh realities of our challenging economy have touched me, and my family — as they have so many others in our industry.”
Johnson said he’s reviving his consulting business, RSJ Media, and thanked American Media CEO David Pecker “for offering me the opportunity to oversee Men’s Fitness for almost four years.
“While I’ve endured hurdles and setbacks (who hasn’t?!), I remain excited about the media industry and its prospects for engaging, informing and entertaining consumers, reaching them whenever and wherever they want to be reached.”
“It was an economic-driven decision,” Pecker acknowledged to The Post. “I’m still a big fan [of Johnson’s].”
Seth Kelly, who signed on as editor-in-chief of Muscle & Fitness and recently added Flex to his roster, will also oversee editorial at Men’s Fitness, with the new title of editorial director of the men’s group.
The titles will all operate out of New York City following the move east by Flex in October.
Swatch sues
Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group is suing Bloomberg LP for making both a recording of its corporate earnings conference call and a transcript of that call available to Bloomberg subscribers via the Internet.
Swatch claims it is a violation of copyright law, according to the suit that The Post’s Bruce Golding uncovered in US Southern District Court in Manhattan that was filed earlier this month.
Swatch assigned a homegrown Swiss firm, Chorus Call, to perform the task of recording the conference call. It told analysts that it was also videostreaming the call and that taping or rebroadcasting was prohibited.
Bloomberg is essentially saying, phooey to all that.
“We believe that if a public company dis closes financial per formance information to a select group of analysts, that company has a responsibility to be transparent and pro vide that information to everyone,” said a Bloomberg spokesman.
“The investing public has a right to know, and we’ll continue to provide transcripts and recordings from analyst calls to our audiences. We don’t think the Copyright Act says otherwise.” kkelly@nypost.com