Yahoo is moving quickly to fill the void left this week by the surprising departure of sales chief Joanne Bradford by handing her duties temporarily to Yahoo North America head Hilary Schneider. A spokeswoman tells us that the company is “actively searching”—both internally and externally—for a replacement and that Schneider…

A surprising move from Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio is stepping down from that role for William Lynch, who joined in early 2009 as president of BN.com (NYSE: BKS). Riggio stays as vice chairman and insists he will still be actively involved. At the same time, B&N promoted COO…

After 14 years with Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), Ash Patel is finally ready to call it quits this week, we have confirmed. Yahoo observers have often speculated about when Patel would depart. He started at Yahoo in April 1996, just before Yahoo went public. He’s held a variety of titles, with…

Scripps Networks (NYSE: SNI) is promoting Lisa Choi Owens to SVP of digital media, which will give her oversight of the cable net’s websites and chart the further development of its mobile and social media programs. Owens has been with Scripps for nearly two years and has been handling online…

Updated: A big pick-up for Demand Media; The content distributor has hired Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) SVP Joanne Bradford as its chief revenue officer, according to AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher. Demand Media says it won’t comment on rumors; Yahoo now confirms that Bradford is leaving “to pursue a new opportunity.” Our co-editor…

Gina Bianchini, the long-time head (and co-founder) of build-your-own social network service Ning, is resigning; she’s joining Ning backer Andreesen Horowitz as an executive in residence. In a blog post, Ning Chairman Marc Andreessen emphasizes that the resignation is Bianchini’s decision and that “nothing else is changing” at the startup.…

A big name addition to WolframAlpha’s executive team. Barak Berkowitz, who headed blogging firm Six Apart until he left two-and-a-half years ago, is joining the search startup as managing director tasked with leading the “growth of WolframAlpha’s business.” Specifically, WolframAlpha says that Berkowitz will help the company build new partnerships…

In 2008, Terra Firma hired the guy who ran the company which makes Cillit Bang and Air Wick to turn EMI Music around. But now the record label finds itself seeking a reported £100 million to avoid breaching banking covenants. So now executive chairman Elio Leoni-Sceti is on his way…

David Dorn doesn’t flinch when the C word—“cheesy”—comes up during an interview about Rhino Entertainment. He embraces it, talking about the two extremes of the Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) catalog division—a “really great sense of humor” that can result in something like Golden Throats, the series of compilations featuring…

The Nook is only part of Barnes & Noble’s digital strategy. Now that the e-reader is launched and its production problems appear to be resolved, B&N is heightening its focus on another major area: selling digital content through its own site and device, and through other devices like the upcoming…

Online ad vet Eric Bader (image) is coming back to the traditional agency business after leaving that segment three years ago to help found mobile ad and marketing consultant Brand In Hand. Interpublic Group media shop Initiative has hired Bader as its first worldwide digital strategy officer. He’ll report directly…

Newspaper website veteran Rusty Coats is leaving his post as VP of interactive for the newspaper division of The E. W. Scripps, E&P reports. In a memo (after the jump) sent to Scripps staffers, Coats, who was instrumental in establishing the Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Newspaper Consortium, also said that he’s…

Another batch of changes at AOL (NYSE: AOL) as ex-Googler David Eun moves into his new role of president, AOL Media and Studios. Two are meant to buttress AOL’s ambitious content management plans: David Mason, the co-founder and CEO of recent acquisition StudioNow, as SVP-AOL Content Platform, reporting to Eun,…

New investment bank Code Advisors has picked up some senior banking expertise with the hiring of Chris Scarborough, an 11-year vet of Credit Suisse with significant Silicon Valley tech-media experience. Scarborough doesn’t have a formal title—the “next-gen” firm co-founded by for CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS) CEO Quincy Smith, Fred Davis…

Mitch Lazar, Yahoo’s European Mobile managing director, is stepping down from his post after working at the company for four and a half years. Lazar marks one of many recent departures from Yahoo’s mobile group. Over the past year-or-so, departures range from all the way at the top, like Marco…

Thumbplay has hired an exec away from Apple’s iPhone ranks to bulk up its team as it attempts to transform the ringtone company to a full-track music download service for the phone and PC. Pablo Calamera, who oversaw the launch of Apple’s MobileMe cloud services, will serve as the company’s…

A restructuring is on the way for the revenue side of the Associated Press, with changes coming as soon as next week as part of Jane Seagrave’s recent promotion to chief revenue officer and the creation of new business unit AP Gateway. Among the changes: paidContent has learned that Jeff…

Paul Greenberg (image, left) is leaving his job as EVP/GM at TV Guide Online to become digital president of Time (NYSE: TWX) Inc.‘s Lifestyle Group. He’ll start in mid-March and report to Lifestyle Group President Steve Sachs. Time Inc. formed the Lifestyle Group about a year and a half ago…

This one is sure to set off a round of “say what’s”: Michael Wolf, the former president and COO of MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA), is launching a new consulting firm called Activate—with technologist and high-profile blogger Anil Dash as partner. Nothing surprising, of course, about Wolf being a consultant. He…