Kiener News America prexy

exec part of News Corp restructuring

NEW YORK -- News America Publishing Group has named Joe Kiener to the newly created position of prexy and chief operating officer, as part of the restructuring of parent company News Corp. begun last fall.

In his new post, Kiener will oversee the business, operations and financial management of NAPG and its divisions, including TV Guide, Murdoch Magazine Distribution, HarperCollins Publishers, the Weekly Standard and News America Digital Publishing.

Kiener will report directly to NAPG chairman and CEO Anthea Disney.

As chief operating officer of HarperCollins, Kiener played a key role in executing the restructuring of the publishing house. He told Daily Variety the plan included selling imprint Basic Books and "focusing on key content areas, cutting the number of titles released by 30%, and a more vigorous marketing plan ."

Prior to joining HarperCollins in 1996, Kiener spent time in various exec posts at EMI Music, Chrysalis Music Group North America and at Bertelsmann Music Group Intl.