Daisy Veerasingham Promoted and Sue Cross Takes on Expanded Role in AP Revenue Structure Reorganization
NEW YORK – The Associated Press has named Nick Ascheim, a veteran on both the business and content sides of digital media, as general manager of AP Digital with responsibility for its new strategic business unit, AP Gateway.
Ascheim, a former vice president for The New York Times, will report to Senior Vice President Jane Seagrave, whose appointment as AP’s Chief Revenue Officer took effect March 1. He will oversee AP Gateway, a unit announced in February that will serve as the launching pad for new products and services from AP, its members and other news providers. Its first set of products will be news-consumer oriented applications for the Web, e-readers, mobile phones and tablets, including the iPad, which is set to debut in April from Apple. Ascheim will assume his new role this week.
“Nick brings to AP a depth of experience and a proven track record in fields that are key to the success of AP and its membership as end users increasingly take control of their news consumption,” said Seagrave. “Nick’s skills and expertise cover the range of opportunities we will be investigating to take advantage of the growing number of new business and delivery models to take our content to market.”
In her first moves to restructure AP’s sales and marketing units, Seagrave also announced the promotion of Daisy Veerasingham to senior vice president for business development and partner relations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. She had been vice president for sales for EMEA and Asia. In her expanded role, Veerasingham will oversee business strategy and customer and partner relationships for those geographic areas, as well as AP’s Global Media Services, which provides on-site video coverage and production of breaking news and special events to broadcasters from around the world, and AP Archives, the company’s video archive business. She has also been appointed to serve on the AP Management Committee. Veerasingham, who is based in London, joined AP in 2004. Previously, she was group sales director of LexisNexis ButterworthTolley and sales and marketing director for Financial Times Information. She holds a degree in business law from Warwick University in London.
Sue Cross, currently senior vice president, will also assume an expanded role as she becomes senior vice president for business development and partner relations for the Americas. In this position, she will manage relationships with AP member newspapers and broadcasters, as well as AP’s content licensing business in the United States, Latin America and Canada. Cross will also oversee AP Images, which is AP’s commercial photography business, and AP’s elections services. Cross has been senior vice president of global new media and print/broadcast markets in the Americas. Cross also has served as vice president for Newspaper Online Services, regional vice president for the Western United States, and as AP bureau chief in Los Angeles and Arizona.
“The rapid changes in the media industry have made customer relationships more important than ever, and Daisy and Sue bring a deep understanding of AP members and customers to their new roles,” said Seagrave. “This new structure and the new responsibilities they take on will assure that AP’s revenue structure reflects and keeps pace with new customer and consumer needs.”
Ascheim most recently served as a member of the senior management team at NYTimes.com, as a vice president. After he joined the Times’ digital unit in 2004, his responsibilities included mapping out the strategic vision for key content verticals, helping bridge the product, editorial and sales functions, and creating the entertainment and video departments, which he then oversaw. Before joining NYTimes.com, he was CEO of TheSquare, Inc., a networking and dating Web site that targeted alumni at top universities. Prior to that, his journalism experience included a stint as a field producer for news magazines at ABC News. He was also part of the founding team that in 1996 built and launched FoxNews.com, where he was editorial director.
In addition to overseeing AP Gateway, Ascheim will assume responsibility for AP’s online services, including the Online Video Network and Hosted News, and seek new business opportunities created by the News Registry, a system designed to give newsgathering organizations the tools to address the opportunities and challenges spurred by constantly-evolving digital platforms and devices.
Ascheim earned a bachelor of arts degree in English at Cornell University and holds an MBA from Harvard University.
About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP.
