Anchor Departs KNSD-TV’s Newscast
Local “virtual campus” Internet company Colleges.com purchased the assets of wire service College Press Network from ilife.com in North Palm Beach, Fla., for an undisclosed sum.
Colleges.com already owns and publishes U. Magazine, which has a demographic of 18- to 24-year-olds. It has a circulation of 1.5 million, according to the company.
College Press sells college-focused Internet content and advertising for online college papers.
According to a statement released by the companies, College Press was involved with more than 60 college newspapers.
The papers included Harvard University’s Harvard Independent, UC Berkeley’s Daily Californian and the University of Tennessee’s Daily Beacon.
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‘Cast Changes: In a few weeks, expect an announcement from KNSD-TV on a replacement for anchor Bree Walker.
With her three-year contract ending, Walker left the local NBC affiliate’s 4 p.m. newscast in early May. She had also anchored the 6 p.m. newscast, but had been off of it for several months.
In a joint statement last week, KNSD general manager Phyllis Schwartz and Walker announced her departure.
Walker, who previously worked at local ABC affiliate KGTV before moving to KCBS in Los Angeles, is not taking another on-air job, the statement read. She will be spending more time with her children and other business activities.
According to the station, Walker owns part of a Hollywood-based production company and restaurants in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah.
SDSU’s New Image: Tyler Blik Design will create a new marketing program for San Diego State University.
Earlier this spring, the Downtown-based design firm most recently completed annual reports for the SDSU foundation and the university’s business and financial affairs department. Firm principal Tyler Blik and senior designer Heidi Sullivan will oversee the two-month project.
According to Blik, the campaign will highlight SDSU’s contributions in academic, government and private sectors.
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Status Chart: CIM Inc. will handle public relations for Dallas-based BenefitMall. com. The local firm has another new client, Carlsbad-based Fire Protection Products Inc. Local firm McQuertergroup recently expanded its Washington, D.C., operations. Sutherland Agency LLC moved this month from La Jolla to Cardiff. Hillcrest-based Drasnin Communications recently won four Communicator Awards, including a “Crystal Award of Excellence” for its media kit entry, and “A Very Smart Shopping Cart” for Kearny Mesa-based Axxis Computer Technologies’ interactive shopping cart.
Sound Bites: DiZinno-Thompson Integrated Marketing Solutions launched an interactive division for Web design, strategic planning, interactive technologies and media presentations. The agency recently hired Travis Bone to direct the new division. Bone had previously been a project manager and principal at locally based Digitaria. Jackie Townsend, president and CEO of the Townsend Agency, is a finalist for Ernst & Young’s San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year award. Winners will be announced June 21. Local executive Bernie Rhinerson recently joined new PR firm Southwest Strategies as a partner. For more than 14 years, Rhinerson had worked with Southwest founder and president Alan Ziegaus at Ziegaus’ former company, Downtown-based Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger.
The deadline for the next Media & Marketing column is June 15. Rodrigues can be reached at (858) 277-6359, ext. 107, or via E-mail at trodrigues@sdbj.com.
