Condé Nast Entertainment Taps Ex-RYOT Studio Head Kathryn Friedrich for New Role

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Condé Nast Entertainment hired Kathryn Friedrich, a YouTube and Google alum who most recently headed Verizon’s RYOT Studio, to the newly created role of EVP, operations and general manager.

Friedrich started in the new gig this week, reporting to Condé Nast Entertainment president Oren Katzeff, who joined the company last year from Tastemade . Based in New York, Friedrich will work with Katzeff to oversee the video verticals of the media and publishing company’s 18 brands, which include Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Wired, Bon Appétit, and GQ.

Prior to joining CNE, Friedrich served as chief business officer for RYOT Studio , Verizon Media’s branded content and AR/VR arm, for less than a year before departing at the end of 2018. Previously, she was the chief marketing and revenue officer at Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global wellness startup for about a year. Before that, she worked for eight years in various roles at Google and YouTube, most recently as YouTube’s head of global content monetization.

“Kathryn is the perfect person to take our video business to the next level with her innovative solutions and expertise,” Katzeff said in announcing her hire.

Condé Nast Entertainment has more than 65 active projects in film and TV as well as 175 new digital pilots , and it plans to launch a new GQ Sports channel in fall 2019 following the rollout of over-the-top channels for Wired and Bon Appétit. CNE says it has boosted viewing time on YouTube by 174% in the past three months on a year-over-year basis. The video network has deals for nine Facebook Watch original series and more than two dozen shows on Snapchat.

Meanwhile, Condé Nast in April named Roger Lynch, formerly chief exec of Pandora and head of Dish Network’s Sling TV, as its global CEO , who’s looking to stage a digital-driven turnaround.