Big media's digital shuffle

Four years ago or so, a handful of big, lumbering old-media companies, desperate to show investors and the technorati alike that they had a clue when it came to the Internet, created the new position of digital strategist-in-chief. Almost in lockstep, companies from ABC to Viacom (VIA) named a round of rising stars to a new position of top interactive honcho. Today the lineup looks considerably different. Some companies - like MTV and NBC - have dropped the role altogether. Others, like News Corp., have elevated it. That the companies no longer are singing from the same hymnal says a lot about the volatile state of "old" media vs. "new." Why the shift? For one thing, old-media executives were far more intimidated by technology four years ago than they are today. Beyond that, many chief digital honchos were hired to do deals - like NBC's joint venture with News Corp. for Hulu.com - that have now either fallen by the wayside in the soft economy or become so core to doing business that they no longer need to be led by a digital chief.