Paul Yanover is stepping down as president of Fandango after nearly a decade atop the country’s leading movie ticketing service. He will be replaced by Will McIntosh, who currently serves as executive VP of NBC Sports Next.
His new role will be slightly different, as he will serve as president of both NBC Sports Next and Fandango. NBC Sports Next operates GolfNOW, GolfPass, SportsEngine and other sports-related digital and e-commerce applications. McIntosh will report to Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports and Matt Strauss, chairman of direct-to-consumer.
The well-liked, whip-smart Yanover will leave the company later this summer and will take time off before pursuing other endeavors. He joined Fandango in 2012, and worked to transform the business into more than a movie ticketing app, making it more of a digital network for film fans. Under his leadership, Fandango expanded its ticketing reach by buying MovieTickets.com, but it complimented that by buying Flixster, a social-networking movie website, and Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates movie and television reviews. He also oversaw the expansion of Fandango Movieclips on YouTube and the purchase of transactional on-demand streamer, Vudu. Fandango reaches 50 million customers every month.
“Paul led Fandango for nearly a decade, growing the business from a popular movie ticketing app into an award-winning digital network that also includes MovieTickets.com and Flixster, Rotten Tomatoes, Vudu and Fandango Movieclips on YouTube,” Strauss said. “A respected and compassionate industry executive, Paul’s vision and leadership will be missed across the organization, and we wish him well as he enjoys some much-deserved time off prior to pursuing other endeavors.”
Before being named to his post at Fandango, Yanover served as executive VP and managing director of Disney Online, where he oversaw everything from Disney.com to Disney’s suite of premium digital products including online games, virtual worlds, network of family targeted sites, and streaming service Disney Movies Online. Yanover began his career with Disney at Walt Disney Feature Animation, ultimately becoming VP of technology and digital production for the division, and also served as senior VP of Disney Parks and Resorts Online, overseeing the e-commerce business across Disney’s resorts and theme parks.
McIntosh previously spent a decade as the head of digital for Golf Channel, most recently as its executive vice president, business and strategy. Prior to that, McIntosh owned and operated his own business ventures with a focus on interactive marketing and software development within the hospitality industry.
