Chernin Group Taps Former Yahoo Exec Mike Kerns To Lead Digital Initiatives

Silicon Valley denizens have been waiting to see where Mike Kerns would wind up after April when he left Yahoo. He had been in charge of the company’s home page and video verticals, reporting CEO Marissa Mayer.

Now they know: He’s the new President of Digital for The Chernin Group. He’ll work with Chairman Perter Chernin and President Jesse Jacobs to, as the company puts it, “build upon [its] successful track record of investing in, acquiring and building digital media and consumer internet companies.”

He’ll join the board of Otter Media, TCG’s joint venture with AT&T to develop a global streaming service. It’s expected to complement DirecTV assuming, as most analysts do, that federal officials don’t try to block the telco’s acquisition of the No. 1 satellite company.

Kerns also will open a San Francisco office for TCG.

Chernin, the former COO for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and News Corp empire, says that Kerns “has a proven, multi-disciplined track record which has become increasingly important to our company, current holdings and future growth.”

Kerns moved to Yahoo in 2010 when it bought Citizen Sports, which he cofounded and ran. He was one of the few top Yahoo executives who survived after mid 2012 when Mayer took charge of the struggling Internet content and service provider. When he left this year the company said he wanted to do something more entrepreneurial — although Bloomberg suggested he was unhappy with a management shakeup.

The exec says TCG has “a unique platform that provides a combination of creative freedom and entrepreneurial ambition focused on digital media. Most importantly I couldn’t be more confident in our shared values, and commitment to working with great people.”