Greg Foster, CEO of Southern Direct, which provides e-commerce for cable nets, has been named VP, corporate development.
The move follows Turner's acquisition of the company.
Foster will shepherd Turner's New Media Investments team, which is part of the New Products Group (CNN Pipeline, GAmeTAp, ACC Select). He will oversee investments, mergers and acquisitions, and product development in the new media space.
When asked about the issue of media ownership and consolidation, Turner, a consolidation critic, painted a less-flattering portrait of public service.
He said that localism is "almost dead." Pointing to only a few companies, including Turner Broadcasting owner Time Warner, who "controlled 95% of what we see and hear," and "everything at the national level." He said the nation was poorer for it. "They are more concerned about making money than serving the public interest."
When asked whether there was a cable network he would like to start today he said no, but also said that it would take the backing of a big company and nobody was looking to give him a job at his age.
