IMG names Gers as senior VP

Sport and entertainment rights and sponsorship company IMG has appointed Oliver Gers as senior vice-president. He joins from FremantleMedia were he was general manager. Gers will be based in the New York office and also hold the title global head of new media and co-head of a new business unit.

He will co-head IMG Entertainment with London-based executive vice-president of IMG Media, Alastair Waddington.

Gers, who has previously been applauded for his work on the American Idol franchise – one of the top-rating television shows in the US – is tasked with expanding IMG’s digital media presence.

Ted Forstmann, chairman and chief executive, says the appointment marks another step in the company’s strategy to create a balance between representing brands and ownership of entertainment properties.

Before FremantleMedia, Gers spent five years as vice-president responsible for the internet, entertainment and novelty divisions at children’s book publishers Golden Books Family Entertainment.