Time Inc. announced late yesterday that SI Group Editor PAUL FICHTENBAUM will step down, effective June 30. Fichtenbaum has been with SI since ’89 and more recently played a major role in pushing the magazine into original digital video content and other expansions such as SI Films, SI Play and Campus Rush. Time Inc. has gone through an extended series of executive changes and staffing reorganizations in recent months, including a January move that placed President of Entertainment & Sports Group and Video RICH BATTISTA with oversight of SI. But Fichtenbaum said his move was voluntary and driven by a desire to experience something else professionally. “I’m at a point in my life where it’s the right time to try something new,” he said. “I’m leaving on my own terms and with SI’s support. But I feel I’ve got another good act in me.” Fichtenbaum has not yet determined his next move, and SI will name his successor shortly. He cited SI’s move last fall to rename its Legacy Award after the now-deceased MUHAMMAD ALI as the high point of his time with SI. “Being able to spend time and be there in Louisville with him and his family, that moved me like nothing else,” he said (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). Fichtenbaum said his departure "might be a surprise to the outside world but not to me." He added, "I loved it, but I've been here a long time." In N.Y., Keith Kelly writes there is a perception that SI, "despite its prestige, has not fully benefited amid the explosive growth of sports in the US, and has lost market share to Disney’s ESPN" (N.Y. POST, 6/9).
