Former DirecTV Exec Is New Publisher of LA Times

Eddy Hartenstein, former head of DirecTV, will become publisher of the Los Angeles Times on Monday, the paper reports. Hartenstein will be coming aboard the paper during a downturn for the industry—and for the LA Times in particular—with readership of the paper down to 774,000 from 1.2 million in the early '90s.

Harteinstein helped DirecTV establish itself as an innovator and content-providing giant, and many hope he can bring the same insight to the ailing newspaper business. "I realize that the problems are huge and daunting, but I don't believe there's anything that can't be fixed as long as everyone is pulling in the same direction,” said Hartenstein. (More Los Angeles Times stories.)