The Daily Meal has been without a president since August 2012, but the food site, published by Spanfeller Media Group (SMG), is set to announce on Monday that JP Kyrillos has taken the job.
Kyrillos has pretty deep experience working at lifestyle-oriented print publications. He was vp and publisher of Travel + Leisure until October 2012, and before that he was publisher of Food & Wine magazine, according to a release. After stepping down as publisher of Travel + Leisure, Kyrillos worked on his brother's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in New Jersey, according to minonline.
"He's a real pro, so we're ecstatic to have him on board," SMG president/CEO Jim Spanfeller told Adweek.
Along with boosting advertising revenue, Spanfeller said he hopes Kyrillos will lead the site to new sources of revenue, such as e-commerce and distance learning.
“I have been eager to join a pure play digital media brand for some time," Kyrillos said in a statement. "Getting involved with such a successful new enterprise in the epicurean space made The Daily Meal an irresistible opportunity."
One of Kyrillos' likely focuses will be video. Indeed, as part of the New York-based site's investment in original video, The Daily Meal recently opened a test kitchen at its offices. The company hosted an event on May 8 to show off the kitchen. And apparently the event went over well—Spanfeller said some guests stayed until after midnight.
The kitchen will enable the site to produce more original videos, Spanfeller said, and it will also serve as an event space and venue for both The Daily Meal and its business partners.
The Daily Meal currently produces three to five videos on weekdays, and Spanfeller said he hopes to double that number over the next six months with the new kitchen.
"In general, this allows us to be more versatile," he said.