• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 2, 2014

Condé Nast Entertainment on Thursday named Joe Sabia as head of digital development for its digital video channels. 

Effective immediately, Sabia is responsible for developing digital video featured throughout CNÉ’s brand channels, as well as its recently launched video hub, The Scene.

By some accounts, Sabia also faces a highly politicized environment within Condé Nast, with top editors vying for more control over digital content.

Sabia reports to Michael Klein, executive vice president of programming and content strategy for digital channels at CNÉ. 

Boasting more than 1 billion views to date, CNÉ launched its digital video network in March 2013. The Condé Nast unit has distribution partnerships with various companies, including AOL, Yahoo, YouTube, Twitter and Dailymotion.

A content creator and producer by trade, Sabia is credited with two of CNÉ’s most popular digital series: “73 Questions” for Vogue, which features various personalities literally answering 73 questions, and “Improv Imagination” for Vanity Fair.

In an ambitious bid for video ad dollars, media buyers got their first look at The Scene, in July. Along with CNÉ’s own content -- produced by growing digital departments within Glamour, GQ, Vogue, Wired, Bon Appétit, Brides, and the like -- The Scene is serving as a video distribution platform for ABC News, BuzzFeed, Major League Soccer, Variety, and Weather Channel Films, among others.

As publishers reposition themselves for the digital age, video offers to surest path to big ad dollars. (This year, eMarketer expects $5.8 billion to be spent on video advertising.) The only problem is competition for consumers’ attention -- especially that of coveted millennials.  

Rather than squeezing into a crowded marketplace, however, CNÉ’ sees itself as filling a void left wide open by video leaders like YouTube and Hulu.

“Hulu is about aggregating TV shows, and YouTube is [about] user generated content, but there’s no destination for high quality digital-first content,” Lisa Valentino, CNE’s chief revenue officer, said in July.

Reminded that YouTube has pumped millions of dollars into quality digital-first fare, Valentino still insisted that The Scene has no comparable competition. “There’s no company out there leveraging our brand equity,” she said. 

Along with Gillette’s Clear Gel deodorant and Allstate, Valentino said about 100 advertisers would have the opportunity to buy into The Scene through audience targeting and integrated sponsorship deals.

Other CNÉ video fare includes a documentary series for Vanity Fair entitled “@VF Scandal,” and a tech-focused comic series for Wired dubbed “Retro Grade.” Allure also has a presence with “Cassandra To The Rescue,” which features YouTube star Cassandra Bankson and her attempts to help women overcome their insecurities. 

Food-focused shows include Bon Appétit’s “I Effed It Up,” staring senior food editor Dawn Perry, and “1 Item 3 Ways” for Epicurious, which focuses on seasonal food items, and three ways to reinvent them. Glamour, meanwhile, has “30 Things,” a new series produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, which presents the must-haves and “must-knows” for women around the age of 30, and “GlamourDocumentaries.”

Sabia is the co-founder of YouTube music channel CDZA. During his careers, he has also conceived, directed, produced and edited projects for clients like Google, Interscope Records, BBC America, ATT, AirBnB, and Barack Obama's 2012 Campaign.