• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 16, 2009

George Kliavkoff--who served as an interim CEO of Hulu and led NBC Universal's digital ventures until last year--is joining Hearst Corp., where he will head digital expansion of its entertainment division. Kliavkoff becomes executive vice president and deputy group head of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication.

Kliavkoff will report to former NBCU executive Scott Sassa, who heads the unit. The group manages Hearst's lucrative, non-managerial investments in ESPN, Lifetime and A&E Networks, but also holds rights to a slew of properties where further digital monetization could be ripe.

There may also be an opportunity to make investments in startups and other companies, such as the stake NBCU took in video car-shopping site DriverTV. Named chief digital officer in 2006 at NBCU, Kliavkoff also served as the CEO of video hub Hulu during its early development phase. (The site is a joint venture of NBCU and News Corp.)

The Hearst entertainment group also runs Cosmopolitan TV, which has a growing international presence, but is not in the U.S. market. And it has an expansive library of films and animation programming with characters such as Popeye and Flash Gordon. It also produces documentary programming, including "Modern Marvels" on the History channel.

Sassa said Kliavkoff will help in "developing meaningful and scaled digital assets across the Entertainment & Syndication Group and Hearst's diverse stable of powerful brands."

Before joining NBCU, Kliavkoff was an executive vice president at Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which oversees MLB's Internet ventures and is considered a pacesetter in monetizing sports content on the Web.