• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 7, 2007

Julie Roehm didn't sit long on the sidelines. Although her controversial departure from her top marketing post at Wal-Mart has shifted to the legal realm, Roehm has moved on. She is joining the board of directors of an interactive television company.

Her new affiliation, Texas-based BIAP, is an acronym for Broadband Interactive Applications. It allows digital cable customers to create Internet-style, customized personal pages tracking stock portfolios, favorite teams' sports scores, local news and information. And it gives them a chance to receive alerts while watching other channels.

The ad-supported service is available for deployment by cable operators, allowing them an opportunity to boost revenues via ad sales or royalties from services such as eBay on the TV screen.

In addition to Roehm, Mike Boyd, a co-founder of QVC 21 years ago, joins the board.

Roehm's tenure as Wal-Mart's senior vice president, marketing ended late last year; before that, she had the high-profile role of overseeing marketing for DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands. She was a champion of moving some of the media buying and selling process to an Internet-based system.

"Television remains the preferred medium of advertisers today, but it currently lacks many of the capabilities of the Web," Roehm said. "BIAP has the technology to ... marry the power and emotion of television with the immediacy and personalization of the Internet right on the TV."

BIAP has a deal with Time Warner Cable, which had used BIAP technology in markets such as Portland, Maine, Columbia, S.C. and San Antonio.

"Julie and Mike possess deep expertise in the critical areas of television commerce, new media advertising and rapid growth companies," said Winston Churchill, BIAP chairman. "We are thrilled that these dynamic business leaders share our view that BIAP is leading a revolution in the world of advertising and programming."