Weiner

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David Weiner

President

K-tel International Inc.

David Weiner is probably best known as president of a company that distributes the “Hooked On” cassette series. Not very hip but then again, K-tel’s market hasn’t exactly been the MTV crowd.

That may be changing, however. Over the past year the company, essentially under Weiner’s direction, has been re-evaluating its target audience. To focus more on the under-25 set, K-tel announced in April that it would start selling recordings over the Internet.

A deal with RealNetworks Inc. enabled K-tel to begin offering customized compact-disc compilations. It then acquired the rights to publish Billboard magazine’s weekly album, singles and video charts on its Web site.

News of K-tel’s venture onto the Web sent the stock soaring from about $7 a share to an all-time high of almost $79. The company then instituted a 2-for-1 stock split, bringing the price to $39.50, and it has steadily declined since then, trading at about $6.50 last week.

Weiner is forging ahead with expansion of K-tel’s Internet business. He has made deals with Liquid Audio, a developer of secure online music delivery systems; Muze Inc., a source of reviews and other information about music, books and movies; and CyberSource Corp., which will provide payment processing for K-tel’s new online music and video service.

It’s all part of the mandate Weiner was given when he first joined K-tel in 1993 to develop an overall business plan for the company.

Weiner came to K-tel from accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP, where he was a direct-marketing specialist with a financial background in mergers and acquisitions. He spent three years there as a senior manager in the firm’s entertainment consulting division.

A year after joining K-tel, Weiner was promoted to senior vice president, and in 1996 he was promoted to president.

Under an unusual organizational structure, K-tel is based in Minneapolis, its Chairman/CEO Philip Kives is based in Winnipeg, Canada, and Weiner is based at the company’s L.A.-area offices in Calabasas. From there, he is responsible for “directing all U.S. operations of the company, and its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland,” according to a company release.

Under Weiner’s direction, K-tel has moved aggressively into online sales, but its profitability has been spotty.

Lauren Hollingsworth

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