View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. Digital Journalism
September 30, 2010

Matt Kelly to leave the Mirror for digital sports business

By Oliver Luft

Mirror Group Newspaper digital content director Matt Kelly is to leave the business after 16 years to join Perform, an online sports video business.

Kelly will leave the Publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mirror titles in January after being appointed as the managing director of a new publishing division.

Reporting directly to Perform’s joint-chief executive Simon Denyer, Kelly will be responsible for creating the publishing division, building new audiences and revenue streams across an array of sports.

During his time at MGN, Kelly oversaw the launch and development of MirrorFootball.co.uk and 3am.co.uk – digital spin-offs of key editorial features to the group’s newspapers.

Prior to taking up his digital content director role, Kelly had been an associate editor of the Daily Mirror, led the print redesign in 2008 and has held a variety of positions on the paper, including head of features and new technology columnist.

He said: “I’ve had 16 brilliant years with the Mirror and am incredibly proud of everything the digital team has achieved here – particularly Mirror Football and 3am.co.uk, but now it’s time for a fresh challenge.”

Perform holds numerous rights to show sports online, runs video-on-demand sites for Football League clubs and provides edited highlights packages for newspaper and other websites.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

The firm boasts that its ePlayer is the world’s largest premium sport VOD broadcaster with more than 600 customers.

Denyer said: “Perform now generates and accesses more sports video, editorial and data than any other media company in the world so we wanted to bring someone in with creative drive and a proven track record to take these assets and create a range of new direct-to-consumer sports channels.

“Following the resounding success of ePlayer, which is now the world’s leading premium sports VOD broadcaster with 31 million unique users a month, we have hired Matt to launch and manage other new mass audience initiatives.”

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network