Erik Huggers is a media executive who most recently served as CEO of video hosting service

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

. He previously worked at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

, the

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, and at OnCue,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

's Internet TV effort that was acquired by

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

Early life and education

Huggers hails from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Career

Microsoft and Endemol

Huggers has worked in managerial roles at

and

BBC

Huggers joined the

in May 2007, and was appointed director of the future, media and technology arm in August 2008, replacing

Ashley Highfield Ashley Highfield Is Chairman of Oyster Yachts Limited (since May 2018), makers of luxury British sailing boats. He is also founder of Henley Partners limited, his vehicle for investing in and advising businesses across a range of sectors. He is a ...

. During his time at the BBC, Huggers and his team refocused the BBC's online and technology strategy, launched iPlayer and revamped the BBC's online presence. He was credited with bringing order amidst chaos and infighting, helped by his outside perspective, while causing discontent among people for his macho attitude, leading to many being happy to see him leave. Huggers was also the subject of controversy when he submitted reimbursement requests for taxi rides for thousands of pounds, including £639 for a single day of taxi rides. Huggers' departure was announced in January 2011, and his role was split into two, with John Linwood taking over technology and Ralph Rivera taking over digital media.

Intel (OnCue) and Verizon

After leaving the BBC, Huggers became corporate vice-president and general manager of the digital home group of chip maker

. In that role, he led OnCue, Intel's Internet TV effort. In January 2014, it was announced that

was acquiring OnCue, and Huggers would become a senior vice president at Verizon.

Vevo

In late April, 2015, it was announced that Huggers was joining video hosting service

as CEO, taking over from Rio Caraeff, Vevo's founding CEO, who left at the end of 2014. Huggers worked from Vevo's

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

headquarters. In his role as CEO, Huggers initially planned to focus on launching a paid subscription. However, he deferred that goal in order to focus on international expansion of its localized website and apps, to better cater to the 80% of its users who were accessing its content from outside the United States (mostly through partners such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

). Huggers identified as one of his main challenges making people aware of and engaged with the Vevo brand directly; as of now the majority of views of Vevo videos happen on the

platform. On December 15, 2017, Vevo announced that Huggers was resigning as CEO, and Alan Price, the CFO, would be interim CEO while the Board was looking for a replacement. Price had played a similar role of interim CEO after the departure of founding CEO Rio Caraeff.

References

{{reflist, 30em American businesspeople in the online media industry