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March 13, 2008 12:01 PM

Microsoft's MSN chief media officer Bradford leaving for L.A. ad tech company

Posted by Benjamin J. Romano

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Picture added, 4:23 p.m.: Bradford talking with Terry Semel, then chairman and CEO of Yahoo, at Microsoft's Strategic Account Summit May 9, 2007 in Seattle. At the time, rumors of a Yahoo acquisition were swirling, but it was not addressed in Semel's speech or the Q&A with Bradford.

Joanne Bradford is leaving Microsoft on March 19 for Spot Runner, a Los Angeles advertising company focused on technology to make "television advertising more affordable and accessible for local businesses."

Microsoft said Greg Nelson, who has spent six of his 12 years at Microsoft in a leadership role at MSN, will lead the portal in the interim.

Satya Nadella, the newly elevated senior vice president of Microsoft's Search, Portals & Advertising Platform Group, issued a statement.

"We wish Joanne Bradford all the best as she moves to Spot Runner. We thank her for her many contributions in helping us build a world class advertising sales organization, bringing the advertiser point of view closer to Microsoft and evolving the MSN experience through partnerships and branded entertainment," Nadella said. Nelson will report to Nadella.

The musical chairs in Microsoft's online efforts continues with Bradford's departure. The last big shakeup, on Valentine's Day, included the announcement of the long-rumored departure of Steve Berkowitz, who was senior vice president of the online services group, and Bradford's direct boss.

Before heading MSN, she held a key role heading Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, which sold advertising across all Microsoft properties: MSN, Windows Live, OfficeLive.com, Microsoft.com, Xbox, the Microsoft TV Internet Protocol Television Edition software platform and mobile content, according to Bradford's bio.

Bradford also holds a seat on MSNBC.com's board of directors. Unclear at the moment whether she'll be retaining that. Update, 1:25 p.m.: ~~A Microsoft spokeswoman just confirmed that she will retain the seat.~~ Update, 4:12 p.m.: Strike that, reverse it. Bradford will be giving up the seat, I'm now told.

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