Fandango.com Hires Away Entertainment Weekly\'s Longtime Oscar Expert

By BROOKS BARNES

In a blow to Entertainment Weekly, the magazine's longtime Oscar expert, Dave Karger, is jumping ship for a new job at the movie ticket seller Fandango.com.

“It's a tremendous opportunity that was impossible to turn down,” Mr. Karger said by telephone early Thursday of his new role, which will be the newly created position of chief correspondent. He added: “It's not because I was unhappy in my old job. Fandango is on such a roll right now.”

Fandango, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal, has been planning for some time to move beyond selling tickets into related programming like news and commentary. Now that the company processes the bulk of online and mobile movie ticket sales in the United States, executives there see an opportunity to use its distribution platform in other ways, and sell more advertising in the process.

Prying Mr. Karger loose from Entertainment Weekly, the Time Inc. magazine, is a coup for Fandango. A 17-year veteran of the magazine and Web site, he in many ways served as its public face, at least during Oscar season, popping up with peppy awards commentary on the “Today” show, “Access Hollywood” and other programs. Last year, Mr. Karger was named an official red carpet greeter for Oscar night by the Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences.

Mr. Karger, 39, will now be the face of Fandango, working on its programming strategy and available to appear - on behalf of Fandango - across NBCUniversal's news and entertainment outlets, which include “Today” and the E! network.

“This is a big step for Fandango as it evolves into a true entertainment brand,” said Hilary Smith, an NBCUniversal senior vice president of digital communications and integrated marketing, to whom Mr. Karger will report.

Entertainment Weekly has perked up considerably in the last couple years under its editor, Jess Cagle, but i s still engaged in a continual battle for relevance in an era when its bread and butter - the deep coverage of entertainment for fans - has been diminished by a plethora of blogs. What was Mr. Cagle's response to Mr. Karger's departure?

“He was a total prince, supportive and enthusiastic, and I will never forget it,” Mr. Karger said.

Brooks Barnes writes about Hollywood with an emphasis on Disney. Follow @brooksbarnesnyt on Twitter.