ADDISON, Texas, Jan. 2, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tim Roberts, who has been with Wieck Media Services since it was founded, has been appointed president, Chairman James F. Wieck announced today.
Roberts, 37, had served as Vice President and General Manager since February 1999. He replaces Marge Boatright, who resigned as president but is remaining with the company as Vice President for Business Development.
"Tim Roberts knows this company thoroughly and is the ideal person to lead it as we move into new markets and set higher revenue goals," said Wieck. "He is a student of technology and marketing and his rapport with existing clients is superb. Tim has taken on more and more responsibilities within the company during recent months as we prepared for this transition, and his performance has been outstanding."
In early 1991, Roberts joined Boatright, Wieck and Wieck's partner, Travis Hughs, to help launch operations for the fledgling enterprise, then known as Wieck Photo DataBase. As photo editor, Roberts almost immediately began researching the new digital technology and formats available for compressing, storing and transmitting photographs.
Within six months of the startup, Roberts was experimenting with a Bulletin Board System of delivery that soon enabled newspapers and magazines to dial-in via modems and download photo files in less than one-third the time required by previous technology. By the mid-90s, he had led the company's migration to Web services.
"As a team, we took an idea developed by Travis Hughs and managed to massage and nurture it and keep it at the forefront of rapidly changing media technologies these past 11 years," said Roberts. "This is an amazing company that is poised for a leap to a new level of expertise and revenues. I believe that in the coming months and years, with the new technologies and services being developed, we will solidify and extend our position as the best in the business."
"It has long been the intention of the board to appoint Tim president," said Boatright. "Since the founding of Wieck Media Services, he has been instrumental in the development and application of technologies which have been critical to the growth of our company. We have an exceptional staff in place, and I am confident that Tim, as president, will give the guidance and direction needed for the continued growth of our company."
Roberts said Boatright "has left an enduring legacy in this organization. It is a legacy of unsurpassed consumer service and business strength that will continue to serve this company as it grows in the future. And Marge will continue to offer us guidance and wisdom as we move forward."
Wieck Media Services specializes in Web delivery of multimedia files - text, graphics, photos, audio and video - to media organizations worldwide. The 11-year-old firm was ranked No. 7 on the Dallas Business Journal's 2002 annual list of the area's largest Web-hosting companies.
Wieck utilizes Internet and Web technologies to distribute the news reports, columns, photos and graphics for The New York Times News and Syndicate Services, as well as the daily Times Digest and the daily and weekly crossword puzzles. The company also distributes the daily photo reports for Agence France-Presse, Kyodo News Service and LAT Photographic in London.
Wieck's corporate clients include American Honda Motor Co. Inc., American Suzuki Motor Corp., AT&T, The Coca-Cola Co., DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, HIT Entertainment, Kmart, Toyota Corporate Services and Weber Shandwick.
Note to Editors: A photo of Roberts is available at Wieck's media Web site.