Verve Wireless Names Ex-AOL Exec Tom MacIsaac As CEO

Tom Macisaac, Ceo, Verve Wireless

Mobile ad network Verve Wireless CEO Art Howe is stepping aside after nearly six years and is handing the reins to Tom MacIsaac, the former head of Lightningcast, an online video ad company acquired by AOL (NYSE: AOL) in 2006.

Philadelphia-based Howe will remain with the San Diego company as chairman of the board. MacIsaac will work out of Verve’s Washington, DC, offices as he tries to help it better capture rising mobile ad spending as Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) fight for dominance of the space.

Not too long after selling Lightningcast to AOL, MacIsaac headed AOL’s M&A strategy from within the now defunct Platform-A advertising division. He left the company to do some consulting, eventually landing as CEO of another company in the online video space, ExtendMedia. The company focused on mobile in particular, operating an IP video platform for AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon and Bell Canada, as well movie studios, including Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Paramount. Extend was acquired by Cisco Systems (NSDQ: CSCO) in September 2010.

Verve mostly focuses on the local side of the mobile ad spectrum. This fall, it raised $7 million in a round led by BlueRun Ventures.

The company has gained some attention for created apps for local media companies, including McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), Belo Interactive and The AP. It got as pretty big boost when it was selected by the interactive unit of the Audit Bureau of Circulations to measure the audience on mobile applications, mobile browsers and tablets.

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