Former CBS Exec Named CEO of Tinder 

Tinder CEO Jim Lanzone

Popular dating app Tinder announced that Jim Lanzone, the former head of CBS Interactive, has been named the company’s new CEO.

Lanzone worked at CBS for nine years, including as president and CEO of CBS Interactive. He left CBS last year to join venture-capital firm Benchmark Capital, according to Variety. He replaces Elie Seidman, who headed up OkCupid before taking over Tinder in early 2018.

Lanzone is tasked with looking for new opportunities to integrate video in the app according to Tinder’s parent company Match Group, and his TV background will no doubt be helpful. Notably, Tinder saw an increase in the number of younger viewers joining the app last year for the debut of its first interactive series Swipe Night. Capturing the attention of this demographic has been a priority for Tinder. The filming of season two is on hold due to the pandemic and social distancing requirements, but the company has already given it the green light.

Interestingly, Match Group also hired gaming executive Joshua Sell as Tinder’s chief product officer, who began at the end of July. Sell worked at NCSoft, King, Glu Mobile and Aeria Games and Entertainment before heading to Tinder according to Variety, and will report directly to Lanzone, who is starting August third. 

Tinder began testing its first in-app video chat feature in July in certain markets, including the U.S. Many other dating apps have rushed to offer this feature as well, especially as people rely on video dating during lockdowns. It seems video chat and entertainment content will be a major focus of Tinder going forward. 

The dating app saw first-time subscriber declines between February and March this year, likely due to coronavirus, but the numbers stabilized again in April. However, Tinder user activity went up as lockdowns began, with over 3 billion swipes in a single day recorded on March 29th, a company record.

Tinder is also looking for Lanzone to expand the rollout of its new features around the world. Parent company Match Group has been focusing on relatively untapped markets in India, Southeast Asia, and Japan to grow its user base, and last year hired executives to oversee each of these regions.

“We have an enormous opportunity to deliver on our mission, bring more people to the product and reimagine the user experience across different markets,” Lanzone said in a statement provided by Match Group. “I’m looking forward to working with the team and taking the brand to new heights.”

For more on this dating service you can read our Tinder review.