News Corp has tapped Viacom's former tech chief as its next CTO

• News Corp has tapped Viacom's outgoing tech chief, David Kline, as its next chief technology officer, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Monday.
• Kline is set to leave Viacom after its merger with CBS closes on Dec. 4. He joins News Corp in January.
• The publisher's current chief technology officer, Marc Frons, is leaving the company at the end of 2019.
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News Corp has tapped Viacom's outgoing tech chief, David Kline, as its next chief technology officer, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Monday.

Kline is set to leave Viacom after its merger with CBS closes on Dec. 4. He joins News Corp in January.

The publisher's current chief technology officer, Marc Frons, is leaving at the end of 2019, News Corp said.

Frons, who spent four years at News Corp, rose to CTO in 2017, after serving as interim CTO and senior vice president and global head of mobile platform and deputy head of technology.

He previously spent 9 years at The New York Times, in roles including chief information officer and chief technology officer of digital. Frons also worked at Dow Jones, and was a reporter at publications including BusinessWeek and Newsweek.

His departure comes as Rupert Murdoch's publishing empire, like other newspaper publishers, has leaned on digital advertising and subscriptions to cover losses in its print business. Last quarter, News Corp profits dipped amid fiercer competition for online readers and advertising, Forbes reported.

The company has been looking to expand its online footprint by launching a digital version of its UK-based tabloid, The Sun, in the US, among other efforts, as Vanity Fair reported.

Kline - who had been with Viacom for nine years - is one of a number of top execs at Viacom who will be leaving the company after its merger with CBS closes in early December.

His departure was revealed earlier last month, and reported by the trade publication Broadcasting & Cable.

In addition to holding the CTO role at Viacom, Kline was previously Discovery's chief information officer.

"David Kline is expert at driving innovation and efficiency in businesses that distribute quality content worldwide," said Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp, in a statement. "He is the ideal person to take the baton from Marc Frons, who has ably and thoughtfully been leading the technological transformation of News Corp since his arrival four years ago. We have robust global shared technology services and are rapidly establishing efficient platforms for everything from security and data to mobile apps."