Former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields and Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch have formed a content start-up to produce across media platforms, both online and offline, with a focus on social engagement, according to sources.

The new venture, which does not have a name, is being financially backed both by Shine and by Shields, who left AOL this summer after running its community and communications division.

Shields engineered the sale of social networking site Bebo to the Time Warner (TWX) online unit for $850 million in early 2008.

Sources said this new company, based in London, will invest, develop and partner to create a variety of content offerings that also incorporate interactive and social networking elements. It will also help the vast array of Shine content in interactive efforts.

Shields will be CEO of the start-up, which will operate under Shine, an independent and private television production company with programming in 24 countries.

In the U.S., for example, its Reveille unit is responsible for such shows as “Ugly Betty” and “The Biggest Loser.” (Both of which are BoomTown faves.)

Shine’s fast growth has been spearheaded by Murdoch, who is the daughter of News Corp. (NWS) head Rupert Murdoch.

But Elisabeth Murdoch has struck out on her own in forming Shine, which already has shown a strong interactive bent for a television company.

The combination of television and Web content is an arena that many are once again jumping into, aiming at creating branded interactive content, fueled by advertising.

Former NBC Universal exec Ben Silverman–who sold Reveille to Murdoch, in fact–has recently left his programming job at the television network to start a similar kind of company with longtime entertainment and Internet kingpin Barry Diller of IAC/InteractiveCorp (IACI).

And former ABC programming and Yahoo exec Lloyd Braun also runs a television and Internet production company with longtime Hollywood player Gail Berman, including recently creating the Wonderwall celebrity news site for Microsoft (MSFT).

In addition, Yahoo (YHOO) and a spate of small content start-ups, as well as big media companies, are all trying to figure out how to create and monetize content online in a multimedia effort that bridges all kinds of distribution vehicles and more deeply involves viewers.

Bebo was actually trying to do that too. Under Shields, it had been a pioneer in creating a variety of innovative online original content, including “KateModern” and “Sofia’s Diary.”

But new management at AOL, now headed by former Google (GOOG) exec Tim Armstrong, has sidelined Bebo to its new ventures division and is likely to try to sell it. Company execs at both Time Warner and AOL now say the purchase was a costly mistake.

That might be true, but it was clearly a financial coup for Shields–who has worked at both Google and RealNetworks (RNWK)–and Bebo investors.

And, given the track record of both Shields and Murdoch, it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

In a risky but interesting move that has some at the company nervous and others excited, Yahoo is in the process of moving key development responsibility for its juggernaut Yahoo News unit to Taiwan.

Under the new system, product management, engineering and user interface design for the powerful Yahoo (YHOO) property will become the responsibility of staffers there.

Editorial employees for Yahoo News–which is the No. 1 news site on the Web with 48.4 unique monthly visitors, according to comScore data (SCOR)–will remain in the U.S., largely located at its Santa Monica, Calif., office.

Sources had alerted BoomTown to the change at Yahoo’s flagship content offering this week and many I spoke to about it were deeply worried about further separating key functions in the creation of Yahoo News.

“We are losing more and more of our ability to make quick changes and react to new technologies, which has worked pretty well so far, since we are #1,” said one staffer. “First, we all worked together across a room, then hundreds of miles away and now it is thousands.”

Previously, as was first reported here in February, the distributed and regional method of developing content was shifted to a central global product development organization, with product management, engineering and UI design centered at Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, Calif., HQ under CTO Ari Balogh.

The argument for the shift posits that centralizing the product development of a Yahoo media offering drives efficiencies, saves money, eliminates redundancies and accelerates growth across the world.

Those who do not like the idea think it is wrong to separate the development of a product from the programming because the two are intricately dependent and need to be tweaked delicately.

In addition, they argue, it makes Yahoo media offerings, which have been largely successful, less unique and more dull.

Well, tough tomatoes, because Yahoo confirmed the transition to me when I inquired about it. It was announced internally several weeks ago.

In an interview I did yesterday afternoon with Jeff Kinder, SVP of media products and solutions, who is spearheading the change, he said it was key that Yahoo News streamline how it makes its products in order to be more innovative and responsive on a global basis.

Before the shift to a global system, he pointed out that Yahoo had 26 different news products worldwide, using nine content management systems.

“This is part of building a global media platform,” said Kinder, who leads development of Yahoo’s anchor media properties, as well as its listings and regional products around the world.

Kinder said the staff in Taiwan was selected to take on Yahoo News because it had been creating top-level news products and was passionate about the arena.

Nonetheless, similar functions for other major Yahoo content categories–Sports, Finance and Entertainment–will remain in the United States.

In addition, he noted, with employees in Taiwan taking over these functions at Yahoo News, it would “free up some of the talent” in Silicon Valley to work on other critical content projects.

Kinder dismissed worries about any logjams in the ability of U.S.-based Yahoo News staffers to make changes to offerings, either for consumers or advertising partners, noting there were weekly calls between the teams and plenty of ways to communicate online.

But those worried about the change said the reason for the move was more to cut costs in the content arena, which–like many parts of Yahoo–has undergone layoffs and expense reductions.

Countered Kinder: “We are all driving to the same goal….This is not about cost savings, but about accelerating change and leveraging a global team.”

Yahoo’s SVP of North American Audience, Jeff Dossett, is leaving the company.

Reasons for the departure are personal, said sources, who said that Dossett (pictured here) is most likely to do a start-up.

Dossett did not return emails asking for comment, but Yahoo (YHOO) confirmed the departure to BoomTown.

It was announced internally that Dossett has resigned and his responsibilities have been assumed by Jimmy Pitaro, who runs Vertical Audience Experiences for Yahoo, and Tim Mayer, who is in charge of Search & Social Applications. They will jointly lead the North America Audience business, reporting to U.S. EVP Hilary Schneider.

Dossett has been in charge of all of Yahoo’s media assets, including its powerful News, Sports and Finance content sites.

He has been rejiggering the media unit since he arrived last year, including centralizing product development.

Dossett joined Yahoo last November, coming to the company from Microsoft (MSFT), where he was MSN executive producer and general manager.

In his job at MSN, Dossett was the lead for audience, content and programming strategy and execution in the U.S.

He had worked at the company since 1991, in a variety of sales and marketing jobs in Canada, and later worked on strategy and business development for MSN.

Dossett was also CEO of Carpoint, now MSN Autos, and was GM of its real estate arm.

He also took two years off from Microsoft in 2002 to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, finally reaching the summit of Mount Everest in May of 2004.

Dossett reached the summit of Everest again for a second time last year.

[UPDATED: With Hearst press release confirming the move at the bottom.]

Neeraj Khemlani (pictured here), Yahoo’s general manager and executive editor of news, is set to leave his job–right in the midst of a major restructuring of its media unit–to work at Hearst Corp.

Khemlani’s departure was announced to his staff at Yahoo (YHOO) today and confirmed by the press release from Hearst below.

While Khemlani was in line to head one of the three main prongs of the new content organization, running a possible network programming arm, sources inside and outside Yahoo said he instead has opted to take a job as VP and Special Assistant to the CEO for Digital Media at Hearst.

Khemlani is not leaving due to the upcoming changes at Yahoo, said sources, but because he got a “compelling” offer to work for a more traditional media company in a range of businesses, from newspapers and magazines to broadcast, helping turbocharge their digital efforts.

Khemlani, who came to Yahoo from a long stint as a producer at the television news show “60 Minutes,” will be reporting to the privately-held media company’s vice chairman and CEO, Frank Bennack.

Khemlani, several sources said, told his bosses at Yahoo–U.S. Audience head Jeff Dossett and U.S. EVP Hilary Schneider–on Friday of his plans right when the pair were in the midst of planning a major shift in how media are managed and created at Yahoo.

At Hearst, he will be a resource for its many divisions, which all have their own digital operations, and he will be based in New York. (Khemlani currently has been working out of Yahoo’s media offices in Santa Monica, Calif.)

In a press release from Hearst, Bennack said: “Hearst’s major operating groups have all made substantial progress towards our corporate objective of fully participating in the digital transformation. The creation of this new position is designed to accelerate the progress through greater cooperation and synergy across divisional lines. Neeraj is uniquely equipped to help me and my colleagues realize that goal.”

Ironically, Hearst has a strong relationship with Yahoo, as a content partner.

UPDATE: In a Hearst press release Khemlani said: “I am delighted to join Hearst Corporation. We are witnessing the reemergence of content and media driving value in the new world and Hearst is uniquely positioned to realize that value across multiple digital platforms and distribution points. Remember, we’re only in the second inning of the Internet. Hearst, with all its assets and investments, expects to take a commanding lead by the seventh‐inning stretch.”

As BoomTown reported yesterday, the management of the media unit is about to be rejiggered dramatically.

It’s part of big changes coming for Yahoo, including an even more massive management reorganization that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz could announce this week, as this column reported on Friday.

Under a plan being considered, the media unit will be split into three parts: vertical programming, network programming and search monetization.

This comes after some other recent changes in the way media product development is done–moving to a centralized global structure, rather than residing in individual media units–which was also reported here last week.

Now, if they go through with current plans to reorganize the media unit, Schneider and Dossett must find another head of network programming.

Several inside sources said that vertical programming will probably roll up under current Sports GM Jimmy Pitaro. And Tim Mayer–who is now VP of search monetization and distribution–would probably remain in his job, with perhaps even more monetization duties added.

Here is the Hearst press release about Khemlani:

HEARST CORPORATION NAMES NEERAJ KHEMLANI VICE PRESIDENT & SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO CEO FOR DIGITAL MEDIA

Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) is one of the nation’s largest diversified media companies. Its major interests include ownership of 16 daily and 49 weekly newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union; as well as interests in an additional 43 daily and 72 non‐daily newspapers owned by MediaNews Group, which include the Denver Post and Salt Lake Tribune; nearly 200 magazines around the world, including Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine; 29 television stations through Hearst‐Argyle Television (NYSE:HTV) which reach a combined 18% of U.S. viewers; ownership in leading cable networks, including Lifetime, A&E, History and ESPN; as well as business publishing, including a minority joint venture interest in Fitch Ratings; Internet businesses, television production, newspaper features distribution and real estate.

Besides the more massive management reorganization that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz could announce this week, as BoomTown reported on Friday, the Internet company’s powerful media arm might also see a drastic shift in management structure even sooner.

According to several sources inside the company, U.S. Audience SVP Jeff Dossett (pictured here) has been working on the changes for a while, part of an overall change in how Yahoo (YHOO) makes and delivers content. The new organization could be announced this week too.

Under a plan being considered, the media unit will be split into three parts: Vertical programming, network programming and search monetization.

It is not clear under this new set-up if Yahoo will keep its more traditional structure of having powerful general managers, each in charge of its big properties.

But that seems likely to be scaled back, at the very least, since the shift in management comes after some major recent changes in the way content is made, as was also reported here last week.

Already, the media group’s product development for all its major properties–such as News, Sports and Finance–is set to be moved to a central global product development organization at Yahoo’s HQ in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Until now, such development has been mostly done by individual media properties, many of which are located down south, in Santa Monica.

The argument for the shift posits that centralizing the product development of a Yahoo media offering drives efficiencies, saves money, eliminates redundancies and accelerates growth across the world.

Those who do not like the idea think it is wrong to separate the development of a product from the programming because the two are intricately dependent and need to be tweaked delicately.

Dossett will remain overall head of media efforts, but there is a lot of speculation inside the group about who will head the three new parts of media unit. But that is still being worked out by Dossett and his boss, U.S. head Hilary Schneider, and is still not decided.

But several inside sources said that vertical programming is probably a lock to roll up under current Sports GM Jimmy Pitaro.

Former “60 Minutes” producer and News GM Neeraj Khemlani seems be the most likely candidate to head network programming, but that is not yet complete.

And Tim Mayer–who is now VP of search monetization and distribution–would probably remain in his job, with perhaps even more monetization duties added.

In an unusual homecoming and odd job switcheroo between two Internet execs, former Yahoo media head Scott Moore is returning to Microsoft to lead its U.S. content efforts, according to many sources both inside and outside the company.

Moore (pictured here) will become U.S. executive producer, responsible for leading the content and programming strategy for the MSN online service. He will return to Microsoft’s Seattle area HQ in mid-March and report to Greg Nelson, GM of the MSN Global Media Group.

Microsoft (MSFT) declined comment about Moore’s new job, but sources said news of the appointment will be officially announced Monday.

But a memo about Moore’s new gig went out internally to some of the MSN staff earlier today, sources said. In fact, the return of Moore had been widely rumored inside Microsoft, even though there were several other internal and external candidates considered–including another former Yahoo, one source said–for the job.

Moore left Yahoo (YHOO), which was first reported here, last November due to unhappiness over the turmoil at the company and also to pursue a start-up idea he had about a local news site.

Moore even talked about the idea on the record with BoomTown (see video below), just as he was leaving Yahoo’s Santa Monica-based Media Group. Since he left Yahoo for good in December, Moore has been working on his start-up plans and took time off to go on a safari trip to Africa.

(Here’s a link to Moore’s Africa photos, in fact, which are quite good.)

But with the economic downturn making it harder for new start-ups to get funded on good terms, a desire to be back in the Seattle area, where his children live, and a new effort by MSN to compete better in the content business with top-ranked Yahoo, sources said Moore felt the powerful job at Microsoft would be a terrific challenge.

In what is a case of Web exec musical chairs, Moore had previously been replaced at Yahoo–in a rushed appointment–by Jeff Dossett. Dossett came to Yahoo from, wait for it, Microsoft, where he had held the job Moore is now taking.

In that move, also first reported here, Dossett was given a different title at Yahoo than Moore, as SVP of the U.S. Audience Group (Moore was SVP of the Media Group at Yahoo).

When he first started talking to Yahoo, Dossett (pictured here) was actually up for a job to run business development for Yahoo. But Moore’s sudden decision to leave had his boss, Yahoo’s EVP of U.S., Hilary Schneider, scrambling to fill the post. Dossett’s experience at MSN made him the obvious choice.

Now Moore’s appointment puts the pair in head-to-head competitive positions in the online content business, a clash that has been consistently won by Moore, when he had Dossett’s job at Yahoo and Dossett had Moore’s job at MSN.

Moore should also be comfortable at Microsoft and move into his job more easily. Previous to coming to Yahoo in mid-2005, he was president of MSNBC.com and publisher of Slate.com. He had worked at Microsoft for a decade.

Moore will oversee Microsoft’s involvement in the MSNBC.com joint venture again, along with all of Microsoft’s domestic content programming, which makes up a bulk of its efforts in the area.

And with Moore back on board, how MSN will better compete with the content juggernaut Yahoo is–due to Moore’s efforts, in part, and one of the troubled company’s stronger units–will be interesting.

That’s because Yahoo’s news, finance, sports and other properties typically rank as No. 1 online by far.

Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL has also tried recently to improve its content offerings and has gotten some traction. It recently upped the ante with its new MediaGlow online studio effort of niche blog sites.

At the very back of this pack, Microsoft has made innumerable efforts in the content space over the years, mostly unsuccessful–Underwire!, Mungo Park!–and has settled more into the aggregation model.

But it still has a lot of interesting original content efforts under way, such as an unnamed celebrity-focused site property it is reportedly launching within the next week with former Yahoo media exec–and Moore’s former boss–Lloyd Braun.

Ironically, Moore launched a Yahoo celebrity site, omg!, initially pushed by Braun when he was at Yahoo, which has been successful.

Here is the video interview I did with Moore at his Yahoo going-away party about his future plans. Below that is another one I did when he was czar of Yahoo content, in which he talked extensively about the future of content on the Web.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers about the iconic but often-struggling pioneer and leader in the digital video recorder market.

The video of the interview is in four parts, which have all been posted this week.

In this fourth part, Rogers takes questions from the audience about difficulties in installing TiVo (TIVO) with new cable cards, watching television over the Internet, TiVo’s plans in the United Kingdom and internationally, cable box integration, programming being delivered to TiVo boxes by service providers and making the DVR easier to use.