McDonald's Restructuring; Panasonic Broadcasting Technology -- Sponsor Spotlight

McDonald’s Restructuring

McDonald’s chief operating officer Tim Fenton announced his retirement, effective October 2014.

As a result, Pete Bensen and Steve Easterbrook were promoted to senior vice presidents, replacing the COO position.

"On behalf of the entire McDonald's system, I salute Tim for his 41 years of continuous service to McDonald's and want to thank him for his countless contributions to our business," McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson said in a statement.

"We have benefited greatly from his international experience, deep commitment to operational excellence, and proven track record of success."

New Technology Planned for Tokyo

Panasonic will use the Tokyo Olympics to debut its future "8K definition" broadcasting.

The technology has been available for specially shot footage in Panasonic’s research facilities in Korea. Panasonic executives feel that 2020 is a realistic timeframe for the technology to be released to the public.

"The fact is that we have been working on 8K with NHK for years already and every year we are reducing the size of the equipment and reducing the cost," Shiro Nishiguchi, a Panasonic senior VP, said in a statement.

"So that’s why 2020, with the speed of technology improvement, at least experimental broadcasts are going to be possible. And it could be available."

Nishiguchi noted that prices for the new technology would come down over the next 8 years, making it available to consumers by the time the Tokyo Olympics air.

London 2012 Sponsorship Award

Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics won the "Best Sponsorship of the Past 20 Years" award.

The public voted for the winner given out at the UK Sponsorship Awards Wednesday.

Lloyds Bank was the first partner signed for the London 2012 Olympics.

"We are extremely proud to have been recognized for our London 2012 program," Stuart Beaver, Lloyds partnership marketing & community engagement director, said in a statement.

"We had a constant vision throughout our partnership: to inspire and support young people, communities and businesses all over Britain on their journey to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond."

Written by Aaron Bauer

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.