TELEGRAPH: DOUG’S DEPARTURE DELAYED

Following weeks of negotiations between UMG and Sony, the veteran exec won’t be able to take his new post until sometime this summer. He had wanted to join Sony in April.

With Rolf Schmidt-Holtz exiting the company March 31, Sony will be leaderless until Morris can come aboard sometime between July and September. The Telegraph suggested current Sony CFO Rob Wiesenthal could be put in charge temporarily. Too bad Al Haig is dead.

Sources said an announcement on Morris’ move will come very shortly.

Morris was formerly chief executive of Universal, but moved to become chairman in January this year, when his hand-picked successor Lucian Grainge was made CEO. His deal with UMG runs out at the end of the year, after which he was expected to be retained in a consultancy.