As it continues to refine its org chart three months after the close of WarnerMedia and Discovery’s $43 billion merger, Warner Bros Discovery has finalized the team of senior ad sales executives who will report to Jon Steinlauf, the company’s chief revenue officer.With a couple of exceptions, most of the senior team held comparable posts at Discovery, where Steinlauf became head of sales after the company closed its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018.The two WarnerMedia vets appointed to senior roles are Jon Diament and Andrea Zapata. Diament had been EVP and chief revenue officer for Turner Sports Advertising Sales. He will now oversee linear and digital sales and revenue for TBS Sports, TNT Sports, Discovery Channel, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, truTV, Science Channel, NBA TV and MotorTrend. Zapata will lead research, data and Insights, the same role she held at WarnerMedia.The roster of Discovery alums taking on new roles at WBD includes John Dailey, Laura Galietta, Karen Grinthal, Jim Keller, Greg Regis, Sheereen Russell and Robert Voltaggio.Dailey will lead cross-company partnerships and new business. He had been SVP of corporate sales for Discovery. Galietta will oversee integrated ad sales marketing across all digital and linear properties. She had been group SVP of integrated ad sales marketing and consumer products licensing for Discovery.Grinthal will oversee linear and digital sales and revenue for Food Network, TLC, TBS Entertainment, OWN, Cooking Channel, Cartoon Network and WB Syndication. She most recently was EVP for Discovery, overseeing linear and digital advertising and partnership revenue for Food Network, TLC, OWN and Cooking Channel.Keller will set strategy for Warner Bros. Discovery streaming and digital outlets, including HBO Max, Discovery+, CNN Digital and sports. He will also look after advanced advertising, programmatic, TV Everywhere, sites & social and VOD. At Discovery, Keller was EVP of digital ad sales & advanced advertising at Discovery, guiding strategic development of all U.S. digital ad sales, driving digital revenue efforts for the company’s U.S streaming services, including Discovery+. He also led the development and monetization of advanced, data-driven and addressable ad products across linear and digital.Regis will oversee linear and digital sales and revenue for HGTV, CNN, ID, TNT Entertainment, Magnolia Network, Travel and HLN. He had been an EVP at Discovery, responsible for all linear and digital ad and partnership revenue for HGTV, ID, Travel Channel and Magnolia.Russell will continue to lead revenue generation efforts centered on diversity, equity and inclusion, leveraging the combined company’s portfolio to help it meet demand for DE&I opportunities. She will also maintain her leadership role within OWN’s management structure.Voltaggio will oversee pricing and planning, with responsibility for sales support, commercial operations and direct response. He most recently held the post of EVP of Ad Sales Revenue & Planning at Discovery, where he was responsible for all inventory portfolio management as well as strategic sales services and estimates for Discovery’s 19 U.S. networks and joint ventures.“Warner Bros Discovery has the greatest collection of brands to offer advertisers, and our new leadership team will unlock that unique value to best drive success for our clients,” Steinlauf said in the official announcement. “This organizational structure combines strengths from each legacy organization with a set of client-focused, results-oriented leaders across brands and platforms who will create innovative, impactful advertising opportunities for our partners.”
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