Warner Bros. Discovery’s new ad leaders are putting their teams in place ahead of the TV upfront.
In their first major move since becoming WBD’s ad sales presidents in February, Ryan Gould and Robert “Bobby” Voltaggio are setting their new leadership team. The pair announced the changes in a memo to staff on Tuesday.
In the memo, which was shared with ADWEEK, the pair noted that the company needs to “fundamentally change” how it services clients and partners amid an accelerating ad market.
“This means we need to move quicker, innovate faster, and continue to deliver world-class solutions,” the pair wrote.
Per the memo, the new leaders will be responsible for a refreshed sales strategy, spearheading ad initiatives, enhancing client relationships, implementing insights and technology, and ensuring the company is well-positioned heading into the upfront.
The restructuring is a further continuation of the company’s 2023 ad sales changes, which were agency-focused, creating a single point of contact across WBD inventory and streamlining the ads teams.
Regarding the new leaders for go-to-market sales, Marybeth Strobel is getting an expanded role to head all New York-based agency sales; Rob McCall will lead national sales, overseeing the Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Atlanta offices; Jon Diament will continue to lead the sales team for WBD’s sports portfolio; and Sheereen Russell will continue to oversee direct client and brand relationships while leading new partnerships with entertainment and creative agencies.
Russell will also collaborate with brand strategy and solutions on One WBD’s enterprise monetization, focusing on revenue development, multicultural, and partnership strategies.
Regarding platform monetization, Allie Carr will oversee linear and digital revenue strategy, leading convergent sales support and yield management teams; Evan Giamanco will expand his duties to include WBD’s entire converged portfolio, leading the expansion of Shop with Max, Moments, and the ad product suite while increasing his focus on sales development; and David Porter will continue to lead data, insights, and research with a stronger focus on data measurement, currency, and market-facing data-driven strategies and products.
Meanwhile, Jill Steinhauser will expand her responsibilities to include linear commercial operations, convergent systems and operations, adtech, and partnerships.