NBCUniversal has promoted Linda Yaccarino to chairman, global advertising and partnerships, giving her oversight of a new data strategy unit, local ad sales, regional sports network sales and the strategic initiatives team.

In the new role, Yaccarino will be charged with spearheading a new cross-functional data strategy effort across the company. The goal of the new unit is to create a strategic plan for information development across the organization, driving revenue generation and building out commerce. The company will hire a new chief data officer.

As part of the change, local ads will be added to One Platform, NBCU’s ad platform and the local ad sales and regional sports network groups will report to Yaccarino. She will also oversee the strategic initiatives group, which brings together NBCU’s symphony marketing campaigns around tent-pole events like the Olympics.

Yaccarino previously served as chairman, advertising and partnerships, managing the company’s portfolio of linear networks, Peacock and other digital platforms, distribution partners and client relationships.

Yaccarino will continue to report to Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCU.

Here's her full memo to NBCU staffers:

Team,

I'm thrilled that our family is getting bigger.

First, we're welcoming Frank Comerford and his team of local sales experts to make our broader Global Advertising & Partnerships division truly a one-of-a-kind in this industry. This also means we will have the great opportunity to partner even more closely with Valari Staab, the stations, and the Regional Sports Networks under this new structure. On top of that, Kathy Kelly-Brown's strategic initiatives team will join our team and expand on their incredible work with Symphony, plus we'll be partnering even more closely with John Miller. Finally, we're going to build an entirely new Data Strategy unit that will unite all of NBCUniversal behind a shared information vision.

Please join me in welcoming them all!

These updates come at a time of massive transformation in the global advertising industry. Consumer behavior and corporate convergence are bringing media and technology closer together. And now, so are we.

By organizing our business to reflect the realities of the marketplace and the future that audiences have created, we're able to bolster our One Platform solution and, subsequently, our entire business. Now, from local to global, across cable and broadcast, digital and streaming, NBCUniversal—and only NBCUniversal—can offer audiences and partners an unbeatable combination of deep regional expertise and massive scale, data-driven math and a little bit of magic. 

While there is no doubt we are a content and technology company at our core, we need to keep accelerating our business plans to define entertainment and build the future of advertising. With the addition of these strong teams and new initiatives, we're expanding our offerings for clients while diversifying our business and creating new company-wide opportunities. We're making the right investments to bring that future into focus.

During Wednesday's Office Hours, I'll go into more details and introduce our new team members. But for now, it's important to reiterate: when we transform our team, we transform the company—and the entire industry. 

Thank you