NBCU hires Roku executive to lead ad sales for small and medium-sized businesses

NBCUniversal has snagged another Roku ad sales executive, this time to lead its efforts in attracting small and medium-sized businesses and performance marketers as ad clients. Kristina Shepard was named to the newly created role of executive VP, streaming and performance sales and partnerships. Shepard will report to Alison Levin, who joined NBCU from Roku last year. TV and streaming ad prices in 2024-25 Primetime TV ad prices Cost of ads on Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu TV ad cost trends over the past decade In October, NBCU’s sales division announced a restructuring under Levin, president of advertising and partnerships. One of the newly formed groups was called advertiser diversification, reflective of broader pushes from media companies to attract larger clientele bases to streaming in the vein of Meta and Google. As the leader of the new division, Shepard will manage sales for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) and performance advertiser groups, as well as major East Coast independent agencies. Shepard will also oversee partnerships across NBCU’s streaming, programmatic, retail media, social and FAST inventory. Shepard has been at Roku for eight years, most recently as VP of global ad sales and partnerships, leading its global ad revenue operation. Before joining Roku, Shepard was a sales director at mobile ads platform Opera Mediaworks and served as an account lead at News Corp. “Kristina has an exceptional track record in building and growing new businesses across programmatic, SMB and digital enterprises,” Levin said in a statement. “She has seamlessly led a multi-billion-dollar streaming operation and has cultivated extensive client relationships that will elevate NBCUniversal’s position in the CTV landscape and expand our aperture in critical emerging workstreams.” “As technology continues to influence media and advertising, I cannot wait to be on the front lines of the most exciting growth areas of our business,” added Shepard. “Together, we have a real opportunity to make TV a tangible, performant solution for marketers of all sizes.”

NBCU hires Roku executive to lead ad sales for small and medium-sized businesses

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