Warner Bros. Discovery names ad sales leadership team

Warner Bros. Discovery has unveiled its senior ad sales team, a combination of executives from the Warner Media and Discovery rosters prior to the companies’ merger earlier this year. The team will report to previously-appointed Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer Jon Steinlauf, who said in a statement that “this organizational structure combines strengths from each legacy organization.” The holdovers from Warner Media include previous Turner Sports Chief Revenue Officer Jon Diament, who will preside over sales and revenue for both linear and digital inventory on TBS Sports, TNT Sports, Discovery Channel, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, truTV, Science Channel, NBA TV and MotorTrend; and Andrea Zapata, who will carry over her lead on research, data and insights. Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here Most of Steinlauf’s team hail from previous roles at Discovery, Inc. Jim Keller, the network’s former executive VP of digital sales and advanced advertising, will oversee all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming properties, including HBO Max and Discovery+, as well as its digital ad products. The network’s previous Executive VPs Karen Grinthal and Greg Regis will lead sales for Food Network, TLC, TBS Entertainment, OWN, Cooking Channel, Cartoon Network, WB Syndication, HGTV, CNN, ID, TNT Entertainment, Magnolia Network, Travel and HLN. John Dailey, previously Discovery’s SVP of corporate sales, will head cross-company partnerships and new business. Laura Galietta will retain lead for integrated advertising sales marketing within the merged company. Sheereen Russell will maintain leadership at the Oprah Winfrey Network, now reporting directly to Steinlauf, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery’s DE&I content monetization. Robert Voltaggio will oversee pricing and planning, having previously worked in sales services for Discovery. After completing its merger in May, Warner Bros. Discovery has had a rocky start to its ad partnerships, hosting a debut upfront presentation the same month that sources previously told Ad Age was planned within weeks. It remains the last major network to wrap its upfront negotiations following reports of overly-aggressive pricing.

Warner Bros. Discovery names ad sales leadership team

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