Discovery Taps Hulu Alum Patrizio “Pato” Spagnoletto As Direct-To-Consumer CMO

Patrizio “Pato” Spagnoletto, former head of marketing for Hulu, has joined Discovery as global chief marketing officer for the company’s direct-to-consumer business.

Spagnoletto, who is based in Los Angeles, will report to JB Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery International.

Discovery this year launched streaming service Discovery+ in the U.S. and other territories and is in the process of rolling it out globally.

Occupying a newly created role, Spagnoletto will look to fortify the position of Discovery+ in the hotly competitive streaming arena. He will have broad responsibilities for subscriber acquisition, retention and growth, media and analytics, brand awareness, marketing creative development and strategy, and consumer insights. In addition to overseeing the direct-to-consumer marketing team, Spagnoletto will also work with U.S. networks and locally based international marketing teams to leverage Discovery assets to boost the streaming service.

Citing the company’s deep library and extensive portfolio of cable brands like Food Network, Discovery, TLC, HGTV and others, Discovery executives have said they see Discovery+ as a worthy complement to Netflix. They have not yet identified specific subscriber targets for the service. A key early driver of subscriptions, based on its deals with companies like Disney, is Verizon. The telecom giant was announced as an initial launch partner and is bundling in free access to Discovery+ with many of its wireless and broadband subscription plans.

“We are thrilled that Pato is joining our team in this new global DTC leadership role at a transformational moment for our company,” Perrette said. “Pato helped Hulu more than triple subscribers during his tenure and has experience with direct-to-consumer entertainment, sports and linear channels, which is a perfect match for our different discovery+ offerings around the world. We have enormous ambition for discovery+ and believe Pato is uniquely qualified to help us scale globally.”

Prior to Hulu, Spagnoletto worked at Steelhouse, Farmers Insurance and Yahoo.

“I could not be more excited to join such an incredible company at such an exhilarating time,” he said. “I have always admired Discovery and look forward to joining such a talented team and contributing to the next chapter of their storied success.”