Latest in Advertising Sales

About a month and a half after the close of the Viacom-CBS merger, the combined company has finalized the roster of advertising sales executives reporting up to Jo Ann Ross. Last October, Ross was confirmed as the head of sales for the combined company, following a 27-year stretch at CBS, the latter half of which…

Scott Collins, who joined AMC Networks in 2008 and has been president of ad sales since 2017, will step down at the end of the month. The company’s official announcement of the move said Collins is leaving to “pursue other opportunities.” It did not mention plans for his replacement. During Collins’ tenure, ad sales…

As the top-to-bottom reset continues at WarnerMedia in the AT&T era, Donna Speciale and two high-ranking colleagues are the latest senior-level executives to exit the company. Along with Speciale, Dan Riess and Frank Sgrizzi are also departing, according to a memo sent late Wednesday by WarnerMedia’s Chief Revenue…

A+E Networks has promoted six executives in its ad sales unit, according to Peter Olsen, EVP of Ad Sales at the cable programmer. "A+E Networks is one of the nimblest portfolios in all of cable with an unrivaled sales team," Olsen said in the official announcement. "We are proud to announce the promotion of six proven…

Disney’s reconstituted advertising sales unit has set details, priorities and the top executive team for its approach to capturing brand dollars in a fast-moving media environment. Rita Ferro, who recently added ESPN to her portfolio as president of Disney Advertising Sales, said her group would be divided into three…

The upfront market is moving more slowly than broadcasters anticipated as advertisers resist efforts to panic them into paying high prices. But NBC and CBS have made some deals with low-double digit percentage increases in unit rates vs last year, industry sources say. There’s no word yet on other key details that…

Is Comcast using its muscle as the No. 1 cable provider to restrict competition and set local pay TV ad prices? The Justice Department’s antitrust unit is looking into this, and has asked the company for information, the Wall Street Journal first reported and Comcast has confirmed. The cable company says it will…

Discovery shares dropped about 7.8% this morning after it lowered its financial guidance for the year – and said that it can’t predict whether the ad market will strengthen, a growing concern on Wall Street for the company and the industry generally. “There's no question that last month that things have slowed,” CEO Da…

It’s time for ad companies to release their year-end forecasts, and ZenithOptimedia is out today with a bullish one  — largely tied to big increases it expects for ads on smartphones and tablets.  It projects global spending  in 2014 to hit $532B — a 5.3% increase vs this year which is +3.6% from 2012. (The new…

Ad expenditures, at $35.8B, were up for the sixth consecutive quarter with the strongest year-over-year growth rate since late 2010, Kantar Media reports this morning. But there were big differences between the two April-to-June periods. Last year “spending was deflated by major advertisers who conserved budgets in…

There’s encouraging news for just about everyone except the broadcast networks — and the usual suspects among fading traditional media — in the latest ad forecast out this morning from Zenith Optimedia. The economy “is in a much better place than it was three years ago,” the ad firm says. As a result, overall ad…

Three of the most prominent ad-forecasting firms kicked off the UBS Annual Global Media and Communications Conference this morning — as they typically do at this event — by unveiling their updated forecasts for 2012. And they pretty much agree: 2012 will be better than 2011. MagnaGlobal is on the conservative side…