CBS Repositions Advertising Sales Force For Multiplatform Future

"We have a tremendous opportunity to grow CBS' advertising revenue by working with clients to realize value from every impression across all platforms," said Leslie Moonves, Chairman and CEO, CBS Corporation. "This new structure, headed by the incomparable Jo Ann Ross, is the most advantageous way to achieve that goal. I am also pleased to have David Lawenda join the best ad sales team in the business to help accelerate our multiplatform sales effort with his remarkable linear and digital experience. This is the right team and the right structure to position CBS for maximum growth as viewer habits continue to change."

Ross also announced that Dave Morris, previously Chief Revenue Officer, CBS Interactive since 2008, has been named to an expanded role with the Company as Executive Vice President, Advanced Advertising and Client Partnerships. In this new role, he will lead CBS' efforts in the evolving video space as it relates to ad innovation and audience planning, working closely with Lawenda. Morris will report to Ross.

In addition to her new responsibilities, Ross will continue to run the Network sales team in its many operations led by John Bogusz, Executive Vice President, Sports Sales and Marketing; Dean Kaplan, Executive Vice President, Sales Strategy, Planning and Administration; Linda Rene, Executive Vice President, Primetime Sales and Innovation; and Chris Simon, Executive Vice President, Network Sales.

As part of the new structure, Lawenda will be responsible for oversight of CBS' digital advertising sales business and multiplatform sales strategy. In his new role, Lawenda will oversee the existing sales and marketing efforts of CBS Interactive headed by Ken Lagana, Senior Vice President, Global Advertising Sales and Marketing, CBS Digital Media; Katie Kulik, Senior Vice President, Global Advertising Sales and Marketing, CNET Media Group; Jason White, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Revenue Operations; and Dennis Colon, Vice President, Sales Operations and Strategy.

Lawenda possesses a unique combination of digital and linear expertise, with extensive interactive, mobile, broadcast, cable, syndication, agency and multicultural experience that spans almost three decades. He most recently served as Head of U.S., Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook (July 2013-March 2017) where he and his team more than quadrupled Facebook's U.S. revenue. He and his team also launched and led the U.S. Instagram monetization strategy and execution. In addition, he oversaw and scaled a new multicultural targeting capability generating significant revenue. Prior to joining Facebook, Lawenda was President of Advertising Sales and Marketing at Univision, where he was responsible for overseeing sales and marketing for all of the broadcaster's media assets, producing $2.25B in annual revenue.

"I am proud to say that with today's news the best and most respected sales team in the business has become even stronger," said Jo Ann Ross, President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer, CBS Corporation. "Combining these two world class teams will lead to a faster and more effective way for us to do business with our clients. I am particularly pleased with what David brings to CBS, including his intimate knowledge of how the digital marketplace works, his relationships and his experience working on all sides of the business. I also look forward to continuing to work closely with Dave in his new role. We expect a seamless transition, and together we expect an even greater momentum using the advances in data and measurement to help our clients target audiences across all CBS channels, linear and digital."

"Multiplatform viewing is now the standard, so it's crucial that we have a revenue structure that takes full advantage of the many opportunities that owning both the #1 television Network and one of the largest U.S. internet companies affords CBS," said Jim Lanzone, Chief Digital Officer, CBS Corporation and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Interactive. "Our leading digital brands and OTT services are key parts of CBS' overall content portfolio, and today's announcement ensures that we will take an even more collaborative approach to growing them with our advertisers."

Jo Ann Ross is a broadcast network sales veteran who has served in various sales roles at CBS over the last 25 years. Ross, the first woman to serve as sales chief of a broadcast network and the longest running sales head in broadcast television, has served as President, Network Sales, CBS Television Network, since October 2002, responsible for overseeing all sales for CBS Entertainment, Sports, Daytime, News and Late Night. She was previously Executive Vice President of Sales at CBS (September 1998-2002), responsible for oversight of all sales for CBS' primetime schedule. Ross also played a major role in creating new ways to sell Network programming, including reality, scripted, news and late-night genres. She joined CBS in 1992 as Vice President of Olympic Sales, in charge of Network sales for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994 and the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. Prior to joining CBS, Ross was with the ABC Network for three years. Before that, Ross worked at the media buying firm Bozell. She was inducted into Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame in 2013. Ross has been one of Hollywood Reporter's "100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment" and has been selected to the "AdWeek 50" list of the most indispensable executives behind the CEO from marketing, media and tech for many years running. Additionally she was named the Women in Sports and Entertainment Woman of the Year in 2005, and in September 2002 was named one of Advertising Age's "Media Mavens," an annual compilation of the industry's top media stars.

As head of U.S. sales at Facebook, Lawenda was responsible for overseeing marketing relationships with the leading brands and agencies in the country, and specifically managing the growth of 14 key verticals: CPG, Beauty, Pharma/Health Care, Retail, Automotive, Financial Services, Restaurants, Technology, Telecomm, Entertainment, Government/Political, Travel, E-commerce and Professional Services. Before his time at Univision (2007-2012), Lawenda held several key positions at Viacom where he oversaw sales and marketing, and helped launch and brand both SpikeTV and UPN. Lawenda also spent time at Turner Broadcasting and began his career at DDB Needham. For several years, Lawenda has served on the Marketing Executive Committee of UJA - Federation of New York and is also on the board of directors of the Advertising Club of New York and the Hetrick-Martin Institute. Lawenda graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

As Chief Revenue Officer, CBS Interactive, Dave Morris was responsible for driving the revenue strategy for the division. In this role, he worked closely with Jo Ann and her team at CBS Television to develop exciting cross platform opportunities for CBS' customers. Morris joined CNET Networks in 2007 as Senior Vice President of Network Sales. CNET Networks was acquired by CBS Corporation in June 2008. A veteran of Time Inc., Morris has more than 20 years of marketing, sales, and publishing experience. Prior to CNET Networks, Morris was President and Publisher of Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, where he led the publication and website to record profits and audience numbers. Prior to Entertainment Weekly, Morris was Publisher of Sports Illustrated. As Publisher, he also directed the advertising sales for the magazines bonus editorial sections (including SI Golf Plus), SI's custom publishing arm, Sports Illustrated Presents and SI.com. Before working at Time Inc., he was a sales representative for Parents Magazine and a media planner at SSC&B. In addition, Morris is a board member and former Chairman at the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

About CBS Corporation:
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company that creates and distributes industry-leading content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. The Company has businesses with origins that date back to the dawn of the broadcasting age as well as new ventures that operate on the leading edge of media. CBS owns the most-watched television network in the U.S. and one of the world's largest libraries of entertainment content, making its brand — "the Eye" — one of the most recognized in business. The Company's operations span virtually every field of media and entertainment, including cable, publishing, radio, local TV, film, and interactive and socially responsible media. CBS' businesses include CBS Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS Interactive, CBS Films, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, Pop (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate), Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. For more information, go to www.cbscorporation.com.

SOURCE CBS Corporation

Related Links

http://www.cbscorporation.com