Byron Allen Announces Barbara Bekkedahl as President of Advertising Sales for The Weather Group
LOS ANGELES, March 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Entertainment Studios, one of the largest independent producers and distributors of film and television with 64 shows on the air and owner of 15 U.S. Big-Four network affiliate broadcast television stations and nine 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 160 million subscribers -- including The Weather Channel television network and its AVOD streaming service Local Now -- proudly announces Barbara Bekkedahl as President of Advertising Sales for The Weather Group media portfolio. Bekkedahl has been with Weather Group since 2016. Allen purchased The Weather Group/The Weather Channel in March 2018.
Bekkedahl will oversee all advertising sales, advertising solutions, and advertising partnerships for The Weather Group media portfolio. Bekkedahl will work collaboratively with President of Advertising Sales for Entertainment Studios Networks, Cindy Kelly, and President of Advertising Sales for Entertainment Studios Syndication, Darren Galatt.
"Barbara Bekkedahl continues to leverage her enormous industry advertising sales experience to position The Weather Group portfolio for greater success," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group. "Barbara provides outstanding service to our clients and leads one of the best advertising sales teams in the industry."
Bekkedahl's prior experience includes NBCUniversal, where she served as Vice President of Client Solutions, leading business partnerships with top clients and representing the NBCUniversal portfolio of television and digital properties. Prior to that, she managed the national advertising sales team for the NBCUniversal Bravo cable network. Bekkedahl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University.
About Entertainment Studios / Allen Media Group
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Entertainment Studios owns 15 U.S. broadcast television stations and nine 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 160 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. Entertainment Studios will add its tenth network, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPANOL in 2020. Entertainment Studios also owns the LOCAL NOW streaming service, powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Entertainment Studios also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 64 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.
Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES, the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.
In 2016, Entertainment Studios purchased TheGrio, a digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 20 million annual visitors.
For more information, visit:
www.entertainmentstudios.com
SOURCE Entertainment Studios, Inc.
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