Former Buzzfeed CRO Andy Wiedlin Joins WAVE

Olivier Gers, former CEO of IAAF, joins Board of Directors

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Apr 23, 2019, 10:06 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WAVE, the 4th largest digital sports media publisher in the world, has added former Buzzfeed Chief Revenue Officer Andy Wiedlin to its executive team as Chief Business Officer.

Former Buzzfeed CRO Andy Wiedlin Joins WAVE

Wiedlin will focus on leveraging his expertise building custom content programs for brands to build on WAVE's momentum as the fastest growing sports media company. As of March, the company surpassed 1B views combined from its content across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat for the first time, for a total of 1.17B views, a new record for the 18-month entity. WAVE reaches over 150M gen-z and millennial sports fans each month. And per Sharablee, is the 4th largest sports media and #17th largest US media entity by social audience, viewership, engagements (see below).

"The caliber of Andy's experience is unlike anyone in this business, full stop," said Brian Verne, CEO and cofounder at WAVE. "He engineered Buzzfeed's brand programming methodology, led HuffPost's growth, and has advised dozens of fast growth start-ups. As we lead the next era of digital publishing, there couldn't be a better person to help us do the same."

"Throughout my career I've been fortunate to work with people who have a clear vision and are on the cutting edge, and WAVE is without a doubt the media world's next breakout star," said Wiedlin. "Working with early stage companies, defining their value and bringing that to brands is what I love to do, and I couldn't be happier to have this opportunity."

In just 18 months, WAVE has outpaced legacy and digital media companies, including Overtime, Discovery, Viacom, FirstMedia, and The New York Times. In March, WAVE again moved up in the Shareablee US Media Power Rankings, climbing from #20 in February to #17. The company maintained momentum on Shareablee's March Sports Media Power Rankings index at #4, which it reached in February after moving up from #6 in January. For the same period in 2018, WAVE did not rank in Shareablee's top 50 for either US or sports media.

Overall, the company's presence across social platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter has continued to grow. Total video views are up to 1.17B monthly, representing a 68% increase from January alone. Total subscribers on Wave Channels has surpassed 30M, giving Wave a social reach of well over 100 Million people.

During his four year tenure at Buzzfeed, Wiedlin led the publisher's revenue growth strategy and was responsible for increasing revenue from less than $1M to over $100M by creating custom content programs for some of the world's leading brands.

Prior to joining WAVE, Wiedlin served as an independent advisor and executive-in-residence at the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. With over 25 years of sales leadership experience, Wiedlin has advised more than 40 growth companies including Bleacher Report, BuzzFeed Japan, FunnyorDie, Inverse, MagnetMediaFilms, Mic, Nativo and NowThis. Prior to joining Buzzfeed, Wiedlin was SVP of Sales at Huffington Post.

"Wave is pioneering engagement for the next generation of sports fans," Wiedlin said. "And is creating branded content so good, it will make CMOs leap up and high-five their marketing teams."

Andy can be reached at [email protected].

OLIVIER GERS
Additionally, former IAAF Chief Executive Officer Oliver Gers has joined WAVE's Board of Directors. With more than 20 years of commercial, marketing, and media experience, Gers has previously led large global teams in creating revenue driving products, networks, and brands.

"Olivier is a vital resource for our business," said Verne. "His experience sits at the intersection of sports, technology and media, at the highest levels, and his willingness to support us, and help identify and vet the right market opportunities, have been invaluable."

"The leadership at WAVE have tremendously impressed me, it's no surprise that they're growing and attracting the interest of the entire sports industry," said Gers. "I see nothing but potential for WAVE and am overjoyed to be working with this incredibly talented group of people."

Prior to IAAF, Gers served as Global President, LiquidThread (a Starcom MediaVest Group company), CEO at Endemol Worldwide Brands, and had senior leadership positions with IMG Media and FremantleMedia.

During his time at IAAF, Gers was responsible for managing the restructuring of the organization, including the vote of a brand new constitution for the IAAF, innovative distribution deals with ESPN and EBU, the creation of a production joint venture with ITN, and the successful running of 7 World Championships, including the 2017 sporting event of the year in London.

Gers joins board member Larry Braitman, a Seed Investor in early-stage consumer services and digital media companies. Braitman has been investing, advising, and accelerating the growth of early-stage companies since 1997. Entities he's built, advised and invested in include Flycast, Adify, Flixter among others. In addition to WAVE, he sits on the board for several early-stage ventures and serves on the Board of Trustees for Franklin & Marshall College, and San Francisco's Roxie Theatre.

ABOUT WAVE
WAVE is sports media for the next generation of sports fans catering to their preferred form of consumption – social media.

WAVE is one of the largest and fastest growing sports media companies in the world with over 30M followers, 1.17B monthly content views, 75M engagements per month, and 120+ channels across Instagram, Snap, Facebook, and Twitter.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, WAVE has raised $6.8M in funding from Sweet Capital, Golden Venture Partners, Tom Williams and Larry Braitman.

More at wearewave.tv (we're hiring).

SOURCE WAVE