Yaccarino Elevated To Turner Entertainment Sales EVP-COO
Executive Adds Program Acquisition Responsibilities To Her Duties
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 1/14/2009 5:13:00 AM
Linda Yaccarino has been promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales/ Marketing and Acquisitions, officials said Wednesday.
A Multichannel News "Wonder Woman," Yaccarino, who previously served as executive vice president and general manager of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales, will continue to oversee all ad sales and sales marketing efforts for TNT, TBS and TruTV. Her added duties include oversight of program acquisitions for these networks, as well as Peachtree TV, Turner’s Atlanta broadcast station.
Yaccarino, who is based in New York, will continue to report to David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting Sales and Turner Sports, and Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks.
Jonathan Katz, senior vice president/general manager of program planning, acquisitions and Peachtree TV, will now dually report to Yaccarino as well as Stu Snyder, president and chief operating officer for Turner Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media.
“Linda has proven herself to be one of the most talented sales executives in the industry,” Levy said in a statement. “She has been a driving force behind an entertainment ad sales team that consistently challenges themselves to push the boundaries of conventional thinking. Linda has listened to marketers and sought out ways for Turner Entertainment to serve as a valuable platform for each brand to convey their message to consumers in an effective and trustworthy environment.”
Yaccarino’s new duties are a natural extension of her current role. She will work closely with Katz, whose many successes include high-profile acquisitions like The Office, My Name Is Earl, Family Guy, Cold Case, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Seinfeld and Without a Trace, as well as Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns. Katz’s group is also responsible for such recent movie acquisitions as The Dark Knight.
“In this new role, Linda will take on duties that are a great fit for her expertise,” Koonin said in a statement. “The expansion of her responsibilities to include oversight of program acquisitions and Peachtree TV will allow for even more effective collaboration throughout our industry-leading portfolio of brands.”
Under Yaccarino’s leadership, Turner Entertainment announced a new initiative titled TVinContext at its 2008 upfront presentation. The initiative includes the examination and cataloging of thousands of scenes from Turner’s vast library of films and TV series, plus the custom matching of advertising content to place spots adjacent to relevant scenes.
Yaccarino joined Turner Broadcasting in 1993 as a member of the former Turner syndication division. In 1996, she served as vice president of sales for CNBC and then returned to Turner in 1997. She was named vice president and sales manager for Turner Entertainment Sales in 1997 and then upped to senior vice president in 1999. Before joining Turner, Yaccarino spent five years at Select Media Communications where, as vice president for advertising and program sales, she managed the company’s national advertising and program sales divisions.
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