Viacom Names Kern Schireson Chief Data Officer

Emphasizing the company’s focus on analytics, Viacom named Kern Schireson as executive VP and chief data officer, a new position.

Schireson, who had been executive VP of data strategy and consumer intelligence, will be responsible for Viacom’s data capabilities for its domestic and international businesses, including its TV, theatrical and digital business units. The exec also helped create Viacom Vantage, the company’s data driven advertising initiative.

He will report to executive VP and CFO Wade Davis and work closely with the company’s leadership. Priorities include accelerating the use of data science at Paramount Pictures and incorporating data into the company’s events and consumer products businesses.

"Kern has assembled a consumer intelligence team that is second to none in the media and entertainment industry," Viacom CEO Bob Bakish said. "I could not be more excited by the opportunity to leverage our unique capabilities across each of our brands."

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.