NBCU PROMOTES LINDA YACCARINO TO CHAIRMAN, GLOBAL ADS AND PARTNERSHIPS

NBCUniversal announced its decision to promote Linda Yaccarino to Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships. With this structural change, the company hopes to prioritize the proper reach of audiences across all screens as it creates a single, scaled advertising offering for clients of all sizes, regardless of how they operate, locally, nationally, or globally.  

In her newly expanded position, Yaccarino will continue to hold oversight all National Advertising Sales, Ad Sales Marketing, and Global Partnerships, which now include Local Advertising Sales and Strategic Initiatives teams. She was also lead a new cross-functional Data Strategy effort, while still reporting directly to Jeff Shell, CEO, of the conglomerate. "Linda has done a fantastic job moving the advertising business forward, not just for NBCUniversal, but the industry at large," Shell said. “I'm excited for her to continue architecting the future of the ad-supported ecosystem and uniting all assets of this company to make us the best possible partner for our customers around the world." 

Yaccarino will also be head of newly established new Data Strategy unit, a privacy-safe identity vision at NBCUniversal.This team, under a soon-to-be-named Chief Data Officer, will develop strategic plans across the organization, driving revenue generation and building deeper pathways into commerce. Yaccarino will work alongisde Senior Vice President Kathy Kelly-Brown, uniting Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal's Symphony efforts under the broader Advertising and Partnerships mantle. 

Earlier this year, NBCUniversal unified its linear and digital assets as One Platform and introduced ad-supported streaming with Peacock. The new structure serves an extension of the One Platform strategy, allowing the company to strengthen its already robust local ad sales operation by tying it more closely to the company’s global sales efforts and provides additional resources to build growing areas like data and information strategy.

Since joining NBCUniversal in 2011, Yaccarino has contributed to the company's advertising sales efforts both nationally and globally to a USD 10+ billion-dollar business annually, while developing new opportunities with expanded creative and technological resources to better serve NBCUniversal's partners. Now, with the addition of Local Sales, NBCUniversal will offer a streamlined, scaled ad solution for small businesses to global enterprises via One Platform.

 Frank Comerford, Chief Revenue Officer for Local Sales will continue to oversee commercial efforts for NBCUniversal’s local TV stations, multicast networks, and regional sports networks. He will report to Yaccarino and continue to partner closely with Valari Staab, President of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations.