• by Alex Weprin , November 27, 2018

Premion, TEGNA’s connected TV and over-the-top video advertising platform, is beefing up its regional sales teams in an effort to grow local ad revenue on these emerging platforms.

The company has hired Shawn Edwards to be regional sales manager for Los Angeles and San Francisco, Doug Tierney as regional sales manager for Boston, and Tony Mastromatteo as regional sales manager for Mid-Atlantic, Philadelphia.

Premion, which launched just two years ago, has tried to leverage TEGNA’s local TV stations and the relationships they have with advertisers to impact the local and regional CTV and OTT ad sales business. The company says it has now worked with “thousands” of clients across more than 200 DMAs.

CTV and OTT remain very much emerging platforms from an ad sales perspective.

CTV and OTT, with their more precise targeting capabilities, are seen as a ripe opportunity for local advertisers, from regional businesses to political campaigns. During the 2018 midterm campaign, political ad spend on connected TV soared, though in the final days before the election it appeared as though most spend still went to traditional linear TV, and to social media.