Now As One Company, ViacomCBS Ad Sales Undergoes Major Staff Changes Under Ross

Combining CBS and Viacom advertising staff under Jo Ann Ross, president/chief advertising revenue officer, ViacomCBS Domestic Advertising Sales, has resulted in many senior veteran CBS and Viacom ad sales executives remaining and others departing.

Last October, around the time of the completion of the Viacom and CBS merger that occurred Dec. 4, the most senior Viacom advertising executive announced his departure -- head of advertising solutions Sean Moran, who led all advertising sales efforts for Viacom networks and platforms.

Other Viacom executives now departing, according to a Ross memo to staffers obtained by MediaPost, include Bryson Gordon, executive vice president of advanced advertising, and Valerie Bischak, executive vice president of ad solutions.

In addition, Rich Calacci, chief revenue officer, Pluto TV -- who oversaw the ad-supported streaming platform of around 20 million users that Viacom acquired last year ---  is also leaving.

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CBS executives who are leaving include Michael DuPont, executive vice president of advertising sales at Pop TV, CBS’ cable entertainment channel; Mary Ellen Bottone, senior vice president of ad sales for Smithsonian Channel; and David Paschkes, executive vice president/managing director of CBS Experiences, a unit that creates live, interactive experiences.

Staying on from CBS are John Bogusz, executive vice president of sports sales and marketing for CBS Network Sales; Steve Ellis, executive vice president of ad strategy and business development, ViacomCBS; David Lawenda, now executive vice president of sales, digital video/interactive, ViacomCBS; and Dave Morris, previously executive vice president, advanced advertising and client partnerships, CBS, now executive vice president/chief client officer, ViacomCBS.

Other CBS executives continuing are Linda Rene, as executive vice president of prime-time sales and innovation at CBS Network Sales and Chris Simon as executive vice president of network sales, CBS Television Network, overseeing client partnerships and linear sales transactions.

Staying on from Viacom: Dario Spina, as executive vice president/chief marketing officer of Viacom Velocity, the integrated marketing and creative content team; and Mike Dean, senior voce president/advanced advertising and automation of Vantage, the ViacomCBS advanced advertising/data-driven ad service.

Other Viacom executives staying on are Louis Carr, president, media sales, BET and Karen Phillips, who was executive vice president, ad solutions, Viacom -- now executive vice president, convergent sales, ViacomCBS, responsible for multiplatform across ViacomCBS cable network/platform brands.

As previously announced, John Halley will be chief operating officer of advertising revenue and executive vice president/advanced marketing solutions of ViacomCBS, overseeing commercial and business operations for the unified advertising team. Russ Behrman will be executive vice president of sales strategy, planning and administration.

Ross writes:

“Viacom and CBS have always maintained great relationships with advertisers, and as a combined company we will take these partnerships to another level in the year ahead. The goal is simple: one team with one voice providing effective solutions to grow our clients’ businesses as well as our own."

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