Rao Succeeds Kenny As Nielsen CEO

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, September 14, 2023

Nielsen this morning announced that Karthik Rao has been named CEO, succeeding David Kenny, who was named executive chairman of the private equity-owned media research giant.

The moves comes as Nielsen undergoes some of its greatest transformations ever -- both methodologically as well as its long-standing default currency for much of the U.S. advertising marketplace.

Rao, who has served as CEO of Nielsen's Audience Measurement business since 2023, is a 23-year veteran of Nielsen, beginning as director of client consulting for BASES, shortly after Nielsen acquired it in 1998.

During his tenure he rose through the ranks, overseeing Nielsen's portfolio including Nielsen Entertainment, Nielsen Gracenote, Nielsen Brandbank and the Nielsen Telecom businesses across all global markets.

"I have been fortunate to lead this company through some extraordinary times in the past five years, working alongside Karthik for much of it," stated Kenny, a long-time fixture and early pioneer of digital advertising on Madison Avenue, before taking on a variety of technology and data roles, including Nielsen CEO in 2018.

Nielsen is controlled by Elliott Investment Management L.P. ("Elliott") and Brookfield Business Partners L.P., together with institutional partners (collectively "Brookfield").

advertising, audience measurement, management, media measurement, nielsen, personnel, research, television

Next story loading