• by Joe Mandese , November 7, 2006

In a major restructuring of its advertising sales organization, DirecTV Tuesday said it is bringing national advertising sales for its satellite TV service in-house and is pulling it out of an affiliated company, News Corp.'s Twentieth Television unit. The move comes at a time when satellite TV services like DirecTV and rival Echostar are pitching themselves to advertisers as a means of deploying advanced TV advertising methods such as interactive TV and addressable TV.

The move also suggests that there may be less integration between DirecTV and News Corp.'s advertising properties, which also include Twentieth Television's syndication unit, and Fox's broadcast and cable networks.

The DirecTV account team that had been working out of Twentieth Television will be absorbed into DirecTV's in-house unit, which will operate out of offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The unit will be headed by Bob Riordan, senior vice president-advertising sales, who is based in New York.

Riordan's responsibilities include all ad sales, including traditional media sales, advanced TV services, sports, pricing, planning and research.

Alison Pascola, vice president-ad sales, will report to Riordan and focus on ad sales marketing and research - shifting from her current role at DirecTV while continuing as the internal point of contact for employees in Los Angeles. Pascola and her team will also be responsible for developing and presenting ad sales promotional opportunities directly to clients and their advertising agencies. Joining DIRECTV from Twentieth Television and also reporting to Riordan are: Rich Forester, vice president, New Business Development, based in New York; Jamie Calandruccio, vice president, Planning and Operations, based in New York; Steve Fish, vice president, Mid-West Region, based in Chicago; and JC Kawalec, vice president, Western Region, based in Los Angeles.