Katz Media Group Expands TV Political Sales Team

Katz Media Group has enlarged its political sales division. Katz represents and provides significant scale across multiple media verticals, including Television, Radio and Digital Media. Katz says its political team “is the largest political billing sales organization providing guidance and leadership to drive maximum results for political advertisers and campaigns across all platforms.”

Trevor Heaton has been promoted to president of political strategy for the Katz Television Group. In addition, Jared Salles has been elevated to SVP of political sales, and Brad Phillips has been elevated to VP-general sales manager. Heaton will continue to report to Craig Broitman, COO of Katz Television Group.

The Katz Political team comprises political specialists dedicated to the political vertical. This team provides guidance and expertise to Katz’s broadcast and publisher partners as well as the agency community. The Katz Political team managed more than $2.5 billion in political advertising during the combined 2020 and 2022 election cycles.

“Katz is committed to providing advertisers with hyper-focused expertise in the political category,” said Mark Gray, CEO of Katz Media Group. “For over three decades, Katz has been a leader in the political arena with its pulse on the ever-changing market. Our team strategizes with political agencies and campaigns to leverage the power of local broadcast and digital media to connect with voters at significant scale. No other company is better positioned to provide simultaneous results across several media platforms for the political advertising community.”

Leo MacCourtney, president of Katz Television Group, said: “Katz serves as a trusted partner to deliver local voters across the nation. Heaton’s political experience perfectly positions him to lead our political strategy. I’m confident our political team’s combined decades of expertise within the political arena will make a difference for campaigns during 2024 and beyond.”

Trevor Heaton began his career with Katz in Philadelphia and served as an account executive in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.  In 2010, Trevor was promoted to political sales manager in Washington, D.C.  He was elevated from manager to director of political sales and then again to SVP of political sales before being promoted to his current role as president.  He is a member of the Member of Washington Media Scholars Advisory Committee and the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).

As a 20-year media veteran, Jared Salles has served in several positions at Katz, including research analyst, account executive and sales manager. He served as VP of political sales for more than eight years before his current role as SVP of political sales. Salles has sold media in every political cycle since 2004, focusing on maximizing political revenue and results in both the linear and digital space.

During his 17 years with Katz, Brad Phillips rose from sales assistant to account executive selling in the D.C. office. In 2015, he became the sales manager helping train all new political account executives. In his new role as VP-general sales manager of political sales, Philipps will continue to work with political agencies.