Leaders of the local TV advertising buying, selling and research community will offer their outlook on the developing 2021 spot TV market during a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar. Set for Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 1 p.m. ET, the event will feature (clockwise from upper left): Becky Meyer, SVP national sales, Gray Television; Julio Marenghi, president of sales, CBS Television Stations; Brad Thompson, SVP and partner, integrated investment, UM Worldwide; moderator Janet Stilson, contributing editor, TVNewsCheck; Bruce Roberts, president, WideOrbit and Rick Ducey, managing director, BIA Advisory Services. Register here.
Named president of sales at CBS Television Stations in October 2018, Marenghi reports to CBS Television Stations President-CEO Peter Dunn and is responsible for overseeing advertising sales for ViacomCBS’s 27 owned-and-operated stations, as well as the group’s digital properties, including its portfolio of CBSN Local 24/7 news streaming services.
Becky Meyer joined Gray Television in September of 2015. She oversees the coordination and execution of national transactions in 94 DMAs and manages agency relations across the country. Prior to joining Gray, Becky worked at Katz Television for 23 years in the Chicago office holding every position in that office up to VP director of sales. She also managed the Minneapolis and Detroit offices. In 2001, she took a break from the national business and became the local sales manager for WAOW-TV Wausau, Wis. ,returning to Katz in 2003.
A media executive with 23 years of experience in the industry, Thompson spearheads operations and change management for the Local Investment Team at UM Worldwide. Previously he led local investment on the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles account for nine years, focusing on innovative solutions and strong relationships to deliver best-in-class efficiency and sales results against client KPIs. He started his career as a local media buyer, working at J. Walter Thompson, PHD and LCI (formerly a media buying unit of UM Worldwide). In that role he negotiated on behalf of a diverse roster of clients across the automotive, retail, financial, pharmaceuticals and entertainment categories.
Ducey leads BIA Advisory Services’ strategy consulting practice and serves as an adviser to its affiliated investment banking group BIA Capital Strategies. Ducey works with media industry clients to see and evaluate opportunities and develop strategies in traditional and digital platforms to achieve business goals. He helps clients with strategic planning, partnership strategies, product planning, competitive intelligence, revenue growth and diversification. He also works on investment banking projects assisting buy-side and sell-side clients.
Bruce joined WideOrbit in 2000 and oversees all client-facing departments, including sales, operations, account management & support. Bruce is a broadcast television veteran who joined WideOrbit after more than 15 years with the ABC Owned and Operated Television Division. Prior to WideOrbit, Bruce was executive VP of sales for Salon.com. Before Salon, Bruce was general sales manager for KGO-TV in San Francisco as well as sales manager for KABC-TV in Los Angeles. Bruce began his career in media working for HRP and Blair.
A veteran business writer specializing in the media industry, Stilson covers advertising sales and revenue generation for TVNewsCheck. She started her career at Variety and has freelanced for The New York Times, The Financial Times, TV Guide, The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek. Currently, she is also editor of Crain’s NewsPro, as well as the Media Financial Management Association’s magazine The Financial Manager.
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