NBCU Makes Four Additions To Ad Sales

NBCUniversal today announced several key additions to the company’s ad sales organization.

Laura Molen is joining the company as EVP, cable advertising sales overseeing sales efforts for USA, Syfy, E!, G4, Chiller, Cloo and WWE. Peter Lazarus is joining NBCUniversal as the SVP of cable ad sales, responsible for USA, SyFy, Cloo, Chiller and WWE. Lou Koskovolis has been named SVP, sales and sales marketing for NBC Sports Groups’ Golf Media, responsible for all sales and sponsorship efforts involving the group’s golf properties; and Katie Larkin has joined the company as SVP, ad sales strategy.

In making the announcement, Linda Yaccarino, President of Sales for NBCUniversal, said, “With a world-class portfolio of brands, it only makes sense to bring on some of the industry’s best sales executives to join our NBCUniversal team. Laura, Peter, Lou and Katie are all leaders in their field. They’re strategic, creative and analytical in their approach, and they know how to ‘think big.’ Their addition rounds out our senior leadership team and positions us perfectly to present our unified, industry-leading portfolio to the marketplace.”

Molen, who will report directly to Yaccarino, joins the company from Univision Communications where she was EVP, network sales and marketing since 2011. Before that, Molen spent 16 years at Viacom where she held a number of senior sales roles including SVP, strategic partnerships for VH1 Brand Sales and SVP, general sales manager for Paramount Domestic Television.

Lazarus, who will report directly to Molen, joins the company from USA Today, where he has been the SVP, head of multimedia sales for the USA Today Sports Media Group since 2011. Before that, Lazarus was the EVP, network sales and partnership marketing for Univision Communications for three years, managing ad sales and marketing operations for the Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision Networks. Lazarus previously worked at NBCUniversal for nearly nine years as the SVP, sports and Olympics sales marketing, responsible for all sales and marketing operations for NBC Sports, USA Sports and the 2004 and 2006 Olympic Games.

Koskovolis, who will report to Seth Winter, EVP, NBC Sports Group Sales and Sales Marketing, will be responsible for all sales and sponsorship efforts for NBC Sports Group’s Golf Media, which includes Golf Channel, Golf Channel on NBC and a portfolio of golf-related digital platforms and events. He will oversee on-air and digital sales, as well as develop sponsorship events and opportunities spanning the various platforms. Koskovolis joins the company from MLB where he was the SVP of corporate sales and marketing since 2011 responsible for all corporate sales and sponsorship efforts on behalf of MLB properties. Prior to that, he was the EVP, corporate alliances at Six Flags Entertainment where he created a national, regional and local sales organization, responsible for driving sponsorship revenue across all 19 Six Flags domestic and international theme parks.

Larkin, who reports directly to Trish Frohman, EVP, ad sales strategy, is responsible for defining and developing TV and digital cross -platform sales strategy across the entire NBCUniversal portfolio. She joined the company from Turner Entertainment Networks (TBS, TNT, TRU) where she was SVP, ad sales research and strategy.