For all her success, Suzanne Sullivan, executive VP for ad sales at Fox, says that being in sales was a bit of an accident.

“I’m the introvert in my family, so it’s funny I’m the one who ended up in sales,” Sullivan said. “I know how to fake being an extrovert really well, but it’s not my natural comfort zone.”

Growing up in Saddle River, New Jersey, she wanted to be an architect or Katie Couric. Her mother talked her out of being an architect, claiming she wasn’t good at math. To get into TV news, she did internships with NBC News and a local cable access channel in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she attended College of the Holy Cross. When she graduated, she sent resumes to stations up and down the Eastern seaboard, but got no nibbles.

“So I responded to an ad for a sales assistant job at CBS,” Sullivan recalled. She didn’t know anything about advertising. “I figured I’d get my foot in the door at CBS and who knows where it might take me. And here’s where it took me 30 years later.”

An Energetic Learner

She moved over to the agency side at BBDO and OMD. “You hire people for enthusiasm, passion and energy, because you can teach them everything else,” Steve Grubbs, former OMD U.S. CEO, said. “And you know, Suzanne certainly fit the bill. Over time, you realized she’s just one of the most trustworthy and honest people that you come across.”

Sullivan left the agency for ESPN, but returned. When she became a mother, she left for four years. At that time, it was unusual for women to come back to work after a break that long. “She’s the only person who left that I hired back, not once but twice,” Grubbs said. “Looking back on those days, I don’t know how these young women did it. It was just asking a lot.”

Eventually the sales bug bit again, and Sullivan moved to Fox, first with Twentieth Television, then with Fox Broadcasting. Toby Byrne, who later became president of sales at Fox, hired her. Years earlier Byrne was Sullivan’s assistant at BBDO. “Suzanne wasn’t thrilled with my performance and was talking to her boss about potentially firing me,” Byrne recalled. “Needless to say, I turned it around quickly and we have been friends ever since. I was fortunate enough to hire her at Fox and it was fun to joke about how she wanted to run me out of the business.”

Sullivan’s agency background helped her relate to buyers. ”She has exceptionally high integrity, and integrity in our business is critical,” said John Muszynski, U.S. chairman of Publicis Media’s PMX. “With her, I know that I can trust that the person on the other side of the desk actually wants to help my clients’ business. Not just their business.”

Sullivan said she’s proud of partnerships with clients like integrating AT&T into American Idol, creating an award-winning game show for Pepsi Wild Cherry and bringing Amazon into the sitcom Call Me Kat.

Muszynski also praised her skill at the lost art of market reading. “We don’t agree on things all the time,” he said. “But the negotiation is really pretty simple because we both study the marketplace and we both understand the dynamics of the marketplace.”

As much as she works for her clients, she delivers for Fox.

“Suzanne works tirelessly and collaboratively to create opportunities that consistently position Fox Entertainment as the most client-focused and creatively innovative media company,” Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said.

An Honest Broker

Sullivan was already at Fox when Marianne Gambelli arrived from NBC to head ad sales, first at Fox News Media and then for all of Fox Corp. The two had an immediate connection, Gambelli said.

When the new Fox was formed after The Walt Disney Co.’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the ad-sales department needed to be reorganized. “I didn’t really know everybody, so I relied on Suzanne for everything from who are the right people to what is the right structure and how do we go to market,” Gambelli said. “I would never do anything without consulting with her first. I rely on her for her trust and her honesty. Even when I don’t want an honest answer, I get an honest answer. She has all the historical knowledge, but she’s not afraid to innovate and move forward.”

Issues like integrating Fox’s streaming service Tubi keep her sharp. “It keeps us thinking differently,” Sullivan said. “I can’t imagine if I were still doing the same thing that I was doing 30 years ago.” 

Sullivan also proudly serves as co-chair of Fox’s diversity and inclusion council. Away from work, she used to spend a lot of time at ice rinks while her kids played hockey. Her son has been an emergency goalie for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. She recently started playing pickleball, so watch out. ▪️

Suzanne Sullivan, the executive VP responsible for selling ads in Fox’s entertainment programming, calls the network where she’s worked for 15 years her second family.

Her (and her husband’s) four kids moved out on their own, and she wound up moving to a smaller Connecticut home during a pandemic. “The first time we actually stepped foot inside the house was about two weeks before we moved in,” she said. “It was intense but we’re settled in now.”

Unlike in many families, none of the kids tried to return to the roost. One son lives in New Jersey. “We’ve informed him very clearly that it would be impossible for all three of us to work from home from here,” she said.

Sullivan wanted to grow up to be Katie Couric, but after college she got no responses to the form letter she sent to every TV station between Massachusetts and Virginia. She answered an ad in The New York Times and got a job as a sales assistant at CBS. She later crossed Sixth Avenue to work at ad agency BBDO and thought she would never leave. But then she followed a colleague, Toby Byrne — who later became president of sales at the network — to Fox.

Now, fun for Sullivan is sitting on the beach with a book, “maybe a piña colada, if it’s after 5 o’clock.”

Sullivan spoke with Multichannel News contributing editor Jon Lafayette. An edited transcript follows.

How are you handling working from home? Certainly all the technology that we have makes it a heck of a lot easier. We all miss the collaboration and having somebody right there that you can bounce an idea off. I would say we’ve managed really well, but it’s not the same as being in an office, for sure.

How easy has it been to reach clients with everyone working from home in a pandemic? Everyone’s been super accessible. We’ve been able to do some really interesting virtual meetings where we’ve been able to access [Fox Entertainment CEO] Charlie Colller. We’ve also got a whole calendar of events we’re doing with clients. As an example, with the MasterChef Junior talent, we had an event for people with young children. We sent them all cookie-decorating kits and we’ve got some of our staff members hosting it with their kids. One of the nice parts is every once in a while little kids pop up on Zoom calls and it just humanized everybody.

The pandemic canceled and changed many advertisers plans. How did you deal with that? When the waves
of relief requests began, I was so proud of Fox because our response to what our partners needed was immediate. It was really hard, but we were able to say, “We can help you.” We were literally able to help every single advertiser with whatever they needed and then it felt so good to be able to do that. I do believe in karma because once all of that got settled, we ended up with a robust scatter market.

What in the world is going on with this upfront? Are buyers still expecting price rollbacks? Conversations are ongoing. Advertisers recognize they need the scale and reach of broadcast to create the demand needed to move their business forward. At Fox, we’re in an enviable position. We were the top-rated network for the 2019-2020 broadcast season, and we are ready for the fall. Based on all the indicators leading into the upfront, it’s trending towards a positive marketplace for broadcast prime.

Everyone seems to be talking about flexibility. What does that mean to you? We understand with what everybody’s just been through, that they need as much flexibility as they can possibly get and we’re working through those terms with everybody. It’s certainly not one size fits all. I think ideally what advertisers want is the certainty of price that the upfront affords and the maximum flexibility that scatter affords. There’s a reason why those are two different marketplaces. Some requests are more realistic and reasonable than others and so we’re working through this. The way I look at it is that if it helps advertisers feel more comfortable doing business with us, then we’re going to work with them. Just like we’ve proven that we already are willing to do. 

Bonus Five

What show is on your DVR?Better Things.

All-time favorite show?Alias with Jennifer Garner. She was kind of a badass. I want to be her a little bit.

Favorite podcast? My go-to podcasts are true crime, so Cold and Root of Evil.

What apps are you using? Simple Habit and Calm. There’s one leader, Sean M. Kelly. He has the most wonderful irish accent. I like to start my day or end my day listening to that.

What books are you reading?Radical Candor by Kim Scott and Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. 

Audrey Steele and Suzanne Sullivan have been promoted at the advertising sales unit of Fox Networks Group.

Sullivan was named executive VP, entertainment sales, responsible for strategy and execution of cross-network multiplatform sales. She had been senior vice president, Fox Networks Group Sales.

Steele becomes executive VP, sales research insights and strategy. She was previously senior VP, sales research and marketing for Fox Broadcasting and helped develop Fox’s AIM targeting tools.

Toby Byrne, president of ad sales for Fox Network Group, said both executives “possess the unique skill set of leadership coupled with analytic and strategic thinking.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.