Spotlight Names Heads for New Product and Data Units

Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales unit of Comcast Cable, said it is moving into two new areas and promoted two recently hired executives to head those efforts.

Kelly Perone was named VP of product strategy and Andrea Zapata was named VP of data innovation and insights.

“We believe that our work and innovation in recent months to move to a more solutions-based, data-driven approach to advertising positions us well for the future," said Hank Oster, senior VP and chief operating officer. "That said, we are constantly looking at ways to stay ahead of the rapidly changing television ecosystem. By creating a focus on product strategy and a clear product roadmap with Kelly, and a focus on innovating with data with Andrea, we are poised to meet the growing needs of our clients.“ 

Perone, who joined Spotlight in 2017 from Tremor Video, will oversee a new product strategy department based in New York.

“I’m so excited to lead the product strategy team as a new department within Comcast Spotlight. We have such a strong core business, and it’s been so much fun working across the organization to use our unique assets and new partnerships to evolve our value proposition. We’ve done so much the past 2.5 years, I can’t wait for what’s ahead,” Perone said.

Zapata, who joined Spotlight in 2017 from Vevo, where she was VP, research and analytics, will oversee a new data innovation and insights team. The team will be responsible for analytics, measurement, insights, effectiveness and customer research.

“We are reinventing what is possible with TV advertising using advanced data techniques to drive better planning, buying and outcome tactics across our platform. By harnessing insights from our proprietary viewership data, I look forward to shifting the TV narrative to one that is audience based, platform agnostic and data driven,” Zapata said.

Both execs will be based in New York, reporting to Oster.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.