Turner Taps New-Media Ad-Sales Exec

Reflecting advertisers' increased interest in new-media offerings, Turner Entertainment hired Reuters Americas veteran Walker Jacobs to head a restructured digital ad-sales team.

Jacobs is now senior vice president of Turner Entertainment New Media Ad Sales, comprising the portfolio of advanced offerings from TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Court TV, GameTap, Super Deluxe and Turner Sports. Based in New York, Jacobs will oversee all of the new-media ad-sales initiatives for the Turner Entertainment portfolio, reporting to David Levy, president of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales and Marketing.

Jacobs, who spent the past six years at Reuters Americas in a variety of executive roles, now heads an expanded digital-ad-sales team will work with Turner Broadcasting System’s entertainment, sports and animation and young adults and kids’ media divisions to develop integrated sales and marketing solutions for advertisers across the entertainment portfolio of television networks, platforms and businesses.

Jacobs will join Linda Yaccarino, executive VP of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales; Trish Frohman, executive VP of Turner Sports and Regional Ad Sales; and Beth Goss, executive VP of Animation Ad Sales, as part of the Turner Entertainment Ad Sales and Marketing executive team. All four report directly to Levy.

“I am very excited to have Walker join our company and assume this integral position within the ad-sales division,” Levy said in a prepared statement. “Walker is an experienced professional who brings great creative energy, smart business sense and fresh ideas to this position. His skills will blend perfectly with those of the seasoned executive team in place.”

He added: “I am confident that collectively, this group will continue to make it easier and more productive for advertisers and agencies to do business with our industry-leading television and digital platforms as we look to aggregate and deliver consumers across all platforms."