Univision’s Donna Speciale Hires Two Ex-Turner Execs

Dan Riess Univision
Dan Riess joins Donna Speciale at Univision (Image credit: Univision)

Univision’s recently hired president for advertising sales and marketing, Donna Speciale, has hired two of her former colleagues from Turner as she builds the Spanish-language network’s advanced advertising capabilities.

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Dan Reiss was named chief growth officer and Dan Aversano was named senior VP, analytics and advanced advertising. 

Dan Aversano Univision

Dan Aversano (Image credit: Univision)

Both will report to Speciale. All three left Turner after Time Warner was acquired by AT&T and became part of AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit. The new execs will start their new jobs on Feb. 22.

"I'm thrilled that Dan Riess and Dan Aversano will be joining Univision to be a part of my leadership team," Speciale said. "Together with our broader team, they will play a critical role in transforming our business, optimizing our advanced advertising capabilities and leveraging data and analytics across the Univision ecosystem to accelerate growth for our clients."

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Reiss, who had been executive VP of advanced advertising products, branded content, integrated marketing and head of Turner Ignite, will be responsible for growth strategy, new ad products and markets.

Aversano, who had been senior VP, ad innovation and programmatic solutions, will be responsible for accelerating Univision’s ability to leverage data analytics and ad tech in order to create new and exciting advertising opportunities for clients.

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.