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After more than three decades at the company, Jo Ann Ross is exiting Paramount.
On Tuesday, Paramount announced that Ross, chairman of Paramount Advertising, is stepping down from the position at the end of the month.
In a memo to staff, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish noted the timing worked for the decision, with Ross “having helped prime our sales team for another strong upfront season.”
Ross joined CBS in 1992 as vp of Olympic sales, later becoming the first woman to serve as sales chief of a broadcast network and the longest-tenured sales head in broadcast television.
Bakish noted Ross’s many accomplishments in his staff memo, saying that the executive “steered our advertising business from one milestone to the next,” including overseeing the successful integration of a combined ad sales team in 2019 when CBS merged with Viacom and being “essential” in the company’s efforts to deliver a record-setting Super Bowl this year.
“In a career defined by firsts, Jo Ann has been a driving force for the advancement of our company and the industry at large,” Bakish wrote. “Her legacy is simply unmatched.”
Among her many highlights, following two years of virtual upfront presentations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ross led the company’s first in-person presentation under its new name, Paramount, in 2022. During the event, the executive turned the presentation into a live version of 60 Minutes and even performed a bit with the cast of the CBS comedy Ghosts.
“I will say very humbly that I think we all nailed it. And I think that there were a couple of jokes leading up, but we set the flag on the mountain. And [the Paramount name] rolls off everybody’s tongue very naturally now,” Ross told ADWEEK following the event.
Paramount’s ongoing transitions
Ross transitioned from her previous role of Paramount’s ad sales chief in 2022, with Paramount’s current sales head, John Halley, taking over.
When Ross announced she’d be taking the role of chairman, the former ad sales chief also noted that Halley was set to take the ad sales team to “new heights.”
In addition to coming ahead of the upfront, Ross’s announcement happens at a time when Paramount is going through wider company transitions, with several potential buyers circling and the company exploring the sale of properties such as VidCon.
See Bakish’s full memo below:
Team,
As our ad sales organization continues its momentum, Jo Ann Ross has decided to step down from her role as Chairman of Paramount Advertising at the end of the month, having helped prime our sales team for another strong Upfront season.
Jo Ann has steered our advertising business from one milestone to the next. She oversaw the successful integration and evolution of our combined ad sales organization in the midst of the pandemic. She was also instrumental in reimagining our Upfront last year, a format that others have tried to replicate. More recently, Jo Ann was essential in our efforts to deliver a historic Super Bowl LVIII that set a record for viewership and gross ad revenue, topping off an impressive roster of storied Super Bowls since joining CBS in 1992.
In a career defined by “firsts,” Jo Ann has been a driving force for the advancement of our company and the industry at large. Her legacy is simply unmatched as the longest-tenured sales head in television and the first woman to serve as sales chief of a broadcast network. Again and again, she’s shown a natural ability to create tremendous value for our advertising clients and for Paramount, tapping into new areas of growth and developing game-changing partnerships. From the early days of establishing unprecedented brand integrations for now iconic franchises like Survivor, to the launch of Paramount+ and the expanded premium streaming video opportunity for advertisers, to her integral role in the formation of our ongoing partnership with TNT Sports for the NCAA Tournament, Jo Ann has had an indelible impact that will continue for years to come.
A dedicated mentor, Jo Ann has paved the way for countless others. She was pivotal in the creation of The Exchange, which brings together women leaders in advertising to foster meaningful connections and conversation, and the ANA’s SeeHer movement to increase the representation and accurate portrayal of women and girls in media, marketing and entertainment. She also facilitated the development of Paramount’s Sales Associate program, an initiative to diversify the sales team’s entry-level workforce pipeline. Jo Ann’s unwavering commitment to making a difference extends to her longtime support of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s annual Cycle for Survival and her work as an active board member of Reisenbach Philanthropies, the Ad Council, the International Radio and Television Society, the Video Advertising Bureau and FourBlock, an organization for veteran career readiness.
Above all, Jo Ann cares deeply about her teammates, clients and peers — relationships built around trust, respect and reliability as hallmarks of her character and trailblazing career. Her passion for her work and determination to win have made Paramount a must-buy and key partner to the biggest advertisers in the world. And, under the continued leadership of John Halley, the sales organization is well positioned for future success.
I hope you’ll join me in thanking Jo Ann for her incredible service, stewardship and contributions to Paramount and our industry. We will miss her and her infectious sense of humor, and we wish her the very best.
Bob
