Jon Steinlauf Is Warner Bros. Discovery US Ad Sales Chief

Warner Bros. Discovery has an ad sales chief: Jon Steinlauf has been named chief U.S. advertising sales officer for the combined company following the imminent WarnerMedia-Discovery merger. Steinlauf, who currently holds that same title for Discovery, received the top job over JP Colaco, who is head of advertising sales at WarnerMedia. Following the merger close, which is likely to happen later today, Steinlauf will report to Bruce Campbell, the new company’s chief revenue and strategy officer. Colaco will be leaving the company, he told his team this morning, but will stay on for brief period of time to help with the transition. JB Perrette, Kathleen Finch Expand Roles As Warner Bros. Discovery Sets Leadership Team "Jon is an industry pioneer, a brilliant thinker and an excellent leader. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join the Warner Bros. Discovery leadership team,” Campbell said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with him and the entire organization as we bring together two world-class sales organizations to create a complete and differentiated offering for our advertisers." "I am honored to be leading what I believe will be the most talented ad sales organization in the industry," Steinlauf said in a statement. "Warner Bros. Discovery will offer advertisers the most complementary portfolio of brands—spanning news, sports, entertainment, scripted, unscripted and family-focused programming. Together, we will introduce unparalleled ad-supported streaming opportunities to our clients. I've spent the last 30 years of my career at Turner, Scripps and Discovery and have the utmost respect for the Warner brands. It is incredible to me that everything will come full circle at Warner Bros. Discovery." Steinlauf will have just five weeks to prepare for the company's combined upfront week presentation, will is expected to take the place of Discovery’s previously-scheduled presentation on the morning of Tuesday, May 17. On Thursday, David Zaslav set his Warner Bros. Discovery leadership team, which included expanded roles for JB Perrette, who will lead all streaming efforts at the company, and Kathleen Finch, who will have oversight of almost all of the company’s U.S. networks. But that announcement did not include any mention of an ad sales chief for Warner Bros. Discovery. Deja vu for Steinlauf This is the second Discovery merger that resulted in Steinlauf receiving the top ad sales job for the combined company. In 2018, Steinlauf, who then was president of national ad sales and marketing for Scripps Networks, was named chief U.S. advertising sales officer over Ben Price, who had been Discovery’s president of U.S. ad sales. Price exited the company following that year’s upfront, and joined NBCUniversal in 2019. Steinlauf began at Scripps Networks in 2000, and three years later was running the entire TV ad sales division. He previously worked in ad sales for TBS and TNT from 1992-2000, and at ESPN from 1985-89. Colaco, meanwhile, was named WarnerMedia ad sales chief in October 2020 after a 15-month search. He came from Apple, where he led the Americas region for Apple search ads, previously was responsible for business development at Veseel and worked as svp of ad sales and operations at Hulu until 2013. During his time at WarnerMedia, Colaco launched HBO Max’s ad-supported tier and also oversaw the company’s most successful upfront ever in 2021. Colaco is the latest WarnerMedia executive departing as a result of the merger, including CEO Jason Kilar, HBO Max evp and general manager Andy Forssell, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff and evp and chief revenue officer Tony Gonclaves.

TV Upfronts

Jon Steinlauf Named Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Ad Sales Chief

The Discovery exec received the top advertising job over WarnerMedia’s JP Colaco

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch