Comscore’s CEO and President Exit in Major Shakeup; Dale Fuller Named Interim CEO

Comscore is on the hunt for a CEO yet again after an unexpected Sunday shakeup that saw the resignations of CEO Bryan Wiener—over what he called "irreconcilable differences"—and president Sarah Hofstetter. The board named Dale Fuller its interim CEO but has no plans to fill Hofstetter’s position. In addition to those exits, the measurement company has named three new board members, whose appointments are effective Monday: Irwin Gotlieb, Joanne Bradford and Kathi Love. Wiener had also served on the board, but will be leaving effective today. The company is searching for a permanent CEO and said it will consider both external and internal candidates. “This afternoon, I resigned as CEO and board member of Comscore," said Wiener in a statement. "I have been very fortunate to lead Comscore during a period of significant change and to be part of such a talented team turning around the company strategically, financially and reputationally. I ultimately chose to leave as the board and I had irreconcilable differences over how to execute the company’s strategy." Hofstetter added in her own statement, "Given Bryan had differences with the board over how to execute the company’s strategy, and the two of us were aligned on the plan, I have made the decision to resign. It has been a privilege to be part of Comscore and to work with so many talented professionals who have been the driving force behind the company’s transformation.” Fuller, the new interim CEO, served as a director since March 2018 and chaired Comscore’s audit committee since last April. “Dale, together with the board, has made meaningful contributions to our operating strategy. As Dale works more closely with our dedicated employees and board, we believe he will optimize our operations and accelerate our path to profitability. We thank Bryan for his contributions over the past year and wish him well in his future endeavors,” said board chairman Brent Rosenthal in a statement. Said Fuller in a statement, "I am excited to lead Comscore at such a dynamic time in our industry. We are uniquely positioned to become the modern currency in an evolving media ecosystem based on our unique data assets, differentiated data analytics and strong brand equity. I look forward to working with our talented team to advance our mission of helping grow businesses in the cross-platform era.” Assisting in that mission will be a trio of new board members. Gotlieb was a senior advisor to WPP and formerly the global CEO and chairman of GroupM. Bradford is current CMO of Social Finance, Inc., and previously led global commercial and content partnerships, platform adoption and monetization efforts at Pinterest. Love servied as president and CEO of GfK MRI for 13 years. "We believe today's appointments will serve to credentialize our strategy, improve our customer traction, accelerate our growth and drive long-term shareholder value. We are thrilled to have Irwin, Joanne and Kathi join our team and further enrich our board with diverse skillsets from the digital, media and technology marketplaces. Each of these executives has demonstrated entrepreneurial talent and enjoys a proven track record of success within our industry,” said Rosenthal. Comscore had moved through three CEOs in two years before selecting Weiner, the former 360i CEO and chairman, last April—but his tenure was also short-lived. Wiener, who officially started on May 30, told Adweek last April that he was excited to “jump back into the deep end of the pool” after building 360i and planned to make Comscore the go-to source for cross-platform measurement. “There’s friction in the marketplace, and if marketers don’t feel confident about who’s seeing their ads and how often … then they won’t be comfortable doing business,” Wiener said. “So having a common currency is mission critical. Nielsen owns that market on the linear TV side, but there’s a hole in terms of cross-platform.” Now it will be up to the next CEO to try to fill that gap.