Warner Bros. Discovery has appointed Ryan Gould and Robert “Bobby” Voltaggio as its new presidents of U.S. advertising sales.
The duo will lead the media giant’s sales portfolio for networks and streaming, inclusive of sports, news, client partnerships, digital sales, research, marketing and brand solutions, commercial operations and strategy. Gould will focus on go-to-market strategy, while Voltaggio will focus on platform monetization.
The pair, who will report to chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell, will be based at Hudson Yards in New York and will oversee the division’s nationwide team, including offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Washington and Knoxville, Tennessee.
They are also set to present at the company’s upfront at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 14.
Gould joined WBD in 2012 following Turner Broadcasting’s purchase of Bleacher Report, where he was sales director for the digital sports platform. He would go on to hold leadership positions at Turner and WarnerMedia and would be named WBD’s head of streaming, digital and advanced advertising sales and client partnerships in 2023.
Meanwhile, Voltaggio joined Discovery’s ad sales pricing and planning team in 2005, following a stint at AMC Networks from 2002-05. He would be promoted to head of revenue and operations in 2019.
Their appointments came after WBD revealed in October that former ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf would be exiting his role. Steinlauf stayed on while the company launched a search for his successor.
“We had a very strong pool of external applicants for this role, but given the rapidly evolving advertising market, we also recognized the need to fundamentally change how we service our clients and agency partners,” Campbell said in a Tuesday statement. “Ryan and Bobby have been instrumental leaders in driving our business since the merger, and are innovative, decisive and team-oriented in all that they do. They will take our existing, strong foundation and reshape our overall sales strategy. These changes will be transformative to our business.”
