Former Yahoo! Executive to Oversee Media Sales for All Digital
Advertiser-Supported Destinations and Programming for the Studio
Shannon Pruitt Named Vice President, Sales Development
BURBANK, Calif. (October 13, 2009) – Warner Bros. Entertainment (WBE) has named former Yahoo! advertiser sales executive Dave Dickman as Senior Vice President, Digital Media Sales, at the Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG). The announcement was made today by Craig Hunegs, Executive Vice President, Business Management, WBTVG.
An industry leader with more than 20 years of experience in advertiser/media sales and business development, Dickman joins the Studio after three years with Yahoo! Inc., where he held several key leadership roles and most recently served as Head of Sales for the Western/Midwest Region. In addition to managing Yahoo!’s core sales offices, Dickman was responsible for display and search advertising revenue for half of the U.S. market.
In his new position at WBTVG, Dickman will spearhead the Studio’s domestic digital media sales efforts, charged with generating revenue from WBE’s expansive portfolio of advertiser-supported digital assets and ventures, including the Studio’s digital entertainment destinations and content from WBTVG’s television production arms as well as digital unit Studio 2.0 and Warner Premiere.
He will also be responsible for developing and presenting integrated marketing and branded entertainment opportunities to key advertisers across all projects from these ventures, allowing marketers to associate with the Studio’s top creative talent and content in a targeted, premium environment.
“As Warner Bros. Entertainment continues to expand its reach in digital with a truly multiplatform approach to programming, there is tremendous opportunity in the marketplace to take the Studio’s high-quality, popular brands to the next level, putting them together with leading advertisers and marketers in a unique way,” said Dickman. “This was an opportunity that I could not pass up, to represent some of the world’s best entertainment programming and content to Madison Avenue.”
In addition to Dickman’s appointment, WBTVG has also named Shannon Pruitt to the Digital Media Sales team as Vice President, Sales Development. Pruitt will work closely with Dickman to identify new business opportunities for the Studio.
Dickman will report to Brett Bouttier, Senior Vice President, Digital, WBTVG, and will supervise WBTVG’s national digital media sales team of executives across the country. Pruitt will report to Dickman.
Prior to Yahoo!, Dickman was a principal in his own media consultancy, Dickman & Jones Ltd., providing counsel to The Walt Disney Company in the Asia/Pacific region and to The Prince’s Trust, the UK-based philanthropic foundation established by HRH Prince Charles.
Dickman is no stranger to Time Warner, having previously served the company for nine years in a series of progressively responsible sales positions based in New York and Hong Kong, eventually rising to Executive Vice President, Entertainment Ad Sales, Turner Broadcasting Systems International, based in London. Dickman joined Turner from The Walt Disney Company’s The Disney Channel, in New York. He previously worked at Katz Television in Chicago and The Procter & Gamble Company in St. Louis, where he held sales positions. He is a graduate of Indiana University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in business, with an emphasis in marketing and advertising.
Pruitt comes to WBTVG from Agility Studios, where she was Senior Vice President, Integrated Sales Sponsorship & Marketing, for the boutique digital studio startup. Previously, she was Vice President, Integrated Sponsorship, Marketing and Live Events for FremantleMedia Enterprises, overseeing multiplatform advertiser partnerships for programs such as “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent,” “The Price Is Right” and more.
Before FremantleMedia, Pruitt was Head of Business Development and Integrated Marketing for Mark Burnett Productions and, prior to that, Business Development Director–North America for 19 Entertainment. She also held brand building and account executive positions at MasterCard International and Octagon. Pruitt is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in Japanese language and culture, as well as an MBA in marketing and sports business.