Jon Steinlauf, who navigated a number of company mergers lately to turn into the pinnacle of U.S. advert gross sales at Warner Bros. Discovery, is leaving the corporate later this yr.
The information was shared internally by WBD Chief Income and Technique Officer Bruce Campbell. (Learn his memo under.)
Steinlauf presided over almost three dozen linear cable networks and in addition the promoting tier of Max. He had held high advert posts at Scripps Networks Interactive, which merged with Discovery in 2018. After taking the highest function at Discovery, Steinlauf then ascended to the highest advert function at WBD after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery in 2022. Steinlauf additionally labored at Turner and ESPN.
All,
I’ve information to share that will come as a shock to a lot of you. After over 30 years at WBD and its predecessor corporations, Discovery, Scripps, and Turner, our Chief US Promoting Gross sales Officer Jon Steinlauf has determined to go away Warner Bros. Discovery later this yr.
Jon is likely one of the trade’s most revered and well-known advert gross sales executives and has had an unbelievable profession right here at WBD by means of the key mergers, transformations, and trade pivots. He’s been a crucial a part of our management on the firm, and somebody each David and I’ve come to depend on for a few years.
Jon turned well-known to us in 2018 when Discovery acquired Scripps Networks, the place he was Scripps’ president of advert gross sales, and helped make HGTV and Meals Community into among the strongest manufacturers in tv. He then led the mixed Scripps-Discovery gross sales group, managing one of the vital highly effective promoting portfolios in all of cable. Jon pulled off a hat trick with the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger by creating the advert gross sales group that WBD has at present – a money engine that drives such super worth for the corporate.
Jon additionally established the Max ad-supported gross sales enterprise final yr and led the crew that’s now delivering double- and triple-digit progress on that platform. He additionally built-in sports activities and digital gross sales into the broader gross sales construction to create the One WBD portfolio we now supply to all our businesses and shoppers.
We’re very grateful for all Jon has performed for us, and whereas supportive of his private want to hunt different instructions in his life and profession, we’ll clearly miss him.
Jon requested me to share the next with you:
“I’ve had the privilege of representing this nice portfolio of manufacturers for the final 32 years – at Turner, Scripps, Discovery and now at WBD. I’m grateful for the alternatives that David Zaslav, Bruce Campbell, and different leaders have given to me. That is the precise time to start a brand new chapter each personally and professionally.
It’s unbelievable to look again at my early years at ESPN, and the start of cable, to see how the enterprise has grown and remodeled. I’ve had the success to have all the time labored with, and for, the perfect corporations, manufacturers, and folks. And this consists of all of you. I couldn’t be prouder and extra appreciative of this advert gross sales crew and what we completed collectively in each the affluent and difficult instances”.
Jon will proceed in his present function whereas we start our seek for WBD’s subsequent advert gross sales chief. So, nothing modifications within the close to time period. And in typical Jon vogue – he’s pushing laborious to realize our gross sales goals on this essential fourth quarter.
We are going to take time to honor Jon’s legacy right here when the time comes, however for now, please be a part of me in congratulating him on his subsequent chapter.
Bruce
