With the close of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger imminent, the leadership team for the new Warner Bros. Discovery company continues to be set. The latest is Jon Steinlauf, who will serve as chief U.S. advertising sales officer for the combined company, Discovery announced Friday.
Steinlauf will report to Bruce Campbell, who on Thursday was named future chief revenue and strategy officer of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Steinlauf is carrying over his current title from Discovery, where he’s been chief of U.S. ad sales, managing sales, developing new revenue streams and overseeing research, marketing and branded entertainment, pricing and planning and inventory control. He has more than 35 years of sales experience, including 18 years at Scripps Networks and roles at Turner and ESPN. Before joining Discovery he was president of ad sales at Scripps. He started there in 2000 as VP of ad sales, focused on HGTV and DIY Network within the Eastern United States, before being elevated in 2003 to run the entire TV ad sales division. Steinlauf previously served as VP of ad sales for Turner Broadcasting’s TBS and TNT networks and was director of sales at ESPN.
“I am honored to be leading what I believe will be the most talented ad sales organization in the industry,” said Steinlauf 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.”
Steinlauf went on to say he has “the utmost respect for the Warner brands” after spending the past 30 years at Turner, Scripps and Discovery.
“It is incredible to me that everything will come full circle at Warner Bros. Discovery,” he continued.
With AT&T spinning off WarnerMedia to create the new company combined with Discovery in a deal that’s expected to close as early as today, future CEO David Zaslav this week already revealed a roster of executive leadership picks. Several are maintaining previous roles, such as Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels and HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys.
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced he was resigning earlier in the week.
Of Steinlauf’s appointment, Campbell commented: “Jon is an industry pioneer, a brilliant thinker and an excellent leader… 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.”