NBC Names Lovinger Head of Sports Sales

NBCUniversal named Dan Lovinger head of ad sales for the NBC Sports Group, replacing Seth Winter, who remains as a consultant.

Replacing Lovinger as head of entertainment sales—including NBC, USA and Syfy—is Mark Marshall, who headed NBC's regional offices and will move from Chicago to New York.

Also adding new responsibilities are Mike Rosen, who will head a new data business; Laura Molen, who will add Telemundo to her portfolio; and Mark Miller, who will be in charge of ad sales for NBC News operations.

The changes are the latest by Linda Yaccarino, chairman of NBCU sales and client partnerships.

"As the media ecosystem continues to evolve it's really imperative that our organization transforms to meet the needs of clients and agencies," she said.

Lovinger takes over sports sales as the company gears up for a World Cup, Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. "He's going to hit the ground running," said Yaccarino. In his previous post, Lovinger was in the then-unique position of selling both broadcast and cable networks.

"I was overwhelmed and pleaseantly suprised that people from all over the industry were interested in this job," Yaccarino added, Or were intersted in being part of the company after the top posts were filled from witin. "People said 'you have a lot of stuff going on there and I want to be a part of it."

Rosen's new role is executive VP of portfolio sales and strategy.

"In this new position, Mike will now lead our portal go-to-market upfront strategy with clients and agencies, and serve as key point of contact in Upfront negotiations. He will also be in charge of our regional offices, bolstering the connective tissue between us, our agencies and our client partnerships," Yaccarino said in a memo. "As we continue unprecedented investment in data and analytics, Mike will also lead the Audience Studio product sales teams including NBCUx, ATP and Social Synch. His hands-on experience from the buying and selling sides of our business make him a perfect fit for this new position"

With Rosen moving into a new position, Miller, who had reported to Rosen as head of ad sales, now reports directly to Yaccarino.

"Over the past few years, Mark has been an important part of the leadership team and has driven innovations like our disruptive move away from Nielsen for CNBC. And, he has done incredible work with clients, including, most recently, his role in bringing Citi to the Today Show Concert Series," Yaccarino said in her memo.

Molen will continue to head sales of NBCU's portfolio of lifestyle networks and sites, while taking on Telemundo, which is now running even in primetime with long-time leader Univision.

"Given her past experience at Univision, and her deep connections in the agency and client community, as Telemundo continues its dominance over Univision in prime time, Laura will help make them and the World Cup a smashing success," Yaccarino said of Molen.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.