Welcome to Career Moves, StreamTV Insider’s roundup of hirings, promotions and exits throughout the TV entertainment and advertising industry.
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It’s a busy week for the C-suite, with several companies announcing new executive hires and promotions, including measurement vendor competitors iSpot and VideoAmp as well as Nielsen-owned metadata provider Gracenote.
In announcing the appointments, all three companies indicated changes come as the providers seek to better serve needs of a media industry that’s rapidly evolving and poised for significant changes, including through the use of new technologies.
Also elevating their C-suite this week is research firm MarketCast.
See below for the latest career moves.
Gracenote
Nielsen-owned Gracenote has hired Ryan Moore to the newly created role of Chief Business Officer, effective July. Moore will lead all go-to-market activities, meant to drive growth and capture both near- and long-term opportunities in the space. He’s charged with overseeing Gracenote’s global sales, marketing and customer and partnership experience teams, while also aligning with global product, engineering and content organizations.
Prior to Gracenote, Moore was most recently at Epic Games subsidiary and kidtech platform SuperAwesome, where he served as global chief revenue officer. Prior to that he was head of Advertising Strategy & Solutions at mobile streaming company Quibi, where he built go-to-market functions, tools and systems, along with onboarding high-profile pre-launch partners. Moore also spent six years at Twitter. There he served as global director of video solutions and roles for global agency business development, with experience that includes leading the team responsible for video product revenue.
“The media industry is on the cusp of a major transformation driven by AI,” said Jared Grusd, CEO of Gracenote (who took the helm in the newly created CEO role last year) in a statement. “Ryan’s proven track record building world-class go-to-market motions and scaling through innovative technologies makes him an invaluable asset as Gracenote continues to evolve its content solutions and empower clients to thrive in a rapidly changing industry."
iSpot
Measurement company iSpot tapped Craig Ziegler as its new Chief Product Officer, bringing 25 years of product leadership experience, including expertise in AI and machine learning applications.
Ziegler joins iSpot from Integral Ad Science (IAS), where he served as SVP of Product for six years and played a key role in helping to scale the company’s revenue in the run up to its 2021 IPO. Before IAS, Ziegler had leadership positions focused on programmatic at media agency Omnicom Media Group, as well as roles at digital company Legacy.com and Tribune Media.
And iSpot plans to leverage his product leadership experience for companies at the intersection of advertising, technology and data, as Ziegler is tasked to help and redefine the vendor’s measurement products across creative, audience and outcomes in a way “that will help clients increase ad effectiveness across all video channels.”
“The media landscape is increasingly complex. Marketers need products and solutions that efficiently help them achieve their business objectives and iSpot has those products. I’m incredibly excited to join iSpot and contribute to a company that is at the forefront of innovation in TV and digital video," said Ziegler in a statement. "I look forward to leveraging my experience to help iSpot refine its product architecture and taxonomy in a manner that ultimately helps benefit our clients and the industry as a whole.”
VideoAmp
Rival measurement VideoAmp, meanwhile, officially has a new CEO – appointing Peter Liguori to the role.
Liguori had already been at the helm of VideoAmp as executive chairman since January 2024 when founder and long-time CEO Ross McCray stepped down.
Liguori has been in the executive chairman role since 2023 and a member of VideoAmp’s board since 2020. His extensive media and entertainment experience includes former roles as CEO of Tribune Media, COO of Discovery Communications, Chairman of Fox Entertainment and CEO of FX.
And now Liguori as CEO will officially steward VideoAmp “into its next chapter as it scales adoption of its big data-led media optimization solutions and doubles down on innovation, automation and customer success,” the announcement stated.
That’s not the only C-suite change for VideoAmp this week, with a trio of additional leadership updates announced Thursday.
- Dustin Jackson is joining VideoAmp as Chief Technology Officer, where he’ll advance the vendor’s innovation engine and support platform scalability. Jackson was formerly SVP of Engineering at Celonis and VP of Engineering at Google, leading ad planning and customer engagement.
- Megan Opp has joined as Chief People Officer, leading talent, culture and organizational development.
- Bryan Goski has been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer.
- Sharon Lee has been promoted to Chief Legal Officer.
“These appointments are not just about leadership changes; they signal that VideoAmp is doubling down on delivering the industry’s most trustworthy, high-fidelity data, cutting-edge innovation, and, above all, client success,” said Liguori in a statement. “We’re building a company to meet the moment during a pivotal time in the industry that demands proven, in-market big data expertise, AI-fueled efficiency and a relentless focus on innovation. Our approach gives clients the stability, affordability and flexibility they need to navigate and lead in this evolving landscape.”
MarketCast
Market research and analytics firm MarketCast promoted Co-President Amy Fenton to CEO, effective immediately.
With over 30 years of experience, MarketCast said the decision “comes at a pivotal moment for the industry, as media fragmentation accelerates and brands face growing pressure to use real-time, predictive data to optimize campaigns and drive measurable sales outcomes.”
Before joining MarketCast nearly three years ago, Fenton held senior leadership roles at firms including Nielsen, Ipsos and Kantar.
"We are confident that Amy will be a tremendous leader for our clients and employees alike," said Ahmed Wahla, partner with Kohlberg, MarketCast’s lead financial investor, in a statement. "With a focus on product modernization through AI and data science, client-centric commercial focus, and talent development, Amy’s leadership best positions MarketCast for the future to arm our clients with real time predictive data driving marketing ROI for their enterprise."