Nielsen’s metadata unit Gracenote this week named former Snapchat executive Jared Grusd as chief executive officer, making him the first in what’s a newly created role at the company.
Grusd stepped into the new CEO role effective July 8, reporting directly to Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao (who took helm of the measurement giant last September)
Previously the Gracenote unit was led by general manager Sujit Das Munshi, who in turn has been appointed to chief operating officer – another new C-level position at the Nielsen-owned vendor. Das Munshi will report to Grusd. As COO, Das Munshi will continue to help oversee the company’s growth objectives and driving operational excellence.
“I’m honored to join Nielsen and build on the tremendous innovation and growth that Gracenote has achieved under Sujit’s strong vision and strategy,” said Grusd in a statement. “This is an exciting time as our industry embraces advanced technologies and we look for new ways of working with clients and increasing the value we bring to market. I’m excited to help define the next chapter of Gracenote.”
As for Grusd, he is a long-time technology executive, counting roles as chief strategy officer, most recently at Chime and before that Snapchat. He previously served as CEO of Huffington Post and SVP of News & Information for the Verizon Media Group. Prior to Verizon, Grusd spent four years at streaming music giant Spotify as general counsel and global head of corporate development. Earlier in his career, Grusd was chief strategy & business development officer AOL and has also held senior roles at Google. Most recently, in 2021, he co-founded Ethiqly, a venture-backed education technology company with a focus on AI.
In announcing the hire, Nielsen said Grusd will lead Gracenote to continue accelerated growth and drive product development. This is as parent Nielsen keeps pursuing its convergent TV strategy – one where Rao, in a statement, categorized Gracenote as a “critical part” as Nielsen looks to expand in streaming and lead in convergent TV media measurement.
“Jared’s background and passion for transforming businesses to improve society is aligned with our future and I’m grateful for his partnership as we transform our industry together,” Rao stated.
Nielsen acquired Gracenote in 2017 and the appointment of a Grusd as a new CEO and the addition of C-suite roles underscores the company’s optimism around the unit – where content metadata has become increasingly key in the world of streaming.
Gracenote metadata already helps underpin search and discovery features – including with new products, such as three streaming video program availability dataset catalogs introduced earlier this year to help platform and service providers enhance their user experience by making it easier to search, find and access content wherever it lives. Content metadata is also key for analytics and newer tactics like contextual advertising on CTV. And while already a metadata partner to major streamers, Gracenote has also expanded its products and services to smaller players in the U.S. like with its FAST metadata and distribution services.