Roku Media Reorg: Alison Levin Upped to Head of Global Revenue, Content Chief David Eilenberg Adds Brand Studio Oversight (EXCLUSIVE)
As he approaches his one-year anniversary as president of Roku Media, Charlie Collier is setting his first restructuring of the company’s leadership team, including naming Alison Levin head of global media revenue, upping Kristina Shepard to vice president of global advertising sales and partnerships, giving head of content David Eilenberg oversight of Roku’s Brand Studio segment and formally naming Joe Franzetta head of sports.
Levin and Eilenberg will continue to report directly to Collier, while Shepard is under Levin and Franzetta is under Eilenberg.
Additionally, Julian Mintz, also a member of Levin’s sales team, has been named senior director of enterprise ad sales. Levin will be looking to fill two additional roles: one overseeing Roku’s global ad marketing and the other leading a newly combined department overseeing supply and demand, pricing, inventory management, revenue ops and publisher partnerships.
Elsewhere, Louqman Parampath will continue to lead ad product management and is aligning his team to have Tommy Burk oversee the partnerships and product teams, while Peter Hamilton takes over on go-to-market ownership of all products and tools through a centralized team.
Rounding out the changes, Aaron Elder has been named vice president of global media operations, with Tom Dodson leading platform ops and reporting to Elder. Roku will now centralize program management teams across media under Elder leadership, as he continues to lead program management for markets outside the U.S.
Separate from these reorg moves made under Collier, current global ad marketing exec Dan Robbins has decided to step down from his role and will be assisting in the transition through November.
“And allow me please to offer the first ‘thank you Dan’ – there will be many,” Collier wrote in his note.
The restructuring at Roku Media comes just ahead of Collier’s one-year mark as president, a tenure that began in a turbulent time for the company and industry at large. Collier’s focus heading into his second year is on Roku Media’s “North Star,” which he says is to “build atop one of the greatest platforms in the world, one of the most strategic, client-focused, modern media and entertainment businesses in the world.”
“I am proud of what we have done together to showcase Roku Media,” Collier said in a memo sent to Roku Media employees announcing the internal changes Tuesday, which was obtained by Variety. “Our clients and partners are benefitting from Roku’s scale, technology, creativity, and differentiation. From successful award-winning programming to Roku’s Primetime Reach Guarantee, which proves our impact in a fragmented marketplace, Roku builds upon its unmatched TV OS advantages, separating us from competitors as the market evolves. In sports, our work continues to build the ultimate content discovery experience for viewers, partners and brands. And, with joy, simplicity, and creativity at the fore, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we’ve opened the doors to viewer-favorite Roku City, bringing our marketing partners with us. You’ll hear more about America’s largest art-installation-meets-brand-opportunity in the weeks ahead.”
In Q2, Roku projected that, excluding restructuring and impairment charges, the company will see Q3 net revenue in the range of $835 million to $875 million, and adjusted EBITDA in the range of negative $40 million to negative $20 million — slightly better than it previously forecast.
Roku made progress in Q2 in keeping a lid on opex growth: Operating expenses in the quarter rose 8%, to $504 million, after a 42% jump in the first quarter of 2023 and a 71% spike in Q4 last year.
Read Collier’s memo to staff in full below.
Roku Media’s North Star is to build atop one of the greatest platforms in the world, one of the most strategic, client-focused, modern media and entertainment businesses in the world.
To achieve this ambitious goal, I am pleased to share some key organizational changes that further position Roku Media for growth. These strategic moves, along with Roku’s unparalleled reach and deep understanding of customers and viewers through direct, logged-on relationships and data from over 73 million active households, make me more confident than ever that Roku is poised for market-leading success:
Alison Levin’s role is expanding to VP, Global Media Revenue. Alison will assume global responsibility for all revenue-driving efforts across the Roku Media business, continuing to report to me. This includes Global Ad Revenue, Revenue Strategy, Marketing, Measurement, ‘Pricing and Planning’ and Client Services, much of which has been part of Alison’s organization and will now report directly to her. During the past almost nine years at the company, Alison has worked tirelessly to establish Roku as a leader in the CTV advertising space. I am so pleased to work with Alison as she continues to lead Roku Media’s revenue unit into the future.
Alison’s sales team will continue to thrive under a new leadership role. I’m excited to share that Kristina Shepard has been elevated to VP, Global Advertising Sales and Partnerships. Kristina will continue to report to Alison and will now lead ad sales efforts across all verticals, both within the U.S. and across Roku’s international footprint. The international organization, which continues to be critical to Roku’s success, is centralizing. This will be addressed in follow-up communications from team leaders in the days ahead, but I would be remiss if I did not thank the global team for their continued leadership, ability to drive results, and their flexibility as Roku continues to grow. In addition, Julian Mintz will take on an expanded role as Sr. Director, Enterprise Ad Sales,leading advertising sales across the Large Customer Sales (LCS), Emerging, and Political teams, reporting to Kristina.
As Alison’s role shifts to compound the value of all revenue efforts across Roku Media, she will be adding roles to her new, global Roku Media Revenue leadership team. The first will oversee Roku’s global Ad Marketing efforts. Huge thanks to Dan Robbins who has decided to move on from Roku and will help aid in this transition through November – see more about Dan’s contribution to Roku’s success in Alison’s email to follow. (And allow me please to offer the first ‘thank you Dan’ – there will be many.) The second role will lead a newly combined organization overseeing supply and demand, pricing, inventory management, revenue operations, and publisher partnerships.
Roku’s platform and product advantages continue to be critical to Roku Media’s success and differentiation. Our Ad Product organization, led by Louqman Parampath,VP, Ad Product Management, will hone Roku’s focus on being the best in Media tech and Media solutions. Louqman is aligning the team to prove that Roku has the best and most accountable media opportunities in the industry. As part of this focus, we are aligning Roku’s internal efforts to ensure a single line of attention to the company’s 3rd party demand channels. Tommy Burk, reporting to Louqman, will oversee the partnerships and product teams in this space. In addition, Peter Hamilton, also reporting to Louqman, will take on go-to-market ownership of all of our products and tools through a centralized team.
Within Content and Programming, I’m excited to announce that Roku’s head of content, David Eilenberg, will assume responsibility for the Roku Brand Studio. This change will align all studio work at Roku (Roku Originals, Roku Studios/This Old House, and the Brand Studio) under Content and further strengthen the bond built in Media between Content, The Roku Channel and Revenue. Additionally, I am delighted to share that Joe Franzetta is now formally taking on the role of head of sports, reporting to David, and continuing to lead our efforts in this critical content vertical.
Operating our Media business at the scale and pace required to win takes strong operational teams and strategic alignment within Media and across Roku. Aaron Elder will take on the role of VP, Global Media Operations. Tom Dodson, leading Platform Operations, will now report to Aaron. Additionally, we will centralize Program Management teams across Media under Aaron’s leadership, with Aaron continuing to lead Program Management for markets outside the U.S.
I am proud of what we have done together to showcase Roku Media. Our clients and partners are benefitting from Roku’s scale, technology, creativity, and differentiation. From successful award-winning programming to Roku’s Primetime Reach Guarantee, which proves our impact in a fragmented marketplace, Roku builds upon its unmatched TV OS advantages, separating us from competitors as the market evolves. In sports, our work continues to build the ultimate content discovery experience for viewers, partners and brands. And, with joy, simplicity, and creativity at the fore, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we’ve opened the doors to viewer-favorite Roku City, bringing our marketing partners with us. You’ll hear more about America’s largest art-installation-meets-brand-opportunity in the weeks ahead.
I am energized by what we have accomplished, and excited about the opportunities ahead. Roku will become more valuable for its clients and partners, providing solutions and partnerships that help build their businesses. I hope you share my enthusiasm about the future, and what this team, and enhanced structure, will accomplish in the months ahead.
I’ll close by repeating something you have heard me say many times because I believe it remains a differentiating, an unduplicated advantage, at scale, for Roku in this larger moment of industry turbulence:
Roku is approaching the moment in television history where half the broadband households in the country will use Roku to stream television. We deliver unmatched scale and impact.
Roku is not in the streaming wars. The streaming wars are playing out on the Roku platform.
We are here to help the market, our partners, advertisers, and the creative community as the day when all television, including advertising, is streamed becomes reality. Literally and figuratively, this transition will happen on Roku.
Together with the Roku Media team, I look forward to building upon our many shared successes and capitalizing on the many unique Roku advantages.
In a moment, Alison, Louqman, David and Aaron will be sharing additional details regarding their individual teams.
To great success,
Charlie
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