Integrated Team Led by Tim Castelli Will Focus on Helping Advertisers Reach and Motivate Consumers in Powerful New Ways by Leveraging Clear Channel's Unmatched Range of Media and Entertainment Assets
Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, the leading media company in America with a greater reach in the U.S. than any other radio or television outlet, today announced it has created a new, unified marketing and sales group to more aggressively pursue national multi-platform marketing initiatives that meet advertisers' need to reach – and engage – consumers in powerful new ways. Leading these efforts will be Tim Castelli, who has been promoted to President of National Sales, Marketing and Partnerships.
This move by Clear Channel is another step forward in its transformation to a fully realized media and entertainment company with an unmatched range of leading media assets. In his new, expanded role, Castelli, previously Executive Vice President of Digital Sales and one of the industry's top digital media sales executives, will oversee and ensure the close integration of the national sales and partnership operations for the key Clear Channel National Platform divisions, including Digital, Strategic Partnerships, Clear Channel Connections, Clear Channel Radio sales and Premiere Radio Networks sales. Castelli will report to John Hogan, Chairman and CEO of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.
Clear Channel also named Condé Nast's Holly Lang as Senior Vice President, Marketing Solutions. In this newly created role, Lang will be responsible for conceiving and implementing innovative marketing programs for national advertisers, with a special focus on consumer brands. In addition, Chris Monteleone, formerly Vice President of Partner Strategy at Madison Square Garden, has been named Senior Vice President, Event Sponsorship Sales and Development. In this new position, he will be responsible for working to help national marketers reach the extraordinarily loyal and motivated audiences at Clear Channel's incredibly popular national entertainment events, like the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party: Fontainebleau Miami Beach and the historic iHeartRadio Music Festival as well as iconic local events such as Z100's Jingle Ball and KIIS FM's Wango Tango.
"With these moves, we will have a real dream team in place to create and execute uniquely powerful multi-platform solutions for our advertising partners," said Mr. Hogan. "This is an entirely new way to leverage the unmatched national reach with local engagement capabilities of Clear Channel Radio Sales, Strategic Partnerships, Clear Channel Connections, Digital, event sponsorships and Premiere Radio Networks Sales supported by innovative programs and world class custom marketing insights."
"When we brought Tim on board a short time ago, we immediately recognized his potential to supercharge our marketing and partnership efforts across the board," Mr. Hogan continued. "He's an effective, dynamic builder and leader of teams, and his creativity, innovation and experience will help our entire sales organization reach new levels of success. Expanding Tim's leadership to include these additional complementary resources will enable us to capitalize even further on our unmatched reach, unique assets and powerful relationships so we can continue to deliver extraordinary value to advertising partners."
Hogan added, "Tim will build on the success and infrastructure of Clear Channel's most innovative and ground-breaking marketing initiatives – like those with Madonna, Zynga, Lady Gaga, American Express, Relativity Media, Facebook, Microsoft's Xbox 360and The Voice – that underscore our ability to generate attention and action from consumers nationwide and deliver results quickly and cost-effectively. We also look forward to having Holly and Chris add their expertise to the team as we build on this momentum by creating and implementing new, powerful and innovative marketing products and programs for national and local advertisers."
Castelli said: "One of Clear Channel's key priorities is to continue to deliver creative marketing programs that connect our advertising partners with their most important audiences in powerful ways. With an unparalleled national reach of 237 million people, we can do things no one else can. I look forward to extending the successful efforts pioneered by our team under the leadership of John Hogan and Bob Pittman."
In his expanded role, Castelli will oversee sales, marketing and partnership operations for the company's key National Platform divisions, including:
· Clear Channel Digital, which directs the implementation of the company's digital strategy, including iHeartRadio, the Company's industry-leading digital radio service. Castelli will soon name a head of Digital sales efforts for the company.
· Strategic Partnerships and Clear Channel Connections, led respectively by Michele Laven and Greg Glenday and focused on expanding alliances with key national distribution and content partners as well as creating and developing compelling integrated advertising and marketing campaigns across all of Clear Channel's platforms using the company's unique collection of media assets to develop comprehensive, integrated relationships with leading national advertisers.
· Clear Channel Radio Sales and Premiere Networks Sales which are respectively Clear Channel Media and Entertainment's dedicated national sales representation team and the dedicated network radio sales team with opportunities in 90 syndicated radio programs and services to more than 5,000 radio affiliates.
Clear Channel also announced that Charlie Rahilly, President, National Advertiser Platforms, has decided to leave the Company to focus on new projects. "Charlie has been a valuable leader for Clear Channel for more than 20 years, and he has contributed much to our success," said Mr. Hogan. "He's told us he's eager to begin a new, entrepreneurial chapter in his career. We're grateful for his leadership and many contributions, and wish him the best in his new endeavors."
Kevin Dorsey, previously President of Traffic, Navigation and Mobility, will expand his role and now oversee the operations of Katz Media Group and Premiere Radio Networks affiliate sales as President of National Media Groups. Katz is the leading media representation company in the U.S. and represents nearly 4,000 radio stations, 700 television and digital multicast stations and more than 4,000 online publishers across audio, video, display email and mobile channels, and Premiere is a leading player in the network space with 90 programs and more than 5,000 radio station affiliates.
