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Charlie Collier, Roku’s president of media, has made his two biggest hires since joining the connected TV company in 2022.
Current CEO of Publicis Media’s PMX U.S., Jay Askinasi, will join Roku in an executive role, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to ADWEEK. In addition, Roku has hired Christine Hong as its new global head of media revenue operations.
Contrary to other reports, Askinasi’s appointment is not a replacement for Alison Levin, Roku’s former head of advertising, who departed last year for NBCUniversal.
Instead, Askinasi will serve as global head of media revenue and growth, a new role larger than the ad sales chief vacancy left by Levine. Askinasi will report to Collier.
Prior to joining Roku, the executive spent more than three years at ad giant Publicis’ media investment division PMX, overseeing media buying and trading.
Askinasi also had a brief stint at then-WarnerMedia as svp of advertising and spent nearly two years at AT&T’s Xandr (prior to the Microsoft acquisition) as head of agency and platform partnerships.
Meanwhile, Hong spent five years at Hulu and nearly three years with The Walt Disney Company, where she handled revenue management and ad operations for the company’s platforms.
Kristina Shepard, Roku’s vp of global advertising sales and partnerships, will report to Askinasi, as will Courtney Kundtz, John Taveras and Jordan Rost.
The hires come ahead of the 2024 TV upfronts and NewFronts. In 2023, Roku touted the strength of its popular home screen Roku City, which last year added partners like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, as well as shoppable experiences, commerce partnerships, and Roku Originals.
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