The streaming and smart-TV company Roku is set to announce that it has hired Jay Askinasi, a senior exec at the ad giant Publicis Groupe, to lead its global media revenue business, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Askinasi would fill the role left vacant by Alison Levin, who left the streamer in November to join NBCUniversal as president of its ad-sales unit. The role would report to Charlie Collier, Roku Media’s president.
Askinasi most recently worked as the CEO of PMX US, the division that handles media buying and trading.
Askinasi and Roku didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Publicis Groupe confirmed Askinasi’s latest job title at the company and didn’t provide further comment.
A former colleague of Askinasi’s said he had the perfect background for the Roku role, with his experience across adtech and deep understanding of large customers.
“He is very operational and growth-minded,” the former colleague said.
Askinasi briefly served as senior vice president of advertising at WarnerMedia in 2020. Before that, he held roles responsible for liaising with agencies and platforms at the AT&T-owned Xandr adtech unit (before Microsoft bought Xandr in 2021) and sales leadership roles at the adtech companies Undertone and RUN.
Roku faces more competition than ever in the ad-supported streaming market. Amazon Prime Video this month brought ads to the service, while Netflix recently said its advertising tier had more than 23 million global monthly active users.
Roku in November said it had seen a “solid rebound” in video ad revenue in its third quarter, with revenue in its platform business — which also includes content distribution — up 18% year over year, to $787 million. Roku is expected to report its fourth-quarter earnings in February, though the company said in November it was cautious about its outlook amid an “uneven ad market recovery.”
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