Comcast Spotlight Announces Expanded Roles for Two Senior Executives
PHILADELPHIA – March 15, 2010 – Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, has announced that two senior executives are taking on expanded roles with the company. Bill Haase has been named Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Kevin Smith has been named Group Vice President, Spotlight Integrated Media Sales.
“Bill and Kevin have worked tirelessly to ensure that Comcast Spotlight leads the industry through innovation and delivers strong financial results,” said Hank Oster, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast Spotlight. “Their commitment to seizing opportunities and meeting challenges has been a key to our success and I’m thrilled that they will be taking on these expanded roles on our team.”
Previously Vice President of Finance, Bill Haase’s responsibilities will include the administration of human resource practices for Comcast Spotlight’s 3,400 employees as well as managing financial operations and reporting. He reports to Charlie Thurston, President of Comcast Spotlight.
Haase joined Comcast Spotlight in February 2002, serving in various roles for the company’s finance organization. He previously worked at Ernst & Young LLP and later served as the Financial Reporting Manager at CDNOW.com. A certified public accountant, Haase graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA.
Kevin Smith most recently was Vice President, Digital Media for Comcast Spotlight. He is responsible for strategically positioning the company’s digital media, advanced advertising and on-demand publishing products and cultivating relationships with top agencies and national advertisers. His role is expanding to include oversight of the company’s online platform and sales efforts spearheaded by Tom Straszewski, Vice President of Interactive Sales. The integration of Spotlight’s digital media teams provides advertisers with a seamless multi-platform, multi-product execution.
Smith joined Comcast Spotlight in 2007 as Vice President, Advertising Sales Development, where he drove the creation of incremental revenue by leading the company’s initiative to maximize opportunities in short- and long-form direct-response advertising. He also oversaw the creation of a centralized remnant inventory management system designed to capture unrealized revenue across all of Spotlight’s advertising products.
Smith formerly was the President of TelAmerica CableConnect and served as Senior Vice President of Cable & PPM Business Development at Arbitron. Previously, he created Mega Advertising, one the first major market interconnects in the U.S., which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Media General, Inc. He is a graduate of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Haase and Smith are both based in Philadelphia.
About Comcast Spotlight
Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, helps put the power of cable to use for local, regional and national advertisers. It is focused on providing multi-platform marketing solutions to reach audiences most effectively and efficiently. Headquartered in New York with offices throughout the country, Comcast Spotlight has a presence in nearly 90 markets with approximately 30 million owned and represented subscribers. Comcast Spotlight is a trademark of Comcast Cable. For more information, visit www.comcastspotlight.com.
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Media Contact:
Chris Ellis
Comcast Spotlight
Tel: 215.286.7771
Chris_Ellis@comcast.com
