Linda Yaccarino hails from an Italian-American family, yet her entrepreneurial approach enabled her to carve out a successful career within large media conglomerates while diversifying revenue streams, adopting new metrics, and improving viewer experiences.
linda yaccarino wiki led her team at NBCUniversal to generate over $100 billion in ad sales during her tenure, and successfully created partnerships with companies like YouTube, Apple and Snapchat.
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal is one of the world’s premier media and entertainment companies, operating news and entertainment television networks, major motion picture studios, television stations groups, as well as world-class theme parks.
NBCUniversal has long been recognized as a home to some iconic series. These include situation comedies such as Cheers and Seinfeld as well as dramas like Law & Order and ER.
NBCUniversal Formats oversees the creation, production and distribution of non-scripted and scripted formats. Their portfolio of programming includes global hit Top Chef; reality series Hollywood Game Night and The Real Housewives; comedy shows Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show; scripted shows Suits, Manifest and The Good Place as well as ownership stakes in USA Network Cloo and StudioCanal.
X Corp.
Since being purchased by Elon Musk last year, Twitter has been plagued with reports that its advertisements appear alongside hate speech and violent content, prompting major brands to cease spending on the platform altogether. Yaccarino, former global advertising chief for CNBC parent NBCUniversal has been working to repair relationships between Twitter and advertisers.
She shared with CNBC’s Sara Eisen that she has spoken with marketers and CEOs from companies like Coca-Cola, State Farm and Visa; many have returned to advertising on X.
She explained that X intends to become an all-encompassing app, featuring payment processing and video calls without needing a phone number. Furthermore, she stated that she is given operational autonomy from Musk but will still consult on products and long-term strategy.
Peacock
Peacock, owned and powered by Comcast and featuring content from NBCUniversal, is an upstart player in the streaming world. Offering classic and current shows as well as movies. Furthermore, there are live sports events and news events.
Peacock offers three tiers, starting with its free and ad-supported base plan that also offers downloadable content and does not support profiles that would allow different household members to have separate viewing preferences. Peacock does offer originals but not as many titles than other services and only has limited Spanish language titles compared with its competitors. Peacocks’ train and plumage have long been seen as symbols of pride and vanity displayed during mating rituals in order to impress females and assert dominance over one another.
Advertising Council
The Advertising Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to tackling America’s most pressing social issues through public service campaigns. Their operations encompass public service ads on key topics like AIDS prevention, diversity and inclusion, Alzheimer’s awareness, drug abuse prevention, driving under the influence and disaster preparedness. Their operations are supported by advertising industry members who volunteer pro bono creative work while contributing $1.5 billion annually in free media space donations.
Yaccarino will face an immense challenge as she takes over Twitter’s struggling ad business, which has struggled to recover its advertising business. A veteran media executive, she is known for being fierce yet pragmatic when making tough decisions – while still prioritizing family values. Additionally, she must balance this new responsibility alongside her current duties at NBCUniversal where she serves as Chairman of Global Advertising & Partnerships.
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization committed to improving global prosperity through public-private cooperation. Established in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva Switzerland since 1977, WEF operates independently from governments and businesses and follows stakeholder capitalism principles which hold that companies should maximize value creation for employees, society and the environment alike.
The WEF has long been at the center of controversy, particularly during its advocacy of globalization during the late 90s when antiglobalization activism emerged and generated unfounded conspiracy theories.
Yaccarino has championed change within the advertising industry on multiple fronts, advocating for reduced Nielsen ratings dependency and creating Peacock, NBCU’s ad-supported streaming service. She serves as chairperson of WEF’s Taskforce on Future of Work.