Longtime Ad Executive David Lawenda to Exit Paramount

Ad sales veteran David Lawenda, who served as chief digital advertising officer at Paramount, is leaving after a collective 21 years at the company. In a memo to staff today, Paramount ad sales chief John Halley noted that Lawenda will stay on through September in a transitional role.

Lawenda is one of several long-term ad execs to leave Paramount recently, including Jo Ann Ross, former chairman of Paramount Advertising, who exited in April ahead of the TV upfront, and former CBS Sports ad sales boss John Bogusz, who announced his retirement in March.

The moves come at a tumultuous time for Paramount, as the company has been in the news amid recent M&A rumors, including a deal with Skydance Media that reportedly fell apart. The company’s former CEO, Bob Bakish, also exited in late April.

Lawenda joined the company (then Viacom) in 1994, with Halley’s memo noting that the executive spearheaded “lucrative launches in both broadcast and cable during his first tour, including standing up the UPN broadcast network and launching Spike TV as its first head of sales.”

Later, after more than five years of serving as president of sales and marketing for Univision, Lawenda joined CBS in 2017 as head of digital sales and strategy for entertainment, news and sports, as well as CNET Media Group. Lawenda was also “instrumental” in repositioning CBS All Access as Paramount+, Halley wrote.

“Beyond his business accomplishments, David is perhaps best known for prioritizing and championing people and culture in equal measure,” Halley wrote in the memo. “An authentic, empathetic and inspiring leader, he has steadily invested in coaching for his teams to help them reach their full potential and has mentored and encouraged so many within our ranks.”

More news to come

In a recent shareholder meeting, Paramount’s Office of the CEO, which includes CBS CEO George Cheeks, Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy and Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins, presented a shared vision for the company that could include $500 million in cost savings.

Halley’s memo didn’t address any immediate cuts or cost savings; however, the ad sales chief wrote, “We will be sharing more on refinements in the reporting structure in due time.”

“Suffice to say, through our ongoing investment in streaming advertising capabilities, we will continue to innovate on behalf of our clients and grow our multi-billion-dollar digital ad business under this exceptional team,” Halley wrote.

Despite the shakeups behind the scenes, buyers recently told ADWEEK that they enjoyed Paramount’s more intimate upfront events. In May, Halley told ADWEEK that potential mergers were more of a “background topic” in upfront talks, which were business as usual.

“We do have an amazing story to tell,” Halley told ADWEEK. “And that’s what our partners and clients want to hear from us.”

See Halley’s full memo below:

Team,

After 21 collective years at Paramount over two tenures, David Lawenda has decided to leave his role as Chief Digital Advertising Officer. He will stay on through the end of September in a transitionary role to help facilitate the future state of our market-leading digital sales organization.

A consummate change agent, David has driven growth and transformation for Paramount through roles spanning every side of the proverbial sales desk – from broadcast to cable to digital and beyond, and his contributions to Paramount will have a lasting impact for many years to come.

David joined Viacom in 1994, spearheading lucrative launches in both broadcast and cable during his first tour, including standing up the UPN broadcast network and launching Spike TV as its first Head of Sales. After a decade shepherding change as President of Sales and Marketing for Univision and driving billions in growth managing the U.S. business for Facebook and Instagram, David joined CBS in 2017 to head Digital Sales & Strategy for Entertainment, News and Sports as well as the CNET Media Group, streamlining the CBSi offering for clients. 

Post-merger, David was instrumental in repositioning CBS All Access as Paramount+ for our advertising partners and creating and introducing EyeQ, offering clients a single point of entry to our scaled streaming portfolio. Under his stewardship, Paramount’s streaming business has consistently exceeded revenue goals, significantly outperforming the market and growing to a must-buy global advertising platform that reaches 100M+ unique full-episode viewers monthly.

Beyond his business accomplishments, David is perhaps best known for prioritizing and championing people and culture in equal measure. An authentic, empathetic, and inspiring leader, he has steadily invested in coaching for his teams to help them reach their full potential and has mentored and encouraged so many within our ranks. David has also been a driving force in the creation of our Paramount Jewish Culture and Community Interest Group. 

Today, Paramount streaming represents almost 50% of our total annual advertising revenue, excluding live sports. It is the linchpin to our go-to-market offering. As the digital team has matured broadly, I have full confidence in our leadership, who continue to outpace the industry in creativity, strategy and execution. We will be sharing more on refinements in the reporting structure in due time. Suffice to say, through our ongoing investment in streaming advertising capabilities, we will continue to innovate on behalf of our clients and grow our multi-billion-dollar digital ad business under this exceptional team. 

On a personal note, I will miss David’s strength, optimism, and steady hand, which have helped me greatly throughout our organizational journey together. Please join me in thanking him and wishing him all the best in his future endeavors.

John