WBD Ad Sales Chief Jon Steinlauf Exits

After more than three decades, Jon Steinlauf is exiting Warner Bros. Discovery.

Bruce Campbell, the company’s chief revenue and strategy officer, made the announcement Friday in a note to staff, saying it was the ad sales chief’s choice to leave.

“I have news to share that may come as a surprise to many of you,” Campbell said. “After over 30 years at WBD and its predecessor companies, Discovery, Scripps, and Turner, our Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer Jon Steinlauf has decided to leave Warner Bros. Discovery later this year.”

Steinlauf will stay on in the near term as the company searches for a new ad sales leader.

Steinlauf began at Scripps Networks in 2000, and just three years later, he was running its TV ad sales division. He previously worked in ad sales for TBS and TNT from 1992-2000 and at ESPN from 1985-89.

The ad industry veteran was named chief U.S. advertising sales officer for WBD’s combined company following the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger in 2022, having only five weeks to prepare for the company’s combined upfront week presentation at the time.

“I have had the privilege of representing this great portfolio of brands for the last 32 years—at Turner, Scripps, Discovery, and now at WBD,” Steinlauf said in a statement shared by Campbell. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that David Zaslav, Bruce Campbell, and other leaders have given to me. This is the right time to begin a new chapter both personally and professionally.”

Among his accolades, Steinlauf established the Max ad-supported sales business last year, leading a team that is delivering “double- and triple-digit growth on that platform,” according to Campbell. He also helped integrate sports and digital sales into the One WBD portfolio that’s now offered to agencies and WBD clients.

WBD closed its upfront in August, with CEO David Zaslav announcing strong sports pricing and double-digit volume growth led by increased demand from coverage of March Madness, Major League Baseball, NBA, the NHL, and the Stanley Cup finals. The CEO added that Max’s volume grew by almost 50%.

Like most companies this upfront season, WBD did not reveal specifics on changes in CPMs (cost per thousand viewers reached) or on total volume.

A shifting TV landscape

In an earnings report in August, the company announced a $9.1 billion non-cash impairment charge, or write-down, on its TV linear networks division. WBD is also currently fighting the NBA over media rights, filing a lawsuit against the basketball league over what it called an “unjustified rejection” of the company’s matching rights proposal.

Speaking to ADWEEK following WBD’s upfront presentation in May, Steinlauf noted how the TV industry is changing and that digital would be big moving forward.

“Things have changed, and marketers are saying that if they want to wrap themselves around big IP, they have to look to the streaming universe to find those cultural moments,” Steinlauf said. “Fortunately, between our theatricals and new original series, we have a hot hand right now.”

See Campbell’s full note to staff below:

All, 

I have news to share that may come as a surprise to many of you. After over 30 years at WBD and its predecessor companies, Discovery, Scripps, and Turner, our Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer Jon Steinlauf has decided to leave Warner Bros. Discovery later this year. 

Jon is one of the industry’s most respected and well-known ad sales executives and has had an incredible career here at WBD through the major mergers, transformations, and industry pivots. He’s been a critical part of our leadership at the company, and someone both David and I have come to rely on for many years.

Jon became well known to us in 2018 when Discovery acquired Scripps Networks, where he was Scripps’ president of ad sales, and helped make HGTV and Food Network into some of the strongest brands in television. He then led the combined Scripps-Discovery sales organization, managing one of the most powerful advertising portfolios in all of cable. Jon pulled off a hat trick with the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger by creating the ad sales organization that WBD has today – a cash engine that drives such tremendous value for the company.

Jon also established the Max ad-supported sales business last year and led the team that is now delivering double- and triple-digit growth on that platform. He also integrated sports and digital sales into the broader sales structure to create the One WBD portfolio we now offer to all our agencies and clients.

We are very grateful for all Jon has done for us, and while supportive of his personal desire to seek other directions in his life and career, we will clearly miss him.

Jon asked me to share the following with you:

“I have had the privilege of representing this great portfolio of brands for the last 32 years – at Turner, Scripps, Discovery and now at WBD. I’m grateful for the opportunities that David Zaslav, Bruce Campbell, and other leaders have given to me. This is the right time to begin a new chapter both personally and professionally.

It is incredible to look back at my early years at ESPN, and the birth of cable, to see how the business has grown and transformed. I have had the good fortune to have always worked with, and for, the best companies, brands, and people. And this includes all of you. I couldn’t be prouder and more appreciative of this ad sales team and what we accomplished together in both the prosperous and challenging times”.

Jon will continue in his current role while we begin our search for WBD’s next ad sales leader. So, nothing changes in the near term. And in typical Jon fashion – he’s pushing hard to achieve our sales objectives in this important fourth quarter.

We will take time to honor Jon’s legacy here when the time comes, but for now, please join me in congratulating him on his next chapter.  Bruce