Nexstar Digital, the digital division of Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), that it has named veteran marketing executive Dennis Cook as Senior Vice President of Sales Marketing. Mr. Cook will oversee the digital division’s go-to-market strategy and all revenue-driving ad sales marketing initiatives in support of the advertising sales business. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Cook will assume his new duties immediately, and report to Lori Tavoularis, Chief Revenue Officer at Nexstar Digital. Nexstar Digital, the seventh-largest news and information digital property in the U.S. with over 133 million monthly unique visitors, prides itself on producing premium local and national news content that delivers highly engaged and valuable audiences to advertisers.
A marketing and media industry veteran, Cook has held leadership roles in consumer marketing, affiliate distribution, and ad sales marketing at Sony Pictures Television, The Walt Disney Company, CBS Television, Showtime, and ESPN. Throughout his 20+ years in broadcasting, cable, syndication and digital media, Mr. Cook has consistently demonstrated his ability to launch and grow new businesses and brands – driving ratings, revenue, and profitability.
Mr. Cook joins Nexstar Digital from Gamut, a Cox Media Group company, where he led all marketing, communications, creative services, and insights teams focused on driving streaming ad sales revenue. During his tenure at Gamut, brand awareness grew 174%, website traffic grew 249%, and revenue increased 152%. Under his leadership, Gamut also won the Broadcasting & Cable Advanced Advertising Innovation Award, the Digiday Video & TV Award, and he was named to the Cynopsis Digital “It List”.
Prior to Gamut, Mr. Cook spent six years at Sony Pictures Television where he oversaw ad sales marketing for off-network and first run syndicated television programming including “Seinfeld,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy,” and “The Dr. Oz Show.” He also led sales marketing for the streaming media platform Crackle and gaming property PlayStation. Before Mr. Cook’s time at Sony Pictures Television, he led ad sales marketing efforts at The Walt Disney Company’s radio divisions, including ABC Radio Networks and ESPN Radio. In this role, he built custom client solutions connecting top advertisers with the company’s 150 million weekly listeners across 4,500 affiliate stations.
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“Dennis is a best-in-class marketer and brings deep expertise and knowledge of the digital, streaming, and television media landscape,” said Ms. Tavoularis. “He is a proven brand builder, revenue generator, and leader, and will be instrumental in driving sales for the company as he takes our full cross-platform suite of capabilities to market and delivers meaningful business outcomes for our advertising clients.”
“I am honored and excited to join Lori and the entire Nexstar Digital team at this extraordinary time of growth in the digital and streaming advertising marketplace,” said Mr. Cook. “As the #1 local broadcaster in the U.S., Nexstar leads the industry with their national reach, local expertise, and data-driven audience targeting capabilities. I look forward to working with this talented team to deliver results for our advertising clients by providing not only the best solutions, but the best service in the industry.”
Mr. Cook is an active participant in media-industry related organizations including the IAB Advanced TV & Digital Video Committee, the Advertising Research Foundation Board of Curators, and the Forbes Agency Council, where he is an Official Member and shares his industry expertise on expert panels. He also has been a guest speaker at numerous industry conferences including MediaPost’s OMMA Global and the Brand Innovators Trade Marketing Summit.
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content, including 283,000 hours of original video content each year