Ad-tech and digital media veteran Lisa Coffey has joined iHeartMedia, the biggest U.S. radio broadcaster and a major podcast producer and distributor, in the newly created role of chief business officer.
In the role Coffey will oversee the development, implementation and revenue from iHeart’s new advanced advertising products and platforms, including programmatic ad solutions for broadcast radio. She also will lead iHeart’s effort to digitize and scale an addressable audio ecosystem. Coffey will dual-report to Bob Pittman, iHeartMedia’s chairman and CEO, and Rich Bressler, iHeart’s president, COO and CFO.
Coffey most recently was global chief revenue officer at LoopMe, a technology company that uses AI to improve brand advertising performance. Prior to LoopMe, she held key leadership positions at Amazon, including head of business development for Amazon Hub and head of agency development, where she founded and led the agency team that introduced Amazon Advertising to the U.S. marketplace.
“We’ve been working to transform our broadcast advertising media to a more digital-like product, including strong data, attribution and targeting capabilities as well as creating new marketing and advertising products,” PIttman said in a statement. “Lisa’s unique skills and experience will enable us to take the critical next step in bringing this to market.”
Coffey commented, “The opportunity to drive innovation that modernizes audio and integrates live audiences into the digital ecosystem, aligned with how brands buy and transact today, is incredibly compelling. And because broadcast radio has three to four times the reach of any streaming audio service, and is over two-thirds of the total daily audio usage by consumers, I look forward to launching a platform that makes those audiences addressable and scalable for the advertising and marketing community.”
iHeartMedia had a footprint of 870 owned radio stations in 160 markets across the U.S. The company claims 90% of Americans listen to iHeart broadcast radio on a monthly basis. In addition, iHeart is the largest U.S. podcast publisher, according to research firm Podtrac, with more downloads than the next two podcast publishers combined.
From Variety US
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