YouTube is making a significant reorganization to its product teams, with veteran exec Christian Oestlien taking the reins of a newly created group housing all of the video giant’s subscription products.
Oestlien, previously VP of product management, is now VP of YouTube’s Subscriptions Products, reporting directly to CEO Neal Mohan. Oestlien will oversee YouTube TV, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, as well as podcasts, commerce and YouTube Primetime Channels.
In his previous role, Oestlien had overseen product management for YouTube TV, connected TV, sports and infrastructure. Adam Smith, who left YouTube last year to join Disney, had been the platform’s VP of product management in charge of Music and Premium.
YouTube’s subscriptions business includes more than 125 million YouTube Music and Premium customers, while YouTube TV is estimated to have more than 10 million subscribers, making it the top U.S. internet pay-TV service.
Oestlien, in a statement provided to Variety, said: “We have an incredible opportunity across music, podcasts, media, sports and TV. Bringing these successful businesses together, alongside the ads-supported products that super-serve our users, will enable us to move even faster, learn from each other’s successes, and scale resources. It’s a privilege to lead this team, and I believe that together we can create a unified vision that delivers even more value to our users and partners.”
Oestlien joined YouTube in 2015 from Twitter, where he had been VP of product management. Prior to that, he spent seven years at Google in different product management roles, and earlier worked in product management at Yahoo.
In another change, Johanna Voolich, formerly YouTube’s chief product officer, will now lead the newly created Viewer Products group as VP (also reporting to Mohan). The Viewer Products team will focus on the viewer experience, encompassing the YouTube main app, living room, search and discovery, YouTube Kids, learning, infrastructure, and trust and safety.
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In addition, YouTube is creating a third separate product organization, called Creator & Community Products. This group will focus on supporting creators of all sizes, driving creation through generative AI tools, YouTube Shorts and YouTube Live, and building community across the platform. Currently YouTube has separate leads for Creator Products (Amjad Hanif) and Emerging Experiences & Community Products (Toni Reid); those teams will be merged into one organization and YouTube is in the process of hiring a new lead for the combined team who will report to Mohan.
From Variety US