Observed Signal · Mar 2, 2026 · Hiring · Source: Adweek · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Paramount Boosts Ad Team with Amazon Sports Execs
Paramount has hired Danielle Carney, formerly Amazon Ads’ head of live sports and video sales, as its new head of U.S. ad sales and added Chris Brady, ex-president of Tribeca Enterprises, as EVP of Paramount Media Labs. The hires are effective March 9 and both report to Paramount ads leader Jay Askinasi, who is now the company’s CRO. Carney spent more than four years at Amazon and played a role in Prime Video’s sports strategy, including Thursday Night Football and the company’s NBA and WNBA offerings. The moves come as Paramount prepares for the upfront and while it pursues an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that ad experts say could change scale and negotiating dynamics for TV advertising.
Senior hires at a major media owner ahead of the upfront — combined with Paramount's pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery — signal a strategic push to strengthen ad-sales, sports inventory monetization, and market negotiating power, with moderate industry impact.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Paramount hired Danielle Carney as head of U.S. ad sales, effective March 9.
- Paramount hired Chris Brady as EVP of Paramount Media Labs, effective March 9.
- Both Carney and Brady will report to Jay Askinasi, Paramount’s CRO and ads leader.
- Danielle Carney was Amazon Ads’ head of live sports and video sales and worked on Prime Video sports initiatives including Thursday Night Football, NBA and WNBA offerings.
- Paramount is pursuing an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery after submitting a $31-per-share bid, a deal that could increase scale and negotiating power in the upfront market.
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Paramount Hires Amazon Ad Vet Danielle Carney
Paramount has hired Danielle Carney, formerly Amazon’s head of sports ad sales, to lead its U.S. sales division as the company positions its advertising business ahead of a planned merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The move is one of the first major sales-team hires by Paramount’s new chief revenue officer, Jay Askinasi, who also appointed Chris Brady (formerly of Tribeca Enterprises) as EVP of a newly formed Paramount Media Labs; both will report to Askinasi. Carney brings experience building Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” package plus prior roles at Disney and ESPN, reflecting Paramount’s focus on strengthening sports and streaming ad monetization as it competes with large digital platforms for ad dollars.
Paramount Hires Streaming Executives to Run Broadcast Business
Paramount has recruited streaming executives to revamp its broadcast advertising business. Jay Askinasi, a former Publicis buyer who argued for buying streaming like digital while at Roku, was hired as Paramount’s Chief Revenue Officer and has introduced a “streaming fixed unit” — a guaranteed premium ad position for the first seven days after an episode debuts. His first external hire was Danielle Carney, who previously ran sports ad sales at Amazon Prime Video. The article frames these hires and the product as responses to buyer demand for predictability after TV ad revenue declines; it also situates Paramount’s move within a broader industry pattern where linear and streaming monetization and distribution are converging, citing examples from Charter, Versant, and Scripps.
Paramount’s Upfront Focus: Streaming, Programmatic, Live Sports
Paramount used intimate client dinners rather than a traditional upfront presentation while rolling out several product announcements aimed at streaming, programmatic buying and live-sports advertising. The company plans to fully merge the ad‑tech stacks behind Paramount+ and Pluto TV over the summer to centralize viewing and identity data. Paramount is launching a new ad performance product called Precision+ that matches Paramount audience data with advertisers’ first‑party data and will add a conversion API. It is promoting “streaming fixed units,” which let advertisers reserve specific pod positions in episodes (including live sports), and expanding dynamic ad insertion (DAI) capabilities—already used in UFC events—to other marquee sports within the CBS Sports digital portfolio this fall. Paramount frames these moves as part of post‑merger integration following the Paramount Global–Skydance Media deal.
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