Linda Yaccarino is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales/ Marketing and Acquisitions. In this capacity, she is responsible for all ad sales, sales marketing and program acquisition efforts for Turner’s leading entertainment television networks TNT, TBS and truTV, as well as Turner’s Atlanta broadcast station, Peachtree TV.
Recognized by peers as one of the industry’s most strategic leaders, Yaccarino oversees a team of accomplished and creative executives who have developed some of the most groundbreaking deals and advertising partnerships in recent years. In addition to creating several high-profile marketing deals around the anticipated launch of the new Conan late night show on TBS this November, the ad sales team is expanding on TVinContext with inContext, a sophisticated portfolio of contextually relevant advertising opportunities. The initiative includes the examination and cataloging of thousands of scenes from Turner’s vast library of films and TV series, plus the custom matching of advertising content to place spots adjacent to relevant scenes. As head of acquisitions for Turner Entertainment, Linda also oversaw several key deals this past year, including the much talked about acquisition of “The Big Bang Theory,” network television’s number one comedy series among Adults 18–49 and Adults 25–54, coming to TBS in fall 2011.
Yaccarino is consistently a part of influential industry panels, including this past year’s Mediapost Oufront Conference and two panels this fall: the WICT (Women in Cable Television) Leadership Conference in September and the Variety Entertainment and Tech Summit in October. Past recognitions include the TV Week “Top 25 Women in Television;” Advertising Age “Women to Watch;” CableFax Magazine “Top Women in Cable;” Broadcasting & Cable’s annual list of top female industry talent; a Promax “Brand Builder” award, “Advertising Working Mother of the Year” award presented by AWNY (Advertising Women of New York), in conjunction with Working Mother Magazine; the Association of Women in Radio & Television (AWRT) “Women Who Rule in Sales and Marketing”; and Multichannel News “Wonder Women.” Under her leadership, she and select team members have been recognized with several marketing and promotions awards, including a grand prize honor from the Jack Myers Creativity and Innovation Awards in 2007.
In addition, her community and professional affiliations include active involvement with WICT (Women in Cable & Telecommunications); Penn State University, where she is on the Board at the School of Communications; Young Audiences of New York (YANY), where she is on the board; and the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS), where she also serves on the board. She extends her involvement to ACLD (Adults & Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities), who honored her in 2007 with a “Strategic Planner Award.”
Yaccarino joined Turner Broadcasting in 1993 as a member of the former Turner syndication division. In 1996, she served as vice president of sales for CNBC and then returned to Turner in 1997. She was named vice president and sales manager for Turner Entertainment Sales in 1997, and then upped to senior vice president in 1999.
Before joining Turner, she spent five years at Select Media Communications where, as vice president, Advertising and Program Sales, she managed their national advertising and program sales divisions.
Yaccarino is a graduate of Penn State University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in telecommunications. She lives in Sea Cliff, New York, with her husband Claude and children Matthew and Christian.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
