ABOUT EPISODE

On this episode of The What's Next Podcast, Karim speaks with Donna Speciale about her background and passion for the media landscape. Donna is the President of U.S. Advertising Sales and Marketing, TelevisaUnivision.

ABOUT DONNA SPECIALE

As President of U.S. Advertising Sales and Marketing at TelevisaUnivision, the world’s leading Spanish-language media and content company, Donna Speciale leads advertising sales and marketing across the company's portfolio of broadcast, cable, digital, audio and live event platforms in the U.S. – including its renowned entertainment, news and sports properties as well as its ad-supported streaming service, ViX. Since joining the company in January 2021, Speciale has transformed and modernized TelevisaUnivision’s U.S. ad sales business to deliver record ad revenue growth.

An industry trailblazer, Speciale has extensive knowledge of sales optimization spanning over two decades. Prior to this role, she served as President of Advertising Sales at WarnerMedia where she oversaw advertising revenue for the company’s domestic entertainment, news and kids multimedia brands. During her tenure, Speciale played a critical role in the groundbreaking launch of OpenAP, the first open platform for TV advertisers to reach audiences across publishers. Before WarnerMedia, she was President of Investment, Activation and Agency operations at MediaVest Worldwide, overseeing the agency’s integrated digital, broadcast, print, and out-of-home practice. Speciale also held senior roles at WPP's Mediacom earlier in her career.

Speciale has been recognized with numerous accolades throughout her career, including Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women,” Adweek50, Variety’s “New York Impact Report” and Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame as well as the “Advertising Woman of the Year,” “Impact Award” and “Working Woman Award” from SheRunsIt. She received the “Reisenbach Award for Distinguished Citizenship” by the John A. Reisenbach Foundation in 2014.