Paramount Makes Two Big Hires to Jump-Start Its Ads Business

Paramount Skydance has poached a top ad exec from Amazon to lead its US ad sales efforts.

Danielle Carney spent more than four years at Amazon, most recently as head of video and live sports sales, helping the ecommerce giant expand its live sports business with its 2021 exclusive NFL deal. Before Amazon, she spent more than a decade at Disney, most of it in ad sales for ESPN.

Jay Askinasi, Paramount’s chief revenue officer, cited Carney’s experience in entertainment, sports, and technology in her hire.

“As we accelerate toward a streaming-centric future, Danielle’s deep expertise across entertainment, sports and technology is invaluable,” Askinasi wrote in a memo that was obtained by Business Insider. “She will play a critical role in connecting our most valuable assets with brand marketers and agency partners, helping deliver a seamless, client-first experience across the Paramount ecosystem.

Askinasi also named Tribeca Enterprises’ Chris Brady as EVP of Paramount Media Labs, a new role he said was aimed at developing brand integrations and other partnerships.

It’s the latest shake-up to Paramount’s ads leadership under Askinasi, who was appointed in October. Chris Simon, a Paramount EVP of agency partnerships, stepped down in February, while fellow Paramount vet John Halley stepped down in late 2025 as advertising president.

Paramount is fresh off winning the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery after a drawn-out fight with Netflix.

Here’s the full memo from Paramount’s revenue chief:

All,As we prepare for the upcoming Upfront season, we continue evolving both our team structure and our go-to-market strategy. Streaming sits at the center of that evolution, and we are elevating the client experience through a unified offering that brings the very best of One Paramount to life for our advertising partners and consumers.This is a pivotal moment for our business — and an opportunity to build something truly differentiated together.At this defining inflection point, I’m excited to announce the next important step in that journey as we welcome two outstanding leaders to our team.Danielle Carney will join Paramount Advertising as Head of U.S. Sales, beginning March 9. Danielle comes to us from Amazon, where she served as Head of Video and Live Sports Sales, and previously spent more than 15 years in ad sales leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company. As we accelerate toward a streaming-centric future, Danielle’s deep expertise across entertainment, sports and technology is invaluable. She will play a critical role in connecting our most valuable assets with brand marketers and agency partners, helping deliver a seamless, client-first experience across the Paramount ecosystem.Karen Phillips, Ryan Briganti and Karim Mawji will continue leading their respective portfolios and best-in-class teams, reporting to Danielle moving forward.I’m also pleased to welcome Chris Brady, who will join Paramount Advertising as Executive Vice President, Paramount Media Labs, also beginning March 9. Chris comes to us from Tribeca Enterprises, where he served as President and Global Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing revenue, sponsorship, distribution and growth strategies. Prior to Tribeca, he held several leadership roles at WarnerMedia, most recently leading Brand Partnerships and Innovation.In this newly created role, Chris will provide commercial leadership for Paramount Media Labs, our reimagined and expanded brand storytelling team, designed to unlock opportunities to connect brands with audiences through native, culturally relevant experiences. He will work in close partnership with Paramount Media Labs CMO Dario Spina to spearhead IP-centric innovation across brand integrations, creative partnerships and content-driven commercial strategies.Both Danielle and Chris will report directly to me.Their additions mark an exciting moment for Paramount Advertising as we continue building momentum across the organization. Over the past several months, we’ve taken meaningful steps to simplify our structure, strengthen collaboration and sharpen our go-to-market approach, including:Unifying our HoldCo partnerships, programmatic and advanced advertising sales teams into a single organization under Karen Phillips’ leadership to better serve our agency partners;Investing further in programmatic sales capabilities and enablement, recognizing the growing importance of data-driven and automated buying across the marketplace;Launching the Global Ad Marketing & Intelligence group, a centralized strategic go-to-market function led by Lydia Daly;Aligning our Creative+ sales team within Karim Mawji’s Global Client Partnership organization to reinforce a more client-centric model;Driving strong sales and engagement through the successful launch of UFC on Paramount+, alongside a record-setting NFL season, further establishing sports as a cornerstone of our sales strategy.Each of these steps reflects a shared commitment to working differently — breaking down silos, moving faster together, and delivering a more connected experience for our clients and partners.As we bring together the power of Hollywood storytelling with the speed, innovation and mindset of Silicon Valley, our focus now turns to translating that ambition into consistent execution. The opportunity ahead is significant, and what will define our success is how we show up for one another — as one team — in market.Thank you for the focus, urgency and collaboration you bring every day. The momentum we’re seeing across Paramount Advertising is real, and it’s being built by all of you. Together, we are creating something special as we head into the Upfront and beyond.Please join me in welcoming Danielle and Chris to the team.Jay