Skydance has named its top content licensing, advertising and distribution executives.
David Decker will become president of content sales, Jay Askinasi has been named chief revenue officer, advertising and Ray Hopkins has been named president of distribution.
The trio will report to JB Perrette, co-president and chief commercial officer of Skydance TV and Skydance DTC.
Decker’s appointment is important as the company moves towards Mipcom. He was named president of content sales for Warner Bros. Discovery in 2023 and will oversee sales of the Paramount and WBD television library to international broadcasters, streamers and third-party platforms in the United States.
Hopkins will work in a key business, managing negotiations with pay TV operators for Skydance’s more than 50 cable networks as well as CBS, with the resulting deals providing much-needed revenue for the debt-ridden company. The 13-year Paramount and CBS veteran, who has been president of U.S. network distribution at Paramount since 2019, has nearly four decades of experience and is considered one of the deans of television distribution. He will chair separate distribution negotiations between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount, as required by a consent decree agreed to by Skydance last month as part of an antitrust lawsuit settlement.
It’s unclear what the executive appointments mean for Kevin MacLellan, who was president of global content distribution and international at Paramount, or for Don McGregor, who was the company’s global head of licensing.
Askinasi was previously chief revenue officer at Paramount, having joined Roku last year.
“Bringing together the unrivaled portfolios of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery creates an extraordinary combination of iconic brands, world-class storytelling, deep creative relationships and talented teams across the globe, providing enormous opportunities for our business partners,” Perrette said. “By combining forces and uniting our teams, we will build on the incredible heritage of both companies to serve audiences and partners in new and more innovative ways and shape an even more ambitious future. Jay, David and Ray are extremely talented and respected leaders with extensive experience, strong industry relationships and a shared commitment to our partners and collaborators. A tremendous opportunity awaits us and I look forward to working closely with them as we build the media and entertainment organization. next generation entertainment.
Gn entert
