NBCUniversal Sets Up Ad Sales Research & Strategy Arm

In New York, media and entertainment giant NBCUniversal has formed an Advertising Sales Research and Strategy division, to be led by newly promoted EVP Katie Larkin.

A subsidiary of Comcast, NBCUniversal produces and markets entertainment, news and information products and services, while owning American TV networks, cable channels and a group of local US stations, as well as a motion picture company, TV production firms and theme parks.

The new division will provide clients with analysis from across the group's networks, cable channels and digital platforms, while working alongside NBCUniversal's Programming Research, Insights and Analytics teams. The group's Digital Research team will join the new division, where it will be responsible for digital measurement and analysis of multi-platform sales.

Larkin has been promoted from SVP of Ad Sales Strategy to lead the division. She joined the company two years ago, having previously served as SVP Ad Sales Research and Strategy at Turner Broadcasting, where she worked for 29 years.

In her new role, Larkin reports to Trish Frohman, EVP of Advertising Sales Strategy and Operations, who comments: 'Today's business is driven by data and market analysis so that clients can better optimize their media plans to reach the right consumers. We are creating a center for research and measurement excellence to give advertisers more tools to better target those consumers.'

Earlier this year, NBCUniversal rolled out a tool called NBCU+, which matches anonymized audience data with third party information.

Web site: www.nbcuni.com .