Global TV Site Viki Hires Tina Basle to Head Video Ad Sales, Focus on US Market
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) August 16, 2013 -- Viki, the global TV site powered by fans, announces today that it has hired Tina Basle as VP of Sales. Basle has helped develop advertising and sales strategies for YouTube, NBC Universal, ESPN, Livestream, Conde Nast and Time, Inc. She will lead Viki’s advertising sales efforts out of New York.
“The US remains the largest advertising market and it was clear that we needed to hire to take advantage of the big opportunity here,” said Razmig Hovaghimian, Viki CEO and co-founder. “Tina was an obvious choice to immediately lead our US efforts and help build a global team because of her experience, connections and culture fit with Viki.”
Basle has over 15 years of digital media sales experience and prior to Viki had served as head of brand advertising for Idealab’s Ubermedia and sales for DECA (a top women’s YouTube network) and TechWeb. She was also VP of Sales and Business Development for AllRecipes.com.
Viki has seen demand in underserved video markets in Asia, working with brands such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Samsung. Early brand campaigns in the United States, including AT&T and Toyota have also had impressive results.
“I’m excited to offer TV-like experiences to brands interested in reaching our demographic of young, globally minded and highly engaged users,” said Basle. “We’re seeing up to 10 percent click-through rates, greater than 90 percent completion rates and CPMs rivaling the highest premium video inventory. It’s a win-win for everyone and I’m excited to introduce Viki to Madison Avenue.”
Viki will continue its advertising partnership with BBC Worldwide in SE Asia and build ad network relationships in regions where Viki is popular, including Latin America and Europe.
About Viki
Viki is a global TV site with TV shows, movies and music videos translated into more than 163 languages by a community of avid fans. With over 22 million viewers a month, 1.5 billion videos viewed and over 400 million words translated, Viki uniquely brings global prime-time entertainment to new audiences and unlocks new markets and revenue opportunities for content owners. In 2011, Viki announced $20M in Series B funding from strategic investors BBC Worldwide and SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom; and from existing investors Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures and Neoteny Labs.
Michelle Laird, [email protected], 415-754-5574, [email protected]
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