Senior Changes and Job Cuts at VideoAmp

Founder Ross McCray is stepping down as CEO of VideoAmp, with former Discovery and Fox exec Peter Liguori joining as Executive Chairman and ex-Nielsen man Peter Bradbury as Chief Commercial and Growth Officer. The company will also cut almost 20% of its staff, according to reports.

The audience measurement company had an active year in 2023, including deals with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Allen Media Group (AMG), dentsu and YouTube boosting its bid to provide an alternative measurement currency to Nielsen. It also raised $150m in growth funding in September, and won certification from the self-proclaimed US Joint Industry Committee (JIC) alongside Comscore and iSpot. The funding announcement was accompanied by news of redundancies, with about 10% of its headcount cut, but reports in Variety and other online industry publications say many further jobs will now go.

VideoAmp says it is restructuring with the aim of streamlining operations and focusing on future growth and high-value partnerships in the year ahead. McCray (pictured), who founded the firm in 2014, is moving to a new role as 'active founder, Board Member & shareholder'. In a note to staff he said the decision to step back had been 'extremely hard and emotional' but that the time had come to 'pass the baton and return back to my original love and roots of earlier stage company building'.

Liguori is a former leader of Fox Entertainment and FX, CEO of Tribune Media, and COO at Discovery Communications. He has been on the Board of VideoAmp for several years. Bradbury brings more than two decades of experience driving transformation, building commercial operations and infrastructures to drive client satisfaction across CPG, television, digital, audio, sports, gaming and entertainment. He will lead all client, business development and commercial transformation initiatives aiming to cement VideoAmp as the new currency standard.

In addition to these appointments, CTO and former Google exec Tony Fagan has been promoted to President, Technology and Strategy; while Josh Hudgins - formerly EVP, Product and also a former Google man, becomes Chief Product Officer.

VideoAmp says more than a billion dollars' worth of ads will be measured and guaranteed on its currency in 2024, from over 1,000 advertisers. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles and New York with offices across the USA, and is online at www.videoamp.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.