Nielsen Catalina Names Linda Dupree CEO

In the US, Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) has appointed Nielsen's former SVP, Client Solutions Linda Dupree as Chief Executive Officer. She replaces Matt O'Grady, who has returned to Nielsen as MD, International Media, based in London.

Originally launched in 2009, NCS is a joint venture between Nielsen and digital media specialist Catalina, with Nielsen the majority owner since 2015. The business uses exclusive data from the two companies to provide its targeting and measurement services. In February it added a solution to its Sales Effect platform, to measure in-store sales driven by advertising delivered on YouTube.

Dupree (pictured) joins after more than seven years at Nielsen, where she was commercial leader for several media businesses. Earlier, she worked for biometric and neuroscience agency Innerscope Research (acquired by Nielsen in 2015) as EVP, Sales & Marketing, and before this she spent nineteen years at radio ratings giant Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio), latterly overseeing the cross-media product division.

O'Grady has served as CEO since 2016, having previously been Nielsen's EVP and MD of Local Media. He joined the group more than eighteen years ago as EVP, Sales & Client Services and then President of segmentation specialist Nielsen Claritas (now Consumer Activation). In 2013, in addition to leading local TV and local agencies, O'Grady assumed responsibility for the company's local radio business when it acquired Arbitron.

Commenting on the appointment Megan Clarken, Chief Commercial Officer at Nielsen and Chairman of the NCS Board of Directors, said: 'With a long history supporting advertising across all media types, Linda is uniquely suited to lead the company and its clients toward even greater growth'.

Web site: www.ncsolutions.com .