Viamedia Brings on Leading Industry Executive Jonathan Sims as Vice President of Media Research

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Viamedia, the television industry's leading independent provider of outsourced local television advertising services on behalf of cable companies, today announced the strategic appointment of Jonathan Sims as Vice President of Media Research. An established industry executive in the forefront of cutting-edge ROI measurement and multi-platform engagement, Sims has held leadership positions that span a number of segments including cable, research supplier, CPG, technology, and advertising.  Overseeing Viamedia's research departments, Sims will lead the development of Viamedia and placemedia's audience positioning and drive revenue for Viamedia.  He will report to Becky Jones who was recently promoted to Senior Vice President Marketing & Research.

"Viamedia has undergone unprecedented changes and growth," said Mark Lieberman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Viamedia.  "We are a new company with a new direction and new leadership, and we are thrilled to have Jonathan, his insights and forward thinking strategies.  Jonathan will further bolster our ability to use Big Data to insure that the right consumers are seeing the right local ads at the right time."

"Viamedia partnered with Rentrak when it chose to make history with the launch of its programmatic buying arm, placemedia and super charge its local sales strategy.  We are proud to support Viamedia as they continue their growth.  We look forward to working with Jonathan who is a most recognized industry executive of the highest caliber who I have known for many years," said Bill Livek, Vice-Chairman & CEO, Rentrak.

Before joining Viamedia, Sims held the position of Vice President, Product Management at TRA, Inc., where he synthesized client needs with internal engineering staff to create new revenue generating products and features for TRA's web-based technology platform, Media TRAnalystics®.  Previously, Sims was also Head of Corporate Research at Comcast Spotlight where he oversaw all primary and secondary research.  In addition, he has held leadership positions at organizations such as Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, AGB Nielsen Media Research, Kraft Foods, Lever Bros., Microsoft, Navic, Foote, and Cone & Belding.

Sims has also served on the MRC Board of Directors, editorial review board for The Journal of Advertising Research, Council for Research Excellence, Nielsen A2/M2 TV/Internet Integration Committee, and annual judge for The ARF David Ogilvy Awards. His writings have appeared in various publications such as ARF Journal of Advertising Research, Columbia University School of Communications, and the Journal of Media Planning.

"Viamedia is at an exciting time, and this position represents a unique opportunity for me to work with the 300 sales people to drive revenue for the company and our MVPD partners," said Jonathan Sims.  "As a member of the Viamedia team, I look forward to furthering the company's growth as we deliver best-in-class advertising products such as placemedia as well as mining Viamedia's database of over 10,000 advertisers."

Jonathan's appointment comes on the heels of a banner year for Viamedia.  As the company ushers in a new team and company direction for its dual locations in Lexington, Kentucky and New York City, Viamedia recently announced major changes to its leadership team with new CEO Mark Lieberman and COO Kim Norris.  Under this new leadership, Viamedia continues its expansion with digital representatives across 64 markets in the U.S. serving 50 MVPD partners and over 10,000 local advertisers.  Additionally, the company secured strategic partnership agreements with Vyve Broadband, Metronet, Hawaiian Telcom, CDE Lightband and Bledsoe.  Viamedia was also recognized by CableFAX for Overall Tech Innovation for its ViamediaGO technology platform for small-medium businesses.

ABOUT VIAMEDIA
Headquartered in New York City, NY and Lexington, KY, Viamedia is a leading provider of outsourced local advertising sales services. The company specializes in selling DMA-based advertising to local, regional and national advertisers on behalf of U.S. cable and telecommunications service providers, utility companies and municipalities. For more information on Viamedia, visit www.viamediatv.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101115/CL01765LOGO
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130923/CL84090LOGO 

SOURCE Viamedia