VIZIO Adds Staff As Direct-to-Device Ad Business Grows

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Citing increased advertiser demand and its desire to achieve more growth as “a streaming-first, data-driven media company,” VIZIO has added two individuals charged with key roles tied to the expansion of its direct-to-device advertising business.


Now serving as VP of Product Management is Oscar “Oz” Lang. He formerly served as the head of product for Adobe’s Advertising Cloud TV business.

Also new to VIZIO is VP of Product Engineering Ben Sullins, most recently SVP of Engineering with SpotX.

Concurrent with their arrival, VIZIO has opened a “Tech Innovation center” in Denver. It is home to 140 of VIZIO’s engineering and tech specialists focused on the innovation of VIZIO’s software, ad products, and entertainment ecosystem.

“Since our IPO last year, we have been heavily investing in engineering and software to scale our Platform+ operations and build out our in-house ad tech team,” said David Rudnick, Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at VIZIO. “This investment will not only provide unique opportunities and measurable outcomes for advertisers, but it also helps us drive better consumer experiences.”

He continued, “Consumers are rapidly shifting to the Smart TV experience, and because we own the hardware, software, and data, we are able to innovate in ways that others can’t. With continued momentum on the Platform+ side of our business, which is a function of better personalization and engagement on SmartCast, we are driving interest with brands, advertisers and content partners to work with VIZIO.”

VIZIO Ads’ direct-to-device offering has doubled the number of participating unique brands and tripled its average revenue per advertiser in the last year. Additionally, VIZIO Ads’ 2022 upfront commitments exceeded $100 million, a fourfold increase over 2021, including enterprise-level buys from six major agency holding companies and encompassing a number of top advertising categories in traditional TV such as automotive, insurance and retail.