James Rooke, a cable-industry veteran, has been named president of Comcast Advertising, the ad-sales arm of Comcast Corp. He will replace longtime chief Marcien Jenckes, who has taken a new role overseeing a new streaming joint venture for Comcast and Charter Communications.
In his new role, Rooke will oversee operations of ad-sales and ad-tech businesses of Effectv, FreeWheel and AudienceXpress. Rooke was previously general manager of Comcast Advertising. He will continue to report to Jenckes, who will have a managing director role at the unit. Comcast has yet to name a new general manager of the business.
“I could not think of a more qualified person to lead Comcast Advertising during one of the most exciting, transformative times in television advertising,” said Jenckes, in a prepared statement. “His work at both Effectv and FreeWheel give him a unique perspective from which to lead the company, and I look forward to working beside him to take Comcast Advertising to its next level of success.”
Comcast Advertising was for years primarily a seller of local ad spots for Comcast’s cable systems. In recent years, however, the company has focused more heavily on technology and new kinds so-called “programmatic” advertising that is placed using consumer data, audience analysis and algorithms.
Before overseeing Effectv, Rooke supervised FreeWheel’s business that provides TV programmers and distributors with advertising technology to assist with the monetization of their video content. During his tenure, he also helped design, launch and scale FreeWheel’s first video marketplace, led the Advisory Services practice, a consulting business unit; and served as the company’s chief revenue officer. Earlier in his career, Rooke worked for Time Warner Cable — now part of Charter Communications — as vice president, strategy and execution. He was also a principal in the media and entertainment practice at Capgemini, a consulting and technology company. He began his career as an associate consultant at EY in London. Rooke holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Birmingham in the U.K
“I’ve had the privilege of working across both the software and media business within Comcast Advertising and look forward to combining those experiences in this new role,” said Rooke, in a prepared statement,