Universal Taps Rank For Ad Sales Spot

Cable World, Nov 11, 2002

Byline: JON LAFAYETTE

One of Madison Ave.'s top media buyers has been enlisted to sell advertising on cable.

Dan Rank, managing director of OMD USA, was named EVP and will head the Chicago ad sales office and oversee the Los Angeles and Detroit offices of Universal Television Group, which includes USA Network, Sci Fi, Trio and NWI.

Jeff Lucas, who was named president of ad sales for the Universal networks in March, from NBC, has been reorganizing the ad sales operation there to take advantage of the network's increasing stream of original programming, from USA's hit Monk to Sci Fi's upcoming Taken.

"It's a good move on USA's behalf. It supports their initiative in building that sales staff," said Bob Flood, SVP and director of national electronic media at Optimedia. He said Rank was "a creative thinker who knows how to structure integrated deals. I think that's where USA is headed."

Lucas said he'd been discussing candidates for the Chicago post with Rank when they decided Rank, who is from there, would be good for the job.

"I think Dan's a natural salesman," Lucas said. "He's someone who puts deals together and does it in a big-picture way. He brings experience from that side of the business and makes us a lot smarter."

Universal last week also announced adding Mike Tedone as EVP of national advertising sales from NBC, Kevin McAluiffe as SVP of cross-platform initiatives, from Gemstar-TV Guide and Lloyd Schloss as SVP of operations from UPN.

OMD, which has been led by former Turner Broadcasting exec Joe Uva since last year, named Page Thompson chief executive for North America.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*Will new cable ad salesmen coming from broadcast, such as Discovery's Joe Abruzzese, and from agencies such as Rank be able to generate bigger premiums for original programming on their networks?