Full Name
Jo Ann Ross
Job Title
President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer of U.S. Advertising Sales
Company
Paramount
Speaker Bio
Jo Ann Ross is President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer of U.S. Advertising Sales at Paramount. In this role, Ross leads advertising sales for the company’s portfolio of iconic brands across platforms – including BET, CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Sports, Comedy Central, CMT, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network and Smithsonian – as well as its ad-supported streaming services Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Additionally, Ross oversees a robust suite of data-driven advertising capabilities and creative marketing solutions, including EyeQ – Paramount’s rapidly growing premium video advertising platform reaching 70 million monthly unique viewers.
An industry trailblazer, Ross is the longest-tenured sales head in broadcast television and the first woman to ever serve as sales chief of a broadcast network. She’s worked in various roles across the company for over three decades and has strong relationships with the world’s biggest advertisers and agencies.
Ross was promoted to her current role in December 2019 following the close of the merger between CBS Corporation and Viacom. Prior to that, she served as CBS’ President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer since August 2017, where she was responsible for overseeing CBS’ multiplatform advertising sales effort. Ross previously served as President, Network Sales, CBS Television Network since October 2002, responsible for overseeing all sales for CBS Entertainment, Sports, Daytime, News and Late Night.
Before being named president of the CBS sales division, Ross served as Executive Vice President of Sales from September 1998 to October 2002, where she oversaw all sales for CBS’ primetime schedule. She also played a major role in creating new ways to sell Network programming, including reality, scripted, news and late-night genres. She joined CBS in 1992 as Vice President of Olympic Sales, in charge of Network sales for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994 and the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.
Prior to joining CBS, Ross was with the ABC Network for three years, where she sold daytime before being named a Prime Account Executive. Before that, Ross worked at the media buying firm Bozell, starting as an assistant buyer and working her way up to Senior Vice President, where she ran the network buying department.
Ross has been honored with notable industry accolades throughout the course of her career, including recognition on the annual Adweek50 list, The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment,” AdAge’s “Media Mavens,” Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women,” The Gracies Leadership Award from the Alliance of Women in Media, IRTS’ “Hall of Mentorship,” Variety’s “Women’s Impact Report” and Women in Sports and Entertainment’s “Woman of the Year” award, among others.
An industry trailblazer, Ross is the longest-tenured sales head in broadcast television and the first woman to ever serve as sales chief of a broadcast network. She’s worked in various roles across the company for over three decades and has strong relationships with the world’s biggest advertisers and agencies.
Ross was promoted to her current role in December 2019 following the close of the merger between CBS Corporation and Viacom. Prior to that, she served as CBS’ President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer since August 2017, where she was responsible for overseeing CBS’ multiplatform advertising sales effort. Ross previously served as President, Network Sales, CBS Television Network since October 2002, responsible for overseeing all sales for CBS Entertainment, Sports, Daytime, News and Late Night.
Before being named president of the CBS sales division, Ross served as Executive Vice President of Sales from September 1998 to October 2002, where she oversaw all sales for CBS’ primetime schedule. She also played a major role in creating new ways to sell Network programming, including reality, scripted, news and late-night genres. She joined CBS in 1992 as Vice President of Olympic Sales, in charge of Network sales for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994 and the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.
Prior to joining CBS, Ross was with the ABC Network for three years, where she sold daytime before being named a Prime Account Executive. Before that, Ross worked at the media buying firm Bozell, starting as an assistant buyer and working her way up to Senior Vice President, where she ran the network buying department.
Ross has been honored with notable industry accolades throughout the course of her career, including recognition on the annual Adweek50 list, The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment,” AdAge’s “Media Mavens,” Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women,” The Gracies Leadership Award from the Alliance of Women in Media, IRTS’ “Hall of Mentorship,” Variety’s “Women’s Impact Report” and Women in Sports and Entertainment’s “Woman of the Year” award, among others.
Speaking At
