Mike Dean Named VP of ABC's Programmatic and Data Driven Sales

Mike Dean has been named to the new position of Vice President of Programmatic and Data-Driven Sales for ABC. The announcement was made today by Pooja Midha, Senior Vice President of Digital Ad Sales and Operations, to whom Mr. Dean will report.

Mr. Dean will be responsible for the over-arching strategy and sales of scalable solutions that drive revenue via programmatic and data-driven channels. Core areas of focus include audience data activation, programmatic sales and inventory management, sales process automation, and related business development and vendor management.

"Mike has a wealth of experience in digital and new media sales," said Ms. Midha. "We are very happy that he will lead the ABC Sales team as we continue to lead the way in finding innovative solutions for all of our clients."

Mr. Dean was most recently Vice President of Media Platform Sales and Solutions for the online video advertising platform Videology. In this role, he led a sales team charged with driving revenue against a number of emerging business initiatives, including the Videology Programmatic Exchange and Audience Engine DSP. Mr. Dean joined the company in 2011 as the Senior Director of Publisher Services, and later served as Vice President of Asia Pacific for the company from 2012-2013.

Prior to that, Mr. Dean worked with the Microsoft Corporation in both their Seattle and New York offices. While with Microsoft, Mr. Dean served as the Senior Business Development Manager of Bing from 2007-2010. In this role, he co-invented a patented process to customize web search results based on data about the user's profession. He also worked with Microsoft's BizTalk Server in the company's Server & Tools Division, both as a Business Unit Manager (2006-2007) and a Senior Product Manager (2005-2006).

He began his tech career in Austin, TX in 2000, where he worked as a Java and .NET Developer for the Sales and Marketing IT Support of the Dell Computer Corporation. Other prior positions include business development and strategy positions at Vibrant Media, Thomson Reuters and Compaq Computers.

Mr. Dean served as an Airborne Infantry soldier with the United States Army, stationed in Italy and deployed to HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entebbe" o "Entebbe" Entebbe, Uganda for Operation Support Hope. During his time with the Army, Mr. Dean was awarded the Distinguished Honor Graduate of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense School and Expert Infantryman Badge.

He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Information System and Operations from Texas A&M University, and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Photo: ABC/ Heidi Gutman

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