Brian Lakamp Becomes Clear Channel’s President Of Technology And Digital Ventures
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Clear Channel, one of the major global media and entertainment companies, has named Brian Lakamp as president of technology and digital ventures.
Lakamp was previously president, digital at Clear Channel Media + Entertainment.
In his new role, Lakamp will work closely with Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of Clear Channel, and Rich Bressler, Clear Channel’s president, to lead the overall technology platform and capabilities for all of Clear Channel, maximizing the impact across all of its technology businesses – including its broadcast, digital radio, events and promotions and out-of-home businesses. He will also be responsible for developing the company’s overall place in the worlds of big data and programmatic buying.
“Our corporate focus on digital, increasingly leveraging technology to maximize our business, reflects the natural evolution of Clear Channel into a 21st century media company,” says Pittman. “Creativity is also enabled by technology, and as advertisers’ interest in new and emerging technology options continues to grow, we intend to remain at the forefront of both innovation and creativity. Brian is perfectly positioned to help us – and our consumers, advertisers and content partners – as we continue to build Clear Channel’s digital roadmap for the future.”
Lakamp will serve as the company’s corporate voice on major technology projects, oversee Clear Channel’s relationship with Silicon Valley and the tech community, and develop a corporate strategy that unifies all Clear Channel technology platforms for the benefit of both consumers and advertisers.
“Looking across Clear Channel’s diverse set of media businesses and its unparalleled reach, there are massive opportunities to utilize emerging technologies to unlock business value and offer unmatched possibilities for our advertisers, our audiences and ourselves around analytics, programmatic buying of targeted audiences, and beyond,” says Lakamp. “It has been an honor to lead our iHeartRadio team as we built the fastest growing digital audio service in the history of the Internet, and I am now excited to take on this broader technology role for the entire company.”
Lakamp will report to Pittman, and reporting to Lakamp will be Jeff Littlejohn, executive vice-president of engineering and systems integration; Pete Gerrald, chief information officer; Philippe Generali, president and CEO of Clear Channel’s RCS Worldwide division, the world’s leading producer of broadcast software; and Joe Robinson, executive vice-president of strategic development.
“Digital is now at the core of Clear Channel and is key to all our operating businesses, and putting Brian – someone with a proven technology and digital track record – into the most senior level of the company with a clear mandate to keep us in the forefront of using technology to transform our business reflects the increasingly important role that technology is playing at Clear Channel,” says Bressler.
Under this new structure, iHeartRadio will become part of Clear Channel Networks Group, reporting to its president, Darren Davis.
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