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Those fears within the Tribune about Sam Zell's radio-izing of the company look even more justified now. A day after the Los Angeles Times hired a top executive with roots in the Phil Anschutz empire, he hires a new advertising senior VP from FM radio. Pretty sad that being mentioned as one of Los Angeles Magazine's ill-fated 64 Best Things is written into a bio as a mentionable plus. Here's the memo:
From: McKibben, Scott
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:44 AM
Subject: New SVP, Advertising
I'm pleased to announce that Dawn Girocco has joined our team as Senior Vice President, Advertising. Dawn brings nearly 25 years of advertising experience to the table and has managed sales for radio stations in Ohio, Texas, and here in LA at KIIS-FM/KHHT-FM.
She comes to us directly from Indie 103.1 FM (home of the popular Jonesy's Jukebox) where she's served as General Manager since its inception in 2005. In launching the station, Dawn was instrumental in developing sales and revenue strategies, including pricing, content and event marketing integration, and the acquisition of top sales talent. In short, she brought in big money and positioned the station to be named "Best Station" by Rolling Stone magazine and "One of the 64 Best Things about Los Angeles" by Los Angeles Magazine.
At KIIS and KHHT, Dawn successfully created revenue by working across both sales teams. She also sold into six other sister stations. In working to create a culture of cross selling, Dawn was able to initiate different strategies for varying customer needs, relying on sales teams at all eight stations. She took what might have been a single sale at one station and consistently found ways to grow an advertiser's commitment across all eight stations through innovative sales and event opportunities. Before coming to LA, Dawn won Gannett's Account Executive of the Year while at KKBQ in Houston, Texas. She then went on to become General Sales Manager. While there, she drove the station's advertising revenue up from number 17 in the marketplace to number 1—beating two long-time competitors. Her efforts also helped the station earn Billboard Magazine's "Major Market Station of the Year" award as well as Country Music Association's (CMA) Major Market Station of the Year award. As deregulation occurred, Dawn became one of the first directors of group sales and further cemented a culture of cross selling. Her efforts made her group of stations the fourth largest billing group in the country. Dawn is a pro at developing idea-based, customer focused sales strategies that drive revenue on all levels. The Los Angeles Times Media Group portfolio is growing and represents all platforms. As such, Dawn will be tapping into everything we do and developing the most attractive packages in the market for LA advertisers. Dawn will be reporting directly to me. Scott McKibben