# Paramount Opens 2026 Upfront With Roku, Amazon Ad-Sales Hires
> Askinasi and Carney make Paramount the first Big-4 seller with platform-pedigree executives at both ad-sales seats.
- Publication: The State of Streaming
- Section: Advertising & Ad Tech
- Published: 2026-04-25T20:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Byline: The State of Streaming Staff
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/04/paramount-askinasi-upfront-strategy/
- Read time: 2 min
## Summary
Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY) opened its first upfront under new ownership on April 16, 2026, led by CRO Jay Askinasi (ex-Roku), pitching a streaming fixed unit and UFC programmatic insertion. Head of U.S. ad sales Danielle Carney joined March 9 from Amazon Prime Video's live-sports group.

## Key facts

- Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY), held its 2026 upfront as an intimate-dinner event at the Sherry Lansing Theatre on the Melrose lot on April 16, 2026 — the company's first upfront under Skydance ownership and part of a dinners format Paramount has used since exiting NewFronts week in 2023, per Adweek.
- Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi, appointed October 9, 2025 and effective November 3, came to Paramount from Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) and previously ran Publicis Media Exchange U.S.
- Danielle Carney joined as head of U.S. ad sales on March 9, 2026 from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), where she ran live sports and video sales for Prime Video.
- Askinasi pitched a streaming fixed unit that gives advertisers specific pod positions on premium episodes for the first seven days after debut, per concurrent reporting from Variety, AdExchanger, and TheWrap.
- Paramount launched live in-game programmatic insertion on UFC inventory in January 2026, with expansion to additional CBS Sports events planned for fall 2026, per AdExchanger and TheWrap.
- John Halley, who spent 17 years as Paramount/Viacom's ad-sales architect and president of Paramount Advertising, announced his exit on December 1, 2025 and stayed in an advisory role through March 2026, per Variety.


## Why it matters

Paramount Skydance is the first Big-4 streaming-and-broadcast company to put platform-pedigree at both the CRO and U.S. ad-sales seats simultaneously, replacing a 17-year Viacom/CBS lineage that ran from Jo Ann Ross through Halley. The streaming fixed unit and programmatic-sports announcements follow from the personnel logic: Askinasi and Carney built careers on inventory transparency and data-driven sports sales, and the 2026 upfront products reflect that.


## What to watch

- Q3 2026 earnings for the first measurable read on whether the new bench moved CPMs and programmatic mix versus 2025.
- The fall 2026 expansion of programmatic insertion from UFC to additional CBS Sports events.
- Roku's April 30 Q1 print for any disclosure on how it has restructured ad sales without Askinasi.
- The pending Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition close in Q3 2026, which would land a second ad-sales integration on Carney's desk.

## Article
Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY) opened its first upfront under new ownership on April 16 at the Sherry Lansing Theatre on the Melrose lot, with a freshly built ad-sales bench: Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi, hired from Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) and [appointed October 9, 2025](https://www.paramount.com/press/paramount-appoints-jay-askinasi-as-chief-revenue-officer), and head of U.S. ad sales Danielle Carney, who [started March 9, 2026](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-raids-amazon-danielle-carney-ad-sales-1236677362/) after running live sports and video sales at Prime Video, the streaming arm of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

The pairing is the cleanest read on what David Ellison wants 2026 ad sales to look like. Paramount Skydance is the first Big-4 streaming-and-broadcast company to put platform-pedigree at both the CRO and U.S.-head seats simultaneously, replacing a 17-year Viacom/CBS lineage that ran through John Halley and, before him, Jo Ann Ross. The "streaming fixed unit" and programmatic-sports announcements that anchored the L.A. pitch follow from who is in the room. The product layer trails the personnel layer.

[Variety](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-jay-askinasi-tv-upfront-streaming-sales-1236723207/), [AdExchanger](https://www.adexchanger.com/tv/paramounts-upfront-pitch-is-about-three-things/), and [TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-chief-revenue-officer-jay-askinasi-interview/) each published April 16 reads on the pitch. Variety and TheWrap describe the format as fixed pod positions on premium episodes for the first seven days after new-episode debut. Askinasi told AdExchanger the product addresses a streaming inventory pool that has been "mostly rotational and not always as transparent." On sports, AdExchanger and TheWrap narrowed Variety's broader programmatic framing: live in-game programmatic insertion is currently UFC-only, [launched January 2026](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-chief-revenue-officer-jay-askinasi-interview/), with CBS Sports expansion planned for fall 2026.

Halley, the 17-year ad-sales architect who built [Pluto TV](/products/pluto-tv/)'s ad business and replaced traditional upfront week with the dinners format Paramount still uses, [announced his exit December 1, 2025](https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/john-halley-paramount-advertising-sales-president-exit-1236595975/) and stayed in an advisory role through March. Adweek [independently reported](https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/paramount-scores-sports-ads-exec-from-amazon/) Carney's hire the same day Variety broke it, citing an internal memo Adweek had obtained. Askinasi told Variety the dinners give Paramount "one-to-one dialogue" with buyers.

Q3 2026 earnings will be the first quantitative read on whether the new bench moved CPMs or programmatic mix; the cycle is also Paramount's last as a stand-alone seller before the [Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) deal closes](/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-shareholder-vote/).

## Entities

- Companies: Paramount Skydance Corporation, Roku, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Publicis Groupe, Warner Bros. Discovery
- People: Jay Askinasi, Danielle Carney, David Ellison, Jeff Shell, John Halley
- Products: Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS Sports, UFC


## Tags

- upfronts-2026
- paramount-skydance
- ctv-advertising
- programmatic-sports
- executive-moves
- streaming-ad-sales


## Sourced claims

- Paramount, a Skydance Corporation appointed Jay Askinasi as Chief Revenue Officer on October 9, 2025, with an effective start date of November 3, 2025, in a newly created role reporting to CEO David Ellison and President Jeff Shell. — Paramount Skydance press release: https://www.paramount.com/press/paramount-appoints-jay-askinasi-as-chief-revenue-officer
- Paramount Skydance opened its 2026 upfront with a presentation at the Sherry Lansing Theatre on the Melrose lot on April 16, 2026, the company's first upfront under David Ellison. — Variety (Schneider): https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-david-ellison-upfront-skydance-tech-sports-1236724366/
- Askinasi pitched a streaming fixed unit that places sponsors in specific pod positions for the first seven days after a new episode debuts. — Variety (Steinberg) — exclusive interview: https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-jay-askinasi-tv-upfront-streaming-sales-1236723207/
- AdExchanger framed the streaming fixed unit as the ability to place an ad in a specific pod position within a streaming TV episode of the marketer's choice. — AdExchanger (Boyle): https://www.adexchanger.com/tv/paramounts-upfront-pitch-is-about-three-things/
- TheWrap reported that live in-game programmatic buying launched on UFC inventory in January 2026, with rollout to additional sports properties beginning fall 2026. — TheWrap (Manfredi): https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-chief-revenue-officer-jay-askinasi-interview/
- Askinasi told AdExchanger that streaming inventory has been mostly rotational and not always as transparent, and that Paramount is offering fixed positions to address that complaint. — AdExchanger (Boyle) — April 16, 2026: https://www.adexchanger.com/tv/paramounts-upfront-pitch-is-about-three-things/
- Danielle Carney joined Paramount Skydance as head of U.S. ad sales on March 9, 2026, from Amazon Prime Video, where she ran live sports and video ad sales. — Variety (Steinberg): https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-raids-amazon-danielle-carney-ad-sales-1236677362/
- Adweek independently reported the Carney hire, citing an internal memo it obtained, and confirmed her Amazon title as head of live sports and video sales at Amazon Ads. — Adweek (Bradley): https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/paramount-scores-sports-ads-exec-from-amazon/
- John Halley, president of Paramount Advertising, announced his exit on December 1, 2025 after a 17-year tenure at Paramount/Viacom and remained in an advisory capacity through March 2026. — Variety (Steinberg): https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/john-halley-paramount-advertising-sales-president-exit-1236595975/
- Adweek reported that Paramount has been running its intimate-dinner upfront events since dropping out of upfront week in 2023. — Adweek (Bradley): https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/inside-paramount-2026-upfront-dinners/
- Askinasi told Variety the dinners format is unique because it allows one-to-one dialogue with buyers. — Variety (Steinberg) — exclusive interview: https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/paramount-jay-askinasi-tv-upfront-streaming-sales-1236723207/

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