John A. Reisenbach Foundation Names 2014 Honorees

Donna Speciale is president of Turner Broadcasting Ad Sales, overseeing advertising revenue for Turner’s domestic television and digital entertainment, news, kids and young adult brands. Based in New York, Speciale reports to David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting.

Speciale was promoted to her current position in March 2014. She joined Turner Broadcasting in 2012 as president of Turner Entertainment and Young Adult Ad Sales. In this position, she led ad sales for the company’s entertainment and young adult brands, notably TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. During this time, she made an immediate impact on maximizing revenue potential for the brands and collaborating with agencies and advertisers for integrated deals across Turner’s leading portfolio of television and digital assets.

With her more than 20 years of experience on the media agency side, Speciale came to Turner Broadcasting from MediaVest Worldwide, where she served as President, Investment & Activation and Agency Operations. During her tenure, she led the agency’s integrated digital, broadcast, print and out-of-home practice, overseeing investments on behalf of clients including Kraft, Walmart, P&G, and Coca-Cola. Prior to MediaVest, Speciale led the broadcast investment team at Mediacom. Over her career she has managed investments for several leading marketers including Warner Brothers, GlaxoSmithKline, Hasbro, Kmart, Diageo, Staples and Subway.

Speciale is well-known for driving innovation in the marketplace and has received numerous industry recognitions including Adweek ‘50’ (2013), Multichannel News “Wonder Woman” (2013), Advertising Age “Top Women in Advertising” (2012), CableFAX “100” (2012, 13) and “Women of Cable” (2012), Television Week “TV Buyer of the Year” (2006), MediaWeek “All Star” in the broadcast category (2003), Advertising Age “Woman to Watch” (2001) and “Agency of the Year” by both AdWeek and Advertising Age (under SMG in 2005). Speciale has thrice been honored by Advertising Women of New York (AWNY): in 2011, she was the recipient of the 2011 AWNY “Advertising Woman of the Year”; in 2008, she was the recipient of AWNY’s “Impact Award,” honoring her mentorship work within the industry; and in 2006, she received an AWNY “Working Woman Award,” recognizing female executives who earned success in their personal and professional lives. In addition to her professional accolades, she is on the Board of Directors for The Advertising Club of New York and an active member of Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) and Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB).

Turner Broadcasting Ad Sales monetizes the company’s portfolio of leading news, sports, kids and entertainment properties through advertising and brand activations. Attracting a wide-scale audience of diverse consumers, the collection includes leading media brands CNN, HLN, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Bleacher Report and Turner Sports’ high-profile coverage of the NBA, NASCAR, MLB, NCAA and PGA. In addition, the company has digital sales partnerships with Funny Or Die, the NBA, NCAA and PGA.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Kristian (Kris) Magel serves as Chief Investment Officer for Initiative in the United States, one of the Interpublic Group’s (NYSE: IPG) three worldwide media networks and part of the company’s IPG Mediabrands unit. Kris is responsible for the agency’s integrated investment teams across all channels including digital, broadcast, print and search. His Investment teams are fully integrated within every account working in conjunction with the firm’s Strategy, Analytics and Business Leadership groups to deliver 360 degree multiplatform media and marketing plans. Kris sits alongside the Investment Leaders of fellow IPG agencies as a member of the MagnaGlobal Consortium, working with media partners to deliver the most effective marketing investment approaches that maximize client marketing spends.

A veteran with nearly two decades of experience in the media business, Kris has proven himself a formidable negotiator who has earned the respect of media partners for both his analytical approach to the marketplace and his passionate representation of clients. His reputation for articulate, informed intelligence also makes him a favorite with the press and a popular panelist at industry events. In 2012 Magel was named to the Adweek 50 (#16) as one of the industry’s most influential executives and was a Mediaweek ‘Media All-Star’ in 2007. Magel also has an influential voice within the video industry, serving as a co-chair of the Ad Council Broadcast TV Committee, a member of the advisory boards of industry collective Videonomics and Advertiser Perceptions and a board member of the New York Advertising Club.

Prior to joining Initiative in 2007, Kris held the position of Senior Vice President, National Broadcast at Zenith where he created a fully integrated buying unit for Maybelline/Garnier that recognized early on the value of digital media working in conjunction with television. Prior to Zenith, Kris worked at Optimedia in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, culminating as Senior Vice President, National Broadcast. He also worked for DeWitt Media handling TV and Radio accounts including Discovery Networks, Reebok and Lexmark.

Kris received his Bachelors of Arts degree from the John Wiley School of Business at the State University of New York at Geneseo. He makes his home with his family in New York City and East Hampton, New York.

Dave Morgan is the CEO and founder of Simulmedia. He previously founded and ran both TACODA, Inc., an online advertising company that pioneered behavioral online marketing and was acquired by AOL in 2007 for $275 million, and Real Media, Inc., one of the world’s first ad serving and online ad network companies and a predecessor to 24/7 Real Media (TFSM), which was later sold to WPP for $649 million. After the sale of TACODA, Dave served as Executive Vice President, Global Advertising Strategy, at AOL, a Time Warner Company (TWX).

A lawyer by training, Dave served as General Counsel and Director of New Media Ventures at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association in the early 1990’s.

Dave received a B.A. in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. He serves on the board of the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS), and was a long-time member of the executive committee and board of directors of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Press Institute (API). He and his wife, writer Lorea Canales, live in Manhattan with their two daughters.