Keith Turner, a veteran ad-sales chief whose career took him from a top job at NBC to the National Football League to Univision, will step down from his post as president of ad sales and marketing at the Spanish-language broadcaster at the end of 2017.
Turner has worked for years with Univision Communications CEO Randy Falco, who at one time supervised the business of NBC under CEO Bob Wright. “Keith is a uniquely talented individual who has been a friend and an inspiring leader to all who have had the opportunity to work with him,” said Falco, in a prepared statement.
Turner’s career includes influential stints at a number of big media and entertainment outlets. He served as the senior vice president of media sales and sponsorship at the National Football League, overseeing the league’s sponsorship business, as well as advertising sales for all NFL media platforms, including NFL Network. Before transitioning to NFL, Turner spent more than 20 years at NBC, where he held various roles of increasing seniority, including president of sales and marketing and senior vice president of Olympics and sports sales. Before his time at NBC, he was an account executive for CBS. Turner began his career at Grey Advertising.
“It has been a pleasure and privilege to work alongside Randy and the rest of the superb Univision team for the past five years and I will leave here feeling proud of all that we’ve accomplished together,” Turner said in a statement.
Univision said it expected to announce transition plans “in the coming weeks.”
Turner’s departure is the latest in a series of retiring senior TV-ad sales veterans. Several of his contemporaries have also stepped down or pulled back over the course of the past 18 months, including Joe Abruzzese, the former head of Discovery Communications ad sales, and Seth Winter, the former head of NBCUniversal’s sports advertising sales.
