Patrick Paolini to Lead Streamlined Group Combining Local, National and Digital Sales Efforts
NEW YORK – FOX Television Stations (FTS) is restructuring its Advertising Sales division, merging its local, national and digital sales efforts into one streamlined unit designed to leverage the power of FOX’s strong news content, live sports and digital/streaming platforms. In making the announcement, FOX Television Stations Chief Executive Officer Jack Abernethy has named Patrick Paolini to Executive Vice President of Ad Sales. He will assume this position immediately, reporting directly to Abernethy. In addition, three talented and experienced ad sales executives, Sheila Bruce, Tom Fleming and Michael Page, have been elevated to new roles.
Abernethy stated, “Patrick’s unique ability to execute, developed from years in both news and sales, makes him ideally suited to lead the FTS sales organization. I am confident that this newly elevated dynamic team will move quickly and decisively given their depth of knowledge and proven track record, including the successful creation of FLX, our CTV/OTT ad platform.”
Leading FTS’s sales efforts along with Paolini are Shelia Bruce, Tom Fleming and Michael Page.
- Patrick Paolini has been named Executive Vice President of FOX Ad Sales for FTS, leading all of the FTS Ad Sales strategy, initiatives, and efforts. Most recently, he has served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of WTTG FOX 5 and WDCA FOX 5 Plus, the FOX-owned duopoly in DC, since 2013. During his tenure, Paolini led the duopoly to #1 in the market with several innovative news expansions. Prior to that, Paolini was Senior Vice President of FOX Stations Sales. Earlier, he was Vice President and General Manager for WTXF FOX 29 in Philadelphia. Previously, Paolini held the role of Vice President and Director of Sales at WNYW FOX 5 and WWOR My9, the FOX owned-and-operated duopoly in New York. His earlier FTS positions include six years as Vice President and General Sales Manager for WTTG FOX 5 and FOX 5 Plus in Washington, D.C. and one year as Vice President and General Sales Manager for WTVT FOX 13 in Tampa. Before that, Paolini spent more than three years with LIN TV, first as National Sales Manager for WTNH-TV in Hartford/New Haven, CT and later as General Sales Manager for WIVB-TV in Buffalo, NY. A graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Paolini holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing.
- Shelia Bruce has been promoted to Senior Vice President of FOX Ad Sales for FTS, alongside Fleming. In this role, they will share the responsibility for overseeing the FTS O&Os overall sales efforts. She joined WJBK FOX 2 Detroit in 1994 and spent two years as an Account Executive before she was elevated to Local Sales Manager. Since 2001, Bruce has served as Vice President and General Sales Manager for the station. Throughout her tenure, she has led the most senior sales team in the history of Detroit to grow the most successful FLX sales on both linear and digital, across the entire FTS group. In addition, for the last 3 years in a row the station has doubled its FLX revenue from the year prior.
- Tom Fleming has been promoted to Senior Vice President of FOX Ad Sales for FTS, alongside Bruce. In this role, they will share the responsibility for overseeing the FTS O&Os overall sales efforts. In addition, Fleming will now also be responsible for overseeing local and national station sales. He has been part of the FOX Stations Sales (FSS) team since its inception and, in 2019, was named Senior Vice President of FSS. Since assuming that position, Fleming successfully launched FLX with Page, and led FSS to record Presidential political revenue performance in 2020 and record midterm political revenue performance in 2022, as well as record Super Bowl revenue in 2020 and 2023. Before this role, he spent 15 years as the Vice President and Director of Sales for FSS. Prior to that, he held the position of Vice President and General Sales Manager at FOX Stations Sales and, before that, Sales Manager. Previously, Fleming was the Vice President in charge of managing the sales team for FOX Television Stations. Earlier in his career, he served as an Account Executive and Team Sales Manager for Petry Television.
- Michael Page has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Digital Sales for FTS in an expanded role that will now lead all FOX Digital Sales and OTT sales. He joined FTS as Vice President of Digital Sales in 2019 and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2021. During his tenure, Page successfully launched FLX alongside Fleming, and increased digital/streaming revenue by nearly 8 times over the past four years. Prior to joining FTS, Page served as Vice President of Digital Sales for Tribune Media, increasing the group’s revenue by 45%. Previously, he led TEGNA Digital in the $2.5 billion acquisition of Cars.com as Vice President of Digital Automotive. Prior to that, Page was the Head of Product Marketing for Amazon Media Group. For over a decade, he held various sales roles at Cars.com, including Vice President of Advertiser Solutions and Vice President of Advertiser Pricing and Analytics.
Bruce, Fleming and Page will begin their new duties immediately and will report to Paolini.
Paolini stated, “I am excited to have Sheila, Tom and Michael join me as we transform FTS’s ad sales strategy during this pivotal time of growth. Each of them is a talented executive who challenges the status-quo and will continue to create and redefine solutions in this ever-evolving new advertising landscape. I can’t wait to get started.”
FOX Television Stations owns and operates 29 full power broadcast television stations in the U.S. These include stations located in nine of the top ten largest designated market areas (DMAs), and duopolies in 11 DMAs, including the three largest DMAs (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). Of these stations, 17 are affiliated with the FOX Network. In addition to distributing sports, entertainment and syndicated content, our television stations collectively produce over 1,100 hours of local news every week. These stations leverage viewer, distributor and advertiser demand for the FOX Network’s national content.
Press Contacts:
Erica Keane
Erica.Keane@fox.com
212-301-3613
Victoria Gurrieri
Victoria.Gurrieri@fox.com
212-301-3419