Ex-Fox Ad Chief Toby Byrne Joins A+E Networks Sales Team

A+E Networks said it hired former Fox Networks Group ad sales president Toby Byrne as it restructures its sales team to strengthen its multiplatform and data-driven capabilities.

Byrne joins A+E as executive VP, national ad sales, reporting to Peter Olsen, the company’s president for ad sales.

A+E said it also hired three execs with digital and streaming backgrounds as VPs. They are: April Denn, formerly head of partnership solutions at Samsung Ads; Jeff Gocel, previously senior streaming TV agency development manager at Amazon; and Rob Duke, formerly VP of sales, beauty, fashion, health & wellness at Firework.

In addition, the company promoted Robin Duke to VP from director, ad sales.

A+E said it will make its upfront presentation virtually on March 6. A+E has done its presentation online the past few years.

“A+E Networks has been proud to be on the cutting edge of an evolving marketplace, especially in terms of our customer service and practical innovation,“ Olsen said. ”With these great additions to our team, we are once again adjusting our company to meet industry trends. We are delighted to add layers of expertise and diverse skill sets to help us achieve our goals and better align with the priorities of the new marketplace.”

After heading ad sales at Fox, Byrne was president of Zefr, a technology company that provides brand suitability, targeting and measurement services for advertisers on YouTube, Meta and TikTok.

“I’m so pleased to bring to bear all the experiences I've had at both Zefr and Fox broadcasting to A+E Networks,” Byrne said. “Under Peter’s leadership, A+E Networks has always enjoyed the reputation as being the best, most data and ad tech-forward — and highest-level white-glove client service — in the entire media landscape. I’m especially excited to work with Peter and contribute to the great efforts and results of this team.”