Yahoo! Boosts Messina to Court Entertainment Marketers

Former Warner Brothers exec Vince Messina is getting a larger role in Yahoo's interactive ad sales operation, where he's been since 2002. Messina has been elevated to entertainment sales category development officer from entertainment sales director.

Messina will be responsible for media sales to the theatrical, home video, TV, and game industries for the entire Yahoo network. This will include figuring out ways to grow the business in the entertainment category. Messina's elevation is a reward for building stronger relationships with the major studios, the company said.

Prior to joining Yahoo in 2002, Messina worked for many years at Warner Brothers. During some of that time, he was senior VP and general sales manager for Telepictures Distribution, where he worked on sales and marketing for series such as "ER" and "The Jamie Foxx Show."