ThinkAnalytics has appointed James Shears as Senior Vice President of Advertising. In this role, Shears will lead the global strategy and commercial expansion of ThinkAnalytics’ advertising solutions.
According to ThinkAnalytics, Shears brings more than 20 years of experience across TV, streaming media and data-driven advertising. Before joining ThinkAnalytics, he served as Vice President (VP) of Business Development and Client Partnerships at XR Extreme Reach.
The company stated Shears will focus on driving adoption of ThinkAnalytics’ privacy-safe audience intelligence and metadata enrichment solutions – helping media owners increase yield, grow premium inventory, and deliver more relevant, effective advertising.
Eddie Young, chairman and co-founder of ThinkAnalytics, said Shears “brings exactly the right mix of advertising expertise, data strategy, and commercial leadership to drive our next chapter. As the industry moves toward first-party data and outcome-driven advertising, his leadership will help customers turn their own data into a strategic asset.”
Shears commented: “Media owners are sitting on incredibly valuable first-party data, and there’s a real opportunity to get more value from the viewership and content signals they see every day. ThinkAnalytics is uniquely positioned to use AI to transform data into high-value audience segments, content intelligence, and enriched metadata creating deeper engagement between viewers, content and advertisers while strengthening connections across the ecosystem.”
Spain’s LaLiga teams with Fastly to target streaming piracy
LaLiga is collaborating with San Francisco-based edge cloud platform provider Fastly to develop technical solutions to address illegal streaming of live sports, with a special focus on the Spanish league’s football matches.
Women's elite sports revenues to reach $3bn in 2026
Global revenues in women’s elite sports will reach at least $3bn (£2.2bn) for the first time in 2026, according to new research by consultancy Deloitte.
SVOD market entering a ‘more disciplined phase’ – report
Global SVOD subscriptions have reached 2.2 billion worldwide and are on track to achieve 2.6 billion by 2030, according to Futuresource Consulting.
Gen Alpha leads shift to AI-powered TV recommendations
Gen Alpha is leading a shift towards AI-powered recommendations for TV viewing options, according to new research by Gracenote, the content intelligence business unit of Nielsen.
UK competition authority to investigate Paramount-WBD merger
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to launch an inquiry into Paramount Skydance's planned $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery this month.
