Disney is poised to ramp its already booming advertising business. Rita Ferro is behind the push Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, is central to the company’s strategy of monetizing its vast portfolio of entertainment, news, and sports properties. Her leadership focuses on leveraging fandom, innovation, and technological advancements to create dynamic brand partnership opportunities across linear TV, digital, and streaming platforms. Ferro’s extensive experience and her non-traditional path to leadership position her to drive international growth and capitalize on the increasing importance of advertising in the evolving media landscape.

• Rita Ferro leads Disney’s global advertising sales across all its entertainment, news, and sports properties.
• She emphasizes ‘fandom’ as a key strategy to unite Disney’s divisions and drive brand partnerships.
• Ferro has a 29-year career at Disney, rising through various roles in advertising and digital media.
• Disney is focusing on technology and data to improve ad targeting and measurement for clients.
• International growth is a major priority, with plans to expand the ad-supported streaming business abroad.
• Live sports, particularly with events like the Super Bowl, are crucial for attracting large audiences and ad dollars.
• The company is investing in its ad tech stack to control its advertising destiny and compete with tech giants.