Ex Hulu marketing boss in at Discovery

Discovery has announced the hire of Patrizio “Pato” Spagnoletto as the global chief marketing officer of its direct-to-consumer business.

Based in Los Angeles, Spagnoletto will play a key role in establishing the recently launched discovery+ as a major player in the SVOD market. In this newly created role, the exec will oversee a unified global direct-to-consumer marketing organization that will drive adoption of discovery+ across North America, EMEA, LATAM and APAC and have broad responsibilities for subscriber acquisition, retention and growth, media and analytics, brand awareness, marketing creative development and strategy, and consumer insights. 

Spagnoletto joins from Hulu, where he served as the streamer’s head of marketing. He also held leadership positions at Steelhouse, Farmers Insurance and Yahoo!.

The exec reports to the company’s President and CEO of Discovery International JB Perrette, who said: “We are thrilled that Pato is joining our team in this new global DTC leadership role at a transformational moment for our company. Pato helped Hulu more than triple subscribers during his tenure and has experience with direct-to-consumer entertainment, sports and linear channels, which is a perfect match for our different discovery+ offerings around the world. We have enormous ambition for discovery+ and believe Pato is uniquely qualified to help us scale globally.”

Spagnoletto said: “I could not be more excited to join such an incredible company at such an exhilarating time. I have always admired Discovery and look forward to joining such a talented team and contributing to the next chapter of their storied success.”