ThinkAnalytics Appoints James Shears as SVP of Advertising

ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-powered data analytics for TV and streaming, has today announced the appointment of James Shears as Senior Vice President of Advertising. In this newly created role, Shears will take the lead on the global strategy and commercial expansion for ThinkAnalytics' advertising solutions suite.

Shears brings more than 20 years of experience across TV, streaming media and data-driven advertising. Before joining ThinkAnalytics, he served as VP of Business Development and Client Partnerships at XR Extreme Reach and previously held senior leadership roles including SVP of Client Solutions at Nielsen, GM of Advanced TV at The Trade Desk, and Head of Programmatic and Addressable at DISH Network. Earlier in his career, he also held senior roles at Scripps and TV Guide Network.

As broadcasters, streaming and FAST platforms increasingly shift to AI and first-party data, 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.

"ThinkAnalytics has spent two decades building the AI and data foundation that powers the world's largest TV and streaming platforms. James brings exactly the right mix of advertising expertise, data strategy, and commercial leadership to drive our next chapter," said Eddie Young, Chairman and co-founder of ThinkAnalytics. "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."

The ThinkMediaAI platform unifies audience, content, and metadata intelligence to help media companies unlock the full value of their first-party data. Benefits include personalized discovery, enriched metadata, and high-performing advertising across linear, CTV, and streaming environments.

"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," said James Shears, SVP of Advertising at ThinkAnalytics. "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."

Today, the ThinkMediaAI platform powers more than 8 billion daily recommendations and supports over 500 million viewers across 47 languages and multiple countries.

www.thinkanalytics.com