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TVNZ appoints Kerry Leonard as sport and enterprise partnership lead
TVNZ has appointed Kerry Leonard as sport and enterprise partnership lead.
Leonard brings extensive sales leadership and partnership experience to the newly created role. She’s held senior positions including head of commercial partnerships and creative at Knack by Warner Bros Discovery, agency strategy director at Discovery Inc. and general manager of culture at The Social Agency.
The appointment comes as TVNZ expands its sport offering with a comprehensive sport hub on TVNZ+ and preparations underway for the FIFA World Cup 26, which will include both free-to-air and pay TV options for viewers.
“The sheer volume and variety of sport we now have on offer at TVNZ made it critical to have someone in our sales team dedicated to working with clients on these opportunities,” says chief revenue officer Valerie Walshe.
“We’re delighted to have Kerry on board to ensure brands make the most of amazing sporting moments like the summer of Cricket, FIFA, the ANZ Netball Premiership, provincial rugby and more”.
Leonard says: “I’ve spent over 20 years building partnerships in media, and still get genuinely excited when I see an opportunity to connect brands with audiences in ways that actually matter.
“Sports partnerships are particularly interesting to me because the passion is real – people care, they engage, they remember. The opportunity to work for TVNZ, a brand that Kiwis really trust, was one I couldn’t resist.
“I’m excited to build great relationships with existing partners, connect with enterprise clients who might not yet have considered TVNZ, and explore partnership models that go beyond traditional sponsorship – things that make brands say, ‘now that’s clever’,” she adds.
Leonard begins her role on October 20.
