Michael Kassan

After receiving his BA from UCLA,[3] JD from Southwestern Law School[4] and LLM-Taxation from NYU, Kassan began his career as a tax lawyer in the entertainment industry where he practiced for over 10 years.[5]

Kassan is married to Ronnie and has three children, Alex, Brett and Adam.[6]

After several entrepreneurial ventures, Kassan become the largest franchisee of El Pollo Loco and Rally’s Hamburgers in Southern California, Northern California, and Nevada.[7]

In 1986, Kassan entered the entertainment business as the President and COO of International Video Entertainment, a home video company which now comprises a large portion of Lionsgate.[8]

In 1994, Kassan joined Initiative Media Worldwide as President/COO and Vice-Chairman.[9] In that role, Kassan emphasized strategic management of diversified portfolios and helped grow media billings from $1.5 billion to over $10 billion.[10]

In 1997, he was named one of the top media executives in America by Advertising Age Magazine.[11]

Kassan founded MediaLink in 2003 as advertising, marketing, content, sales, service and commerce become more closely linked through technology.[12] The company advises leading media companies and executives.[13]" It has been described as "a powerhouse in the media and entertainment world."[14] It has over seventy operators working out of offices in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.[15] The company now offers agency reviews, executive search, trade marketing and financial due diligence.[16][17]

Since 2010, MediaLink has become a leader in agency reviews.[18] The firm has authored industry-advocacy reports, partnering with the Digital Citizens Alliance to create Good Money Gone Bad, which brought attention to how advertising dollars fund copyright infringement sites.[19]

The firm has helped to build industry consensus by organizing conferences and events, such as CES, Cannes, Mobile World Congress, ANA Masters of Marketing, AAAA's Transformation and the IAB.[20] As a partner to the CEA, MediaLink helped build the "Brand Matters" official programming track at CES.[21] that features keynote speeches and panel events with luminaries from Silicon Valley to Madison Avenue.

Since 2014, the firm has offered consulting in programmatic ad technology,[22] hiring Matt Spiegel, former SVP at MediaMath. Daryl Evans, a former VP at AT&T, was appointed SVP, Mobile, Media, and Advertising Strategy at MediaLink.[14]

Today, MediaLink employs about 70 people.[23] It has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.[24]

Kassan produces and hosts a radio show on Clear Channel, "Medialinked -- Inside Advertising and Media with Michael Kassan." The show airs online on iHeartRadio and wor710.com.[25]

Kassan is a keynote speaker, moderator and blogger.[26][27]

His blog post highlighting measurement in media mix modeling prompted the radio industry to take out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal.[28]

Kassan has appeared as an industry expert in Forbes,[29] The Wall Street Journal,[12][30] Ad Week,[31] Ad Age,[32] The New York Times,[33][34] and the Los Angeles Times.[35]

He served as a Special Adviser to Buddy Media[36] through its ultimate acquisition by Salesforce.com.[37]

Kassan will serve as the advertiser co-chair of Forecast 2015, along Katz Media Group CEO, Mark Rosenthal.[38]

Kassan serves as Chair of the UJA-New York Marketing Communications Committee,[39] Co-Chair of the Advertising Hall of Achievement, on the Board of the National Association of Television Program Executives,[40] the Global Advisory Board of the Wharton Future of Advertising Program,[41] and a Director on the Board of the Ad Council.[42]

Kassan sits on the board of the San Diego Zoo[43] and previously served as Chairman of the California State Senate Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry.[44] He has been actively involved with the H.E.L.P. Group, a non-profit organization serving children with special needs, and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program of Los Angeles.