Michael Kassan

Biography

After receiving his BA/JD from UCLA and LLM-Taxation from NYU, Kassan began his career as a tax lawyer in the entertainment industry where he practiced for 10+ years.

Kassan is married to Ronnie and has three children.

Business career

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

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.

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

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

MediaLink

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

Since 2010, MediaLink has become a leader in agency reviews. It played an important role in the 3MS: Making Measurement Make Sense 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.

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. As a partner to the CEA, MediaLink helped build the "Brand Matters" official programming track at CES. 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, 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.

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

Media career

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.

Kassan is a keynote speaker, moderator and blogger.

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

Kassan has appeared as an industry expert in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Ad Week, Ad Age, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

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

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

Community involvement

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

Kassan sits on the board of the San Diego Zoo and previously served as Chairman of the California State Senate Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry. 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.