Nielsen, a pioneer in audience measurement and data analytics, has appointed Karthik Rao as its new CEO, effective immediately. The current CEO, David Kenny, who has held the position since 2018, will transition into the role of executive chairman.
Rao, who has been promoted to the CEO position, expressed his excitement about the new opportunity and his long-standing connection with Nielsen. He emphasized the company’s commitment to providing clients, the advertising industry, and content creators with the most accurate information possible.
He noted the significance of working with Nielsen’s global team during a period of unprecedented transformation in the industry. Rao looks forward to steering Nielsen into the future, positioning the company for continued success.
Previously, Rao served as the CEO of Nielsen’s Audience Measurement business since the beginning of 2023. In this role, he led the development of Nielsen’s audience measurement capabilities in a rapidly changing media landscape, with the goal of creating a unified currency for media distribution and consumption worldwide.
Before becoming CEO, Rao held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Nielsen. Additionally, he served as the CEO of Nielsen Portfolio, where he oversaw operations in major international markets for Nielsen Entertainment, Nielsen Gracenote, Nielsen Brandbank, and Nielsen Telecom.
Rao also plays a role as an executive sponsor of Nielsen’s Asian American Employee Resource Group on the Diversity Council. He has served on the boards of NCSolutions and OpenSlate since 2019, both of which are global providers of brand safety and contextual analytics for digital video content.
With his educational background, Rao holds an MBA in marketing from Illinois State University, along with a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from Loyola College in Chennai, India.
