WALTER LEVITT

​​​​Walter Levitt has had two careers (so far): more than two decades as a media marketing senior executive, and now his second career as a non-profit CEO.

 

For more than 25 years, Walter was one of North America’s most accomplished marketing and media executives. As a senior leader with companies in Canada and the US, he successfully transformed mature businesses and grew startups. Walter was known as a marketing innovator who drove change, championed bold approaches, and led digital transformation.


In 2018, Walter made the decision to combine his passion and his profession when he accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer of Ramah Darom, a Jewish non-profit in Atlanta. You can read more about Walter's "second career" in this blog post.


After leaving the media industry in 2017, Walter launched a Toronto-based marketing services company CMOish Inc. where he and his Associates provide senior marketing expertise to organizations across a diverse range of categories and industries. You can learn more at CMOish.com.


Prior to that start-up, Walter spent six years as Chief Marketing Officer at Comedy Central in NYC. He led multiple successful new initiatives including a strategic repositioning of the brand, boldly accelerating Comedy Central's transition into the digital world; the introduction of numerous high profile multiplatform hits including Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah;  and the launch of the widely acclaimed Comedy Central App. He also oversaw the marketing of Comedy’s Central’s highest-rated specials of all time, The Roast of Charlie Sheen and The Roast of Justin Bieber. Walter and his team negotiated key partnerships with Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and others. Under his leadership, Comedy Central was widely acknowledged for its innovative multiplatform approach to branding and marketing. 


Walter has been a frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences, has won numerous awards for marketing excellence, and has been profiled in prominent business and marketing publications including the books "CMOs at Work" and "The TV Brand Builders". He was featured in Variety's first ever Marketing Impact Report, named one of Marketing Magazine’s “Top Thought Leaders”, elected as an Honourary Life Member of the Canadian Marketing Association, and was listed at #12 on ExecRank’s inaugural ranking of the top private company CMOs in America. Walter is a past Board Chair of the Canadian Marketing Association and has served on many non-profit Boards including the Banff World Media Festival, PromaxBDA, TanenbaumCHAT, JFL42 and others. He is also well known for his active involvement in social media including his popular Twitter feed @MediaMktgGuy and his blog Dispatches from the Exit Row.

Prior to Comedy Central, Walter was Chief Marketing Officer at Canwest Broadcasting in Canada where he oversaw a portfolio of over twenty tv and digital brands including broadcast network Global Television, Food Network, History Television, National Geographic, and Showcase. Prior to Canwest, he was Senior Vice President, Marketing & Creative Services at Alliance Atlantis and also worked in key marketing and sales roles at the CTV Television Network and at CJEZ-FM in Toronto.  A Montreal native, Walter began his career as an on-air producer at legendary radio station CKGM.

Walter splits his time between Atlanta and Toronto, where his pediatrician wife and three children are based.

Other places you can find Walter: