David F. Poltrack
Chief Research Officer, CBS Corporation
President, CBS VISION
David F. Poltrack is Chief Research Officer, CBS Corporation and President of CBS VISION. Poltrack
oversees all research operations at CBS encompassing audience measurement, market research, program
testing, advertising research, and monitoring of the national and international video marketplace. He also
designed and oversees CBS TELEVISION CITY at the MGM GRAND, Las Vegas, the state of the art
Research Center providing ongoing consumer feedback concerning all programming and new
entertainment technologies. CBS VISION is a research unit exploring and offering insight on emerging
technologies, media consumption patterns, and advertising value in the media marketplace.
He joined CBS in 1969 as Manager, Marketing Services, CBS Television Stations, National Sales. After
holding various positions with CBS Television Stations, in 1979 Poltrack was named Vice President,
Marketing Services for the CBS Television Network. In 1982, he was named Vice President, Research,
CBS/Broadcast Group, and in 1988, he was appointed Senior Vice President, Planning and Research,
CBS/Broadcast Group. He was promoted to Executive Vice President, Research and Planning, CBS
Television in 1994.
Poltrack is past chairman of the Media Rating Council (MRC), chairman of the executive committee of the
Marketing Science Institute, past president of the Market Research Council and in 2009 was inducted into
their Hall of Fame, vice president of the Advertising Research Council, and a member of the National
Association of Television Arts and Sciences. He is past chairman and currently secretary of the board for
the Advertising Research Foundation, and a former member of the board of the International Radio and
Television Foundation (IRTF).
He is winner of the Hugh Malcolm Beville, Jr. Award presented by the National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB) and the Broadcast Education Association in recognition of individuals who have made
significant contributions to the design, use or understanding of broadcast audience research.
As Adjunct Professor at New York University, he teaches courses on the graduate level at both the NYU
Stern School of Business and the Steinhardt School of Education.
He is author of Television Marketing: Network, Local, and Cable (McGraw-Hill). His articles are
published in professional journals including the Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal of Psychology
and Marketing, and the European Broadcasting Union Review.
He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A., magna cum laude, History) and New York
University (M.B.A., Marketing).