Local Media Consortium, Google Enter Strategic Partnership

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium, a nationwide alliance of leading local media outlets, today announced that it has entered a three-year agreement with Google that will provide its members with Google search and ad-serving technology and the opportunity to leverage Google's advertising exchange to create a marketplace of premium local publishers.

The Local Media Consortium represents more than 800 daily newspapers and 200 local broadcast outlets in some of the best markets in the nation. This scaled agreement makes it possible for every member company to easily access to Google's suite of publisher tools to help them tap into new and increased revenue opportunities.

Collectively, Local Media Consortium member websites and their other digital assets offer 10 billion monthly ad impressions, 2 billion page views and 240 million monthly unique visitors. The advertising exchange powered by Google will increase opportunities for national advertisers and advertising agencies to more effectively reach these premium local audiences in an efficient way that delivers more value to both advertisers and publishers.

"By partnering with Google we are able to bring Google's digital tools, technology and sales opportunities to all of our media members and our advertisers across the country," said Patrick J. Talamantes, President and Chief Executive Officer for The McClatchy Company, a founding member of the Consortium. "The vast size and scale of the Consortium's collective audience makes this kind of partnership possible with one of the world's top digital companies. We're excited about the possibilities of this partnership."

"The Local Media Consortium represents the best of what the web has to offer in terms of content and engaged local audiences," said Laurent Cordier, Managing Director, Americas Partnerships, News & Magazines for Google. "We're looking forward to working with their leadership and members to build on this partnership and help grow the businesses of valued newspapers and news stations from across the country."

The products and services at the heart of the Local Media Consortium-Google partnership include:

- Local Media Consortium Advertising Exchange: The Local Media Consortium will be creating a private exchange among its membership, powered by the DoubleClick Ad Exchange. This new exchange will represent more than 800 daily newspapers and 200 local broadcast outlets, and serve up a collective 10 billion advertising impressions each month from the affiliated digital properties.

- DoubleClick for Publishers: Google's innovative ad-serving and management platform will help members power their digital ads businesses across desktop, mobile and video.

- AdSense Contextual Ads:  Members will have the chance to earn additional revenue from contextually matched ads that appear on their website and in search results (powered by Google Custom Search).

The Local Media Consortium today represents 41 member companies. Additional media companies have expressed interest in joining the Consortium and discussions are ongoing to add new members.

About the Local Media Consortium (http://localmediaconsortium.com)

Local Media Consortium members are: A.H. Belo, The Bakersfield Californian, Ballantine Communications, BH Media Group, Boston Globe Media Partners, The Buffalo News, Calkins Media, Columbian Publishing Company, Cooke North Carolina Publications, Cox Media Group, The Day Publishing Company, Deseret Digital Media, Digital First Media, The Dispatch Printing Company, Freedom Communications, GateHouse Media, Halifax Media Group, Hearst Newspapers, Herald Interactive, Lee Enterprises, The McClatchy Company, Morris Communications, New York Daily News, The Oklahoma Publishing Company, Paddock Publications, Paxton Media, Randall Family, Scripps, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Shaw Family Holdings, Sonoma Media Investments, Star Tribune Media Company, Sun-Times Media, Tampa Media Group, Tennessee Valley Printing Company, Times-Shamrock Communications, Trib Total Media and WEHCO MEDIA.

The media outlets represented by the Local Media Consortium include major market daily newspapers and leading local television stations such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, The Kansas City Star, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, Miami Herald, Omaha World-Herald, Orange County Register, The Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Tampa Tribune, WMAR, Channel 2, Baltimore; WXYZ, Channel 7, Detroit; WRTV, Channel 6, Indianapolis; WFTV, Channel 9, Orlando;  KNX-TV, Channel 15, Phoenix; and KIRO-TV Channel 7, Seattle.

SOURCE Local Media Consortium