Cox Digital Solutions Acquires Internet Broadcasting's Local Network Business

NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Digital Solutions, the market's first digital media solutions provider for national, regional and local agencies, advertisers and publishers, is making a strategic move to further enhance its foothold in the online advertising industry by acquiring the IB Local Network business and advertising sales group of Internet Broadcasting. This combination creates a company with the scale and resources to deliver industry-leading solutions that address the rapidly growing market. This latest move follows the announcement on Tuesday of the merger of Adify and Cox Cross Media to create Cox Digital Solutions.

With the acquisition, Cox Digital Solutions, a division of New Yorkbased Cox Reps, now has more than 150 employees across 10 markets. The new Cox Digital Solutions will deliver a unique mix of local and vertical content blended with industry-leading targeting and provide a truly differentiated offering through its deep publisher relationships.

"Today is a significant step forward in securing our position in the market," said Steve Shaw, President of Cox Digital Solutions. "IB Local Network's publisher relationships and media sales power are a natural fit with Cox Digital Solutions. This combination will enable us to meet a wider set of customer needs through a richer solution set, increase efficiencies, and significantly expand our opportunities for growth."

Cox Digital Solutions has started integrating the companies' products, customers, and employees to ensure a smooth transition that will deliver value to customers and partners.

With the sale of its local network business to Cox Digital Solutions, Internet Broadcasting (http://www.ibsys.com) is now able to fully focus on providing publishers with its digital publishing platform and services. "We can now concentrate on what has always been our core business –helping our media publisher clients use their content and consumer relationships to build a powerful digital presence by providing them with the most contemporary publishing platform and services available in North America," said Roger Keating, Interim CEO of Internet Broadcasting and SVP Digital Media for Hearst Television. "At the same time, by placing the IB Local Network with an outstanding organization like Cox, we're doing right by our former advertising clients and employees."  

About Cox Reps

Part of Cox Media Group, Cox Reps (www.coxreps.com) is the top billing television ad-sales company, representing approximately 40 percent of all national spot advertising. Cox Media Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, is an integrated broadcasting, publishing and digital media company. With $1.8 billion in revenues, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, four metro newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.  Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America.   For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.  

About Cox Digital Solutions

Cox Digital Solutions provides compelling online advertising solutions that connect advertisers with engaged users and publishers with quality brands. As the only company to offer the largest integrated source of premium national reach and local engagement including 7,000+ specialty content and 1,300 local sites, Cox Digital Solutions delivers results for advertisers, agencies, and publishers. Cox Digital Solutions, a subsidiary of Cox Reps, part of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group, meets the needs of advertisers, agencies, and publishers. The company is headquartered in New York, NY. Learn more at www.coxdigitalsolutions.com.

About Internet Broadcasting

Internet Broadcasting is the leading provider of solutions that deeply engage audiences and increase revenue for media publishers and advertisers.  IB customers get measurable results using end-to-end and a la carte solutions for SaaS Web publishing, news & content and local advertising.  IB customers succeed because they are able to navigate the rapidly changing marketplace and grow their digital businesses in a demonstrably cost-effective way. For more information visit www.ibsys.com.

SOURCE Cox Media Group