Local Media Consortium Expands Google Relationship, Brings Its Content to Google Play Newsstand

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Nov 18, 2015, 08:00 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium (LMC), a partnership of 70+ media companies collectively representing more than 1,600 local newspapers and television stations, today announced that it will be bringing its members' content to Google Play Newsstand, helping readers connect with their content across mobile devices. This builds on an existing partnership with Google, announced last year, in which Google agreed to provide Google search results and ads, ad serving technology, and access to Google's DoubleClick Ad Exchange to create a private, premium marketplace of LMC members.

Google Play Newsstand connects millions of people to news content across their devices. With Play Newsstand, news sources and magazines are formatted and optimized for reading on a tablet or phone including full length content, with beautiful images, audio and video. Under this new agreement, Google Play Newsstand will offer content from the LMC's member media outlets, serving up local news to readers when they need it. As more people turn to mobile devices and local news outlets to see what's happening in their communities, the LMC companies and Google Play Newsstand will be there to keep them in the know.

An update on LMC and Google's Ads Partnership

Today's Newsstand agreement complements the existing ads agreement that the LMC and Google entered in February 2014. Since kicking off the agreement, The LMC has seen strong traction across its membership including:

The LMC memberships generates an average of 15 billion ad impressions monthly, with half of those running in the top 30 designated market areas (DMAs)
35 of LMC's member companies are using LMC's private, premium exchange (www.localmediaconsortium.com) representing more than 1,000 local media properties
More than 250 advertisers and agencies have bought from the LMC's exchange
The LMC has seen revenue across its exchange grow by more than 200% year over year (Q3 2014 to Q3 2015)

"Content from established, trusted local news outlets is a great source of brand-friendly ad inventory with an incredibly engaged audience," said Christian A. Hendricks, Chair of the Local Media Consortium's Executive Committee and Vice President of Products, Marketing and Innovation at The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI). "Partnering with Google over the last 18 months has helped our member publications grow their revenue and become truly competitive in today's digital-first world. We're excited to now extend that partnership and help readers connect with our content across screens, through our new agreement with Google Play Newsstand."

"We are very pleased to welcome the broad selection of trusted local news sources represented by the LMC," said Andrew Madden, Head of Partnerships for Google Play Newsstand. "The reach of Play Newsstand offers LMC member companies another important way to connect with their audiences, while also enabling them to extend their business models to mobile through both ads and subscriptions."

"Many local news organizations are trying to navigate the transition to a mobile-first, programmatic-driven landscape," said Laurent Cordier, Managing Director, Global News Partnerships. "The Local Media Consortium has continued to take a leadership role in the industry on both these fronts and we're thrilled to partner with them as they continue these efforts."

About the Local Media Consortium

The Local Media Consortium is a strategic partnership of leading local media companies representing more than 1,600 newspapers and local television stations in the best markets in the nation. More information about the Local Media Consortium, including a full list of member companies, is available at www.localmediaconsortium.com.

SOURCE Local Media Consortium