Media General Stations to Launch Yahoo! Display Ad Sales

RICHMOND, VA.: Media General plans to extend part of its Yahoo! ad sales partnership to all of its 18 television stations by the end of 2010. By doing so, Media General becomes the first member of the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium to sell Yahoo! Display ads at television stations. The company’s newspapers generated $7 million in revenue last year from Yahoo! ads. Related revenues are anticipated to reach $10 million this year. The addition of the TV stations is expected to increase Yahoo! Display revenues by around 50 percent annually.

The initiative follows the recent completion of a pilot program in four of Media General’s television markets. The pilot markets were Birmingham, Ala.; Columbus, Ohio; Mobile, Ala.; and Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C./Asheville, N.C., where Media General has two stations. The company will expand the program to eight additional television stations later this month and will continue in the four pilot markets. Media General said it’s been selling Yahoo! Display advertising in its five convergence markets, which include newspapers and TV stations, since 2007.

Yahoo! Displays comprise targeted banner ads that appear on Yahoo.com pages displayed to users in Media General markets. The advertisements target users in specific ZIP codes and demographics, or who exhibit certain online behaviors, that advertisers want to reach.