MTV Networks Launches the 'Comedy Tribe,' Its Newest Vertical Ad Network
Exclusive Ad Repping Partnership with JibJab.com Offers Advertisers Greater Scale and Extensive Sponsorship Opportunities
NEW YORK, Jan. 26 -- MTV Networks (MTVN), a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today expanded its "Tribes" vertical ad network initiative with the launch of the humor-focused Comedy Tribe, anchored by ComedyCentral.com. Among the launch publishers in the new vertical ad network is JibJab.com, the nationally-recognized producer of premium video content and digital greetings, which has signed an exclusive ad repping agreement with MTVN.
"Tribes have proven to be a powerful tool to offer our advertisers greater scale and connect them with relevant and engaged consumers online," said Heather Hopkins, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Tribes. "With the launch of the Comedy Tribe and the partnership with JibJab, we're able to offer advertisers access to even more consumers as well as high levels of targetability, accountability, and deep brand integrations across some of the most popular and premium comedy sites on the Web."
Under its agreement with JibJab, MTVN will serve as the exclusive sales force for all advertising inventory on the site, as well as JibJab's popular brand integrations and custom sponsorships. During 2008, JibJab.com received 105 million visits and the company currently has over 6.3 million registered members.
"JibJab has extensive reach but has always struggled to get mindshare with a large number of big brands," said JibJab's CEO, Gregg Spiridellis. "We believe working with the best comedy ad sales team in the world at MTV Networks will give us an opportunity to educate brands about our audience and premium content offerings at a scale that was never before possible."
"We knew that JibJab's proven ability to create highly engaging, viral branded entertainment would be of enormous value to our advertisers," said Hopkins.
MTVN's Tribes are demographic-focused vertical ad networks anchored by the company's core digital properties and extend to sites beyond its online portfolio. The Tribes are intended to offer advertisers extensions of the same audiences and content they find on MTVN sites, while offering greater scale and efficiency. The newly-launched Comedy Tribe joins MTVN's Parenting Tribe, anchored by ParentsConnect.com, MTV Generation Tribe and Tribes from CMT, Spike and VH1. Through the Tribes initiative, MTVN currently sells inventory across more than 220 partner sites and offers 17 vertical targeting categories.
About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.
About JibJab
JibJab is a leading provider of digital greetings and online entertainment. From its offbeat Sendables® eCards to personalized Starring You!® videos and irreverent viral videos, JibJab is on a mission to help more people share more laughs than any other company in the history of the world. With over 100 million visits to its website in the past twelve months and 6 million registered members, the company is well on its way to doing it. For more info go to JibJab.com/about.
SOURCE MTV Networks
CONTACT: Mark Jafar of MTV Networks, +1-212-846-8961 [email protected] or Joey Infortuno of JibJab, [email protected]
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