CBS Television Stations Launches Local Digital Ad Initiative

NEW
YORK, March 18: CBS Television Stations has launched the CBS Local Ad Network,
which allows CBS-owned stations across the U.S. to syndicate ad-supported local
news "widgets" to a variety of blogs and local sites in the
communities they serve.

This
marks the first partnership of its kind between a major media company's
television stations and local bloggers and social-media websites. Each widget
will feature top local headlines and images with links to the video and text
stories on the CBS station's site. A companion banner advertisement is included
in the widget. The CBS stations will deliver real-time news feeds to the
widget, allowing the content on the local partner sites to constantly change
and update 24 hours a day. In exchange for publishing the CBS local news
widgets, owners of the local sites will receive a portion of the advertising
revenue generated by the CBS stations, which will be responsible for selling
the ad inside each widget.

The
CBS Local Ad Network has already received support from major advertisers that
include AT&T, North Texas Honda Dealers and Liberty Mutual Insurance. The
CBS Local Ad Network has launched in Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco,
Denver and Chicago. The rollout will continue over the next several weeks, and
will include the CBS-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

The
recruitment and management of local blogs and social media sites that will form
the core of the CBS Local Ad Network is being administered by SyndiGO, a new
division of Seevast Corp., a provider of advertising networks and network
enabling services.

"The
CBS Local Ad Network again positions our stations at the forefront of an
unprecedented locally focused venture,” said Jonathan Leess, the president and
general manager of CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group. "After
first setting the standard for local news coverage online, our stations now
lead the effort to engage other local sites—and we invite them to share
in the revenue. The CBS Local Ad Network also opens up exciting new avenues for
our advertising partners to efficiently extend their reach to valued local
audiences while associating themselves with our CBS brands and content."

—By
Irene Lew