Johnston Press, one of the largest regional multimedia organisations in the UK, has partnered with Sky to help regional business advertise on TV.
The deal means from next month Sky’s AdSmart will made available to parts of Johnston Press’ sales network, allowing small and medium-sized businesses access to an advertising medium usually deemed out of bounds due to high costs and unnecessarily high reach.
Already available in more than a fifth of UK households, Sky AdSmart tailors what is shown in TV ad breaks according to a household’s location and profile and will “help level the playing field for local businesses,” according to Andrew Griffith, Sky’s managing director, commercial businesses.
The platform, which went live in August 2013 in six million households, has been broadly welcomed by the industry and secured a double win at the annual Connected Consumer Awards in March for both ‘Best Technology’ and ‘Best Innovation’.
Judges for the awards described the platform as “extremely clever and innovative” and praised it for using “amazing technology.”
Jamie West, director of AdSmart and commercial development at BSkyB, said: “We set out with the ambition to grow the TV ad market – or rather, make TV more relevant to more brands, and I think we’ve done that.”
The partnership will begin with two markets: the first of these covers Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield; and the second, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Peterborough. The Sky AdSmart team will work with Johnston Press’ 1,600-strong advertising sales force to initially deliver campaigns.
Johnston Press attracts an average monthly audience of around 24.5 million across its portfolio of newspapers, lifestyle magazines and local news and e-commerce websites.
Local advertisers who have already signed up include insurance group First Central, Wessex Garages, BMI Hospitals and the Hampshire Ford dealership, Hendy.
In total, one quarter of the brands that have signed up for Sky AdSmart are either new to TV advertising or had previously left the market.
As part of the deal, Sky has also today conditionally agreed to subscribe for 13.7 million new ordinary shares in Johnston Press at the placing price of 17 pence per share. The total investment to be made by Sky under the placing and the rights issue will be approximately £5 million.
“Johnston Press has been focused on its vision to become a truly multimedia business over the last two years,” said Ashley Highfield, CEO of Johnston Press.
“This agreement with Sky is testament to the platform we have put in place. That Sky has further demonstrated its conviction in our strategy by investing in our business is particularly encouraging.
“The strength of our sales team network and our relationships with small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK position us well to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of advertising and marketing solutions. We already have 300,000 local business customers who benefit from our expertise and it is exciting that we will now be able to offer them Sky AdSmart local.”
