Local Media Consortium Seeks Sales Representation for Its Local Ad Inventory

Proposals now being accepted for agencies and rep firms that can connect advertisers with top local publishers in premium markets

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Local Media Consortium

Apr 16, 2014, 09:00 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium, a nationwide alliance of leading local media outlets, today announced a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking agencies and rep firms to represent its premium local inventory to advertisers and help secure advertising agreements.

Powered by Google's DoubleClick Ad Exchange platform, the Local Media Consortium is creating a private exchange among its membership and will make the Consortium's premium digital advertising inventory available by real-time bidding through Google's DoubleClick Ad Exchange to select agencies and rep firms.

The Local Media Consortium represents more than 800 daily newspapers and 200 local broadcast outlets and serves up more than 12 billion advertising impressions each month from its affiliated digital properties.

"We're looking for proven firms that can get a tremendous opportunity out in front of advertisers across the country and help broker sales," said Christian A. Hendricks, vice president, interactive media for The McClatchy Company and the Consortium's executive committee chairman. "We're building a very attractive and effective exchange when you consider the collective size, scale and impact of the Consortium's digital assets and the fact our membership represents premium brands in some of the best markets in the country. We expect a lot of advertisers will want to participate."

The firms ultimately chosen to represent the Local Media Consortium will need to:

Establish and maintain relationships with major agencies and advertisers
Continually prospect for new relationships
Stay in regular contact with the Local Media Consortium and advertisers and be responsive to their needs
Secure new agreements to participate in the exchange

Specifics of the RFP can be obtained by contacting Local Media Consortium Executive Director Rusty Coats at [email protected]. Formal proposals are due back to the Local Media Consortium by the close of business on May 16, 2014.

Founded in 2006, the Local Media Consortium today includes nearly 50 member companies and has strategic partnerships with Google, Yahoo! and Monster. Additional media companies have expressed interest in joining the Consortium and discussions are ongoing to add new members.

About the Local Media Consortium (http://localmediaconsortium.com)

Local Media Consortium members are: A.H. Belo, The Bakersfield Californian, Ballantine Communications, BH Media Group, Boston Globe Media Partners, The Buffalo News, Calkins Media, Columbian Publishing Company, Cooke North Carolina Publications, Cox Media Group, The Day Publishing Company, Deseret Digital Media, Digital First Media, The Dispatch Printing Company, Freedom Communications, GateHouse Media, Halifax Media Group, Hearst Newspapers, Herald Interactive, Lee Enterprises, The McClatchy Company, Morris Communications, New York Daily News, The Oklahoma Publishing Company, Paddock Publications, Paxton Media, Randall Family, Scripps, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Shaw Family Holdings, Sonoma Media Investments, Star Tribune Media Company, Sun-Times Media, Tampa Media Group, Tennessee Valley Printing Company, Times-Shamrock Communications, Trib Total Media and WEHCO MEDIA.

The media outlets represented by the Local Media Consortium include major market daily newspapers and leading local television stations such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, The Kansas City Star, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, Miami Herald, Omaha World-Herald, Orange County Register, The Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Tampa Tribune, WMAR, Channel 2, Baltimore; WXYZ, Channel 7, Detroit; WRTV, Channel 6, Indianapolis; WFTV, Channel 9, Orlando; KNX-TV, Channel 15, Phoenix; and KIRO-TV Channel 7, Seattle.