Couple interesting follow-ups to the big news at CNN and Internet Broadcasting:
- Pipeline will be free beginning next month, and CNN.com plans to repackage all of its video offerings (likely dumping the Pipeline brand) by July 1st.
- To clarify the CNN-IB deal — which was the source of a lot of discussion earlier — a source tells Lost Remote that CNN.com will link directly to IB local stories and vice-versa. In effect, it’s a preferred aggregation approach that’s designed to boost unique users for both partners. IB stories will be linked on CNN.com on their merits, which will appear on CNN.com’s home page and U.S. and weather sections.
- IB will sell banner ad packages in select CNN.com inventory and IB inventory, according to Joe Dugan, SVP CNN Digital Ad Sales. “Both companies will continue to work with our respective clients and we will work closely with IB to avoid sales conflicts when contacting new clients. We see this relationship as an extension of our sales team,” Dugan said.
Press release on the partnership follows below…
PRESS RELEASE — CNN and Internet Broadcasting, the nation’s largest publisher of TV station Web sites, have entered a strategic alliance that combines Internet Broadcasting’s network of local news content with CNN’s global newsgathering resources, it was announced today by Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide.
As part of the relationship, CNN and Internet Broadcasting will also create a unique advertising opportunity that leverages CNN.com’s national audience with Internet Broadcasting’s local reach. To reinforce the strategic alliance, CNN will acquire an equity stake in Internet Broadcasting, joining Hearst-Argyle Television, Post-Newsweek Stations, McGraw-Hill Broadcasting and Split Rock Partners as investors in the company.
“CNN’s global reporting attracts millions of online consumers to CNN.com for domestic and international news every day,” Walton said. “Partnering with Internet Broadcasting adds another dimension – enhanced coverage of local news and events – and brings CNN reporting to significantly more people online.”
As part of their agreement, the companies will share local, national and international content important to online news consumers. Leveraging its network of TV station Web sites, Internet Broadcasting will supply local news content to CNN.com, which will appear on the home page as well as in the “U.S. News” and “Weather” sections. In turn, national, political and international content from CNN.com will appear on the home page and national news pages of Internet Broadcasting sites.
“Our partnership with CNN provides tremendous benefits for our online news consumers, station partners and advertisers,” said Reid Johnson, founder and president of Internet Broadcasting. “Our visitors expect the most up-to-date coverage of news that hits home from our award-winning online journalists who sit in the newsrooms of our partner stations. Now, our visitors gain access to one of the most trusted global news sources, CNN, on their local TV station Web site. Our advertisers also benefit by getting the best of both worlds – national reach and local relevance.”
The companies will create a new and distinctive online advertising opportunity that will offer relevant, new ad platforms for clients on both a national and local level by leveraging the broad national reach of CNN.com with the local and regional reach of Internet Broadcasting’s sites. Internet Broadcasting will offer select CNN.com ad placements as part of its nationwide, regional or market-by-market advertising packages.
