Cars.com Tackles the Airwaves with ESPN College Football

Cars.com Tackles the Airwaves with ESPN College Football

CHICAGO, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com announced today its starting lineup of fall TV commercials that will air Saturday afternoons from Sept. 2 through Dec. 2 on ESPN College Football. The sponsorship extends Cars.com's advertising campaign that currently includes spots on popular networks such as TBS, The Learning Channel, TNT and USA Network.

"This year's campaign ranks as our longest and most effective, bringing millions of car buyers to our site and showing them just how easy it is to find the right car," said Mitch Golub, Cars.com president. "Cars.com allows consumers to research and compare various makes and models while providing dealers with industry-leading tools to merchandise their inventory and drive traffic to their stores."

Cars.com launched its 2006 national television campaign in March. Combined with the local promotional efforts of Cars.com's 200 local media partners, the integrated broadcast, print and online campaign is valued at more than $100 million and will reach more than 200 million consumers. Since the launch of its new television campaign this spring, Cars.com has set new records for monthly unique visitors, reaching more than 8 million unique visitors in subsequent months.

The three television spots use humor to illustrate Cars.com's ease of use and extensive inventory. The newest commercial, "Hydraulics," features a man trying to impress a woman at a stoplight with his car's athletic abilities. Meanwhile, her car does his trick one better by changing from one model to another as her husband, at home, clicks through the options on Cars.com. When the woman pulls away in a sporty yellow convertible, the man's car sags -- dejected -- on its suspension.

"We're reaching more in-market, ready-to-purchase car buyers than ever before and providing them with convenient ways to connect with dealers and learn about their next vehicle," said Golub. "Behind the scenes, we're continuing to invest in site enhancements that give consumers more information than ever before and simplify the shopping process."

About Cars.com

Partnered with more than 200 leading metro newspapers, television stations and their websites, Cars.com is the most comprehensive destination for those looking to buy or sell a new or used car. The site lists more than 1.8 million vehicles from 12,000 dealer customers, classified advertisers and private parties to offer consumers the best selection of new and used cars online, as well as the content, tools and advice to support their shopping experience. Recently selected by Forbes.com as a Best of the Web site for car shopping, Cars.com combines powerful inventory search tools and new-car configuration with pricing information, photo galleries, buying guides, side-by-side comparison tools, original editorial content and reviews to help millions of car shoppers connect with sellers each month.

Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, ( http://classifiedventures.com/ ), which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE:BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) and The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO).

Source: Cars.com

CONTACT: Brian R. Hannan of Cars.com, +1-312-601-5519 (direct),
+1-312-218-0788 (mobile), bhannan@cars.com

Web site: http://www.cars.com/
http://classifiedventures.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: View the Cars.com TV commercials online at http://dealers.cars.com/media

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