PointRoll and Tribune Media Services Announce New ChannelFinder Rich Media Ad Format

PointRoll and Tribune Media Services Announce New ChannelFinder Rich Media Ad Format

Offering Provides Tune-In Advertisers a Powerful Platform for Delivering Promotional Content Alongside Local Channel Information

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) and leading provider of rich media advertising, in conjunction with Tribune Media Services, provider of industry-leading TV and movie information, today introduced a new online ad format, ChannelFinder. Developed primarily to meet the needs of television program marketers whose objectives are to drive viewership, ChannelFinder provides a powerful platform for delivering interactive and engaging promotional content and valuable tune-in information directly to Internet users.

The new tool effectively generates interest in the advertiser's programming by showcasing promotional content such as video clips, interviews, interactive polls or games. These feature-rich ads are further enhanced by localized TV listings data from TMS, which promotes viewership by offering specific channel information based on the user's location and TV provider along with a call-to-action message.

The combination of rich media and listings functionality in ChannelFinder results in a highly engaging, informative and useful ad vehicle for program promotion. It provides a prime opportunity for tune-in advertisers seeking to drive user interaction with their messaging and to convert Internet users into viewers. PointRoll offers full production and creative services to produce the ads, and robust metrics and reporting to allow marketers to track and optimize the advertisements' performance with their audience.

Although ChannelFinder has applications for virtually all programming marketers, cable networks and syndicated program producers in particular will benefit from the format. The MLB Network and its partner agency, MediaStorm, were among the first to leverage this new integration. For this campaign, MLB wanted to communicate tune-in information by cable provider to sports fans. MediaStorm assessed the options in the marketplace and decided that ChannelFinder would be the best fit for this campaign for its ability to connect the audience to programming via a simple and engaging platform.

"ChannelFinder allows for real-time and future updates to be delivered right to the consumer," said Jason Tafler, PointRoll CEO. "The partnership with Tribune Media Services fits perfectly with our commitment to offer our clients and end users the most engaging rich media ads online."

"The ChannelFinder ad format is a prime example of the creative use of our TV data by an innovative partner," said Jay Fehnel, Vice President, Entertainment Products for Tribune Media Services. "We're pleased to be working with PointRoll to present our TV and movie data as part of new, highly engaging advertising formats. This effort is one more way that TMS helps program producers, networks and stations build their audiences."

The ChannelFinder product, which leverages the unique strengths of both PointRoll and TMS, is available exclusively through the two partners. For a demonstration, click here for a MLB ad, here for a BBC ad or here for a Discovery Channel ad.

PointRoll is the leader in the rich media industry, serving more than 70 billion rich media impressions each year and calling two-thirds of the Fortune 500 its clients.

TMS powers the nation's leading television and movie guide products which reach millions of consumers through clients including Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish Network, TiVo, IMDB, Yahoo!, AOL, The New York Times and USA Today.

Contact:
Julie Nicholson Dana Gage
Weber Shandwick for PointRoll Executive Director, Division Marketing
Office: 212.445.8371 Tribune Media Services
jnicholson@webershandwick.com Office: 817.275.5161
Cell: 817.233.7020
dgage@tribune.com

About PointRoll:

PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), is the world's leading online advertising rich media provider. PointRoll's superior rich media technologies and services enable brand marketers to connect with consumers by creating interactive online environments. Providing interactive features such as streaming video, polling, instant e-mail and data collection, PointRoll delivers measurable online advertising campaign results. PointRoll serves more than 85 billion rich media impressions each year -- and serves two-thirds of the Fortune 500 brands. For more information, please visit www.pointroll.com.

About Tribune Media Services

Tribune Media Services' Entertainment Products division is an international leader in entertainment navigation. It provides industry-leading databases of TV, movie and celebrity information; guides in print, online and on-screen formats; and advertising and marketing services to build audiences. For more information about TMS Entertainment Products visit TribuneMediaServices.com.

Source: PointRoll

CONTACT: Julie Nicholson, Weber Shandwick for PointRoll, Office,
+1-212-445-8371, jnicholson@webershandwick.com; or Dana Gage, Executive
Director, Division Marketing, Tribune Media Services, Office, +1-817-275-5161,
Cell, +1-817-233-7020, dgage@tribune.com

Web Site: http://www.pointroll.com/

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