Utarget.Fox to Take blinkx Worldwide for Advertising Sales
Thursday July 24, 12:00 am ET
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--.FOX Networks, the leading international ad network operated by Fox International Channels (FIC), announced today that its video advertising division, Utarget.Fox, has signed a significant global sales agreement with blinkx, the world’s largest video search engine. As part of the deal, Utarget.Fox will sell advertising externally on the blinkx platform across its 33 regional offices and sell inventory on a transparent basis in the UK.
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Through the agreement with blinkx, Utarget.Fox will monetize premium partner content. Utarget.Fox will also offer clients audio keyword in-video banners which leverage blinkx’s patented speech recognition technology to match the content with suitable client banners. In addition to video ad representation, Utarget.Fox and blinkx will work together to provide vertical channels and promotion of FOX content across the regional presences of blinkx.
Phil Cooper, CEO and founder of Utarget.Fox comments, “The recent acquisition of Utarget by .FOX Networks has enabled us to strengthen the relationship Utarget enjoys with blinkx, by expanding and delivering on the promise of Utarget.Fox, which combines a strong video offering with a worldwide sales presence.”
Video Advertising (as TV advertising is called when online) is experiencing a steep growth curve as brand-friendly formats continue to help advertisers reach audiences migrating to the Internet for their viewing consumption. Utarget.Fox has three years of experience in the emerging Video Advertising sector and can now leverage early relationships and well-formed technology within its new home at FIC.
“blinkx is at the forefront of optimizing ways for publishers to monetise and manage their video content,” explained Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CEO, blinkx. “Working with Utarget offers our partners an effective mechanism for getting in touch with the right advertisers.”
In April 2008, Utarget.Fox became part of .FOX, the online ad network which provides transparent, brand safe placement for international advertisers. With online and TV sales teams in 33 offices spanning Europe, Latin America and Asia, .FOX Networks allows access to the quality inventory of News Corporation and premium third party publishers.
Notes to Editors:
About Utarget.Fox:
Utarget.Fox (www.utarget.co.uk) operates the video division of .Fox Networks (www.foxnetworks.com). Established in 2000, and acquired by FIC in April 08, Utarget clients include Pepsi, Dell, AOL, BMW, Guinness.
About blinkx:
blinkx plc (LSE AIM: BLNX) is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Today, blinkx has indexed more than 26 million hours of audio, video, viral and TV content, and made it fully searchable and available on demand. blinkx's founders set out to solve a significant challenge – as TV and user-generated content on the Web explode, keyword-based search technologies only scratch the surface. blinkx's patented search technologies listen to – and even see – the Web, helping users enjoy a breadth and accuracy of search results not available elsewhere. In addition, blinkx powers the video search for many of the world's most frequented sites. blinkx is based in San Francisco and London. More information is available at www.blinkx.com.
About Fox International Channels:
Fox International Channels (FIC), a unit of Fox Entertainment Group, is the wholly-owned global pay television subsidiary of News Corporation. FIC develops and distributes wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and movie channels in virtually all markets across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Using a variety of strong brands, FIC broadcasts 121 television services in 29 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 268 million subscribers, making FIC one of the most penetrated and diverse operations in the television industry.
