Internet Broadcasting Systems Inc. has signed a deal to provide digital advertising operations support for Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.'s TV group, the company said on Wednesday.
The sales support partnership includes creative development through campaign coordination and trafficking, according to Elmer Baldwin, IB's CEO. "We are providing them essentially the sales back office support for their sellers," he says. "They'll have access to our full arsenal of monetization tools." Those also include services such as search engine optimization and marketing, he adds.
Known primarily as a content management provider chiefly to broadcasters, IB Systems' digital agency services arm counts Univision and Turner Broadcasting Inc. properties including CNN among its clients and will deliver nearly 30,000 campaigns in 2013.
"The process for executing digital campaigns is getting more complicated," Baldwin says. "There are many different platforms, lots of different ad servers, more sophistication coming through the agencies that are placing the ads. And the advertisers are becoming more tech savvy."
Hubbard, which is based in St. Paul, Minn., operates 12 TV stations. "We knew that we wanted to partner with a solutions provider that had deep experience in ad operations and compelling products that could help us grow our digital revenue," said Robert Hubbard, president of Hubbard Broadcasting, in a statement. "We are excited to build a long-term relationship with Internet Broadcasting."
That relationship will go live by the end of December at Hubbard’s flagship station, KSTP in Minneapolis, as well as WDIO in Duluth, Minn., and KAAL in Rochester, Minn. It may expand to additional Hubbard TV stations in 2014. Hubbard also owns 30 radio stations in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Cincinnati and St. Louis, among other markets, a growth area IB Systems has in its sights as well.
For now, however, Hubbard’s CMS business is off the table. The broadcaster has used a proprietary CMS at its TV stations for the past decade, a course from which it has no current plans to change according to Paul Anderson, director of corporate information services.
"We know if we do a good job then we'll have the opportunity to sit down with Rob and his team and expand our relationship," Baldwin says. "We're taking this first step very seriously."
