Sky and Johnston Press today announce that they have extended their strategic regional advertising partnership after a successful 12-month trial.

Last year Sky Media made its revolutionary advertising product, Sky AdSmart, available to Johnston Press' sales network in two of its local markets - the first covering Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield and the second Milton Keynes, Northampton and Peterborough.

Now, a new three-year deal will see Sky AdSmart, which tailors what is shown in TV ad breaks according to a household's location and profile, roll out across Johnston Press' extensive footprint - which stretches from northern Scotland to the south coast of England.

The new agreement will see Johnston Press' advertising sales teams work with the Sky AdSmart team to deliver powerful television advertising campaigns and help small and medium-sized businesses compete effectively with national brands.

More than 500 advertisers have used Sky AdSmart since its launch in January 2014, delivering more than 2,000 campaigns. The majority are either new to Sky, or to TV advertising. The number of attributes available has doubled since launch, with postcode targeting now available to the first two letters.

Ashley Highfield, CEO, Johnston Press, said: "That Sky has cemented this partnership by agreeing to a new three-year deal is testament to the strength of the relationships we have with small and medium-sized businesses across our regions and the powerful product Sky AdSmart is.

"Being able to now offer customers across our portfolio the chance to advertise on television to a local, relevant Sky audience is a hugely attractive proposition and further enhances our attractive multimedia advertising offering."

Jamie West, Deputy MD, Sky Media added "Sky AdSmart has been a phenomenal success since its launch with hundreds of local businesses benefiting from the unrivalled power of TV advertising. Together with Johnston Press we're pleased to be able to open up this opportunity to more and more small and medium-sized businesses."


Jane.muirhead@jpress.co.uk
020 7612 2616

020 7032 3276

Johnston Press is one of the largest local and regional multimedia organisations in the UK. We provide news and information services to local and regional communities through our extensive portfolio of hundreds of publications and websites.

Each month our news brands touch the lives of more than 29m people across our publishing regions, delivering extensive coverage of local news, events and information. We offer national and regional advertisers a highly successful platform to link them directly with local audiences.

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 21 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.9 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate.

About Sky Media
Sky Media is the advertising sales arm of Sky, offering an exciting array of opportunities on TV, online and on the go. Sky Media represents all Sky's channels and sites, and also sells advertising on behalf of a range of broadcasters including Viacom, Discovery Networks, FOX International Channels, NBC Universal, A+E Networks and Sony Pictures Television Networks. Sky Media's portfolio of channels reaches 50 million people on average in the UK every week.

Sky Media also offers advertisers the ability to better target their campaigns. Sky AdSmart tailors what is shown in ad breaks by using publicly available information to identify groups or demographics, and then serves ads that are best suited to those households. As well as helping major advertisers improve the effectiveness of their spend, it also makes television more accessible for niche brands and SMEs by helping them target the audiences and geographic areas that are relevant to them.

Sky Media has offices in London, Manchester and Dublin. For a full list of channels and opportunities please visit www.skymedia.co.uk and follow us on @SkyMediaUK


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