Expansion Secures Presence in Top 50 Cities, Creating Opportunities for National Advertisers
CHICAGO – Metromix LLC, a joint venture between two of the nation’s largest media companies – Gannett Co., Inc. and Tribune Company – announced the growth of its national network into 27 new markets, including Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas. This expansion solidifies Metromix network coverage in all top 50 markets in the U.S. Metromix (http://www.metromix.com) is the leading online authority for young and socially active adults looking for an insider’s perspective on local entertainment information, trends and hotspots.
“We continue to develop new affiliate relationships and believe that our rapid expansion into new markets will help us entice prospective affiliates by offering a live product ready to join forces with and grow”
The expansion into the remaining 26 of the country’s top 50 markets, as well as New Orleans, provides new opportunities for national advertisers hoping to reach Metromix’s young, plugged-in audience looking for city-specific information to assist them when planning how to spend their free time and money. “With the significant investment in new markets, national advertisers now have an even more powerful vehicle to tap into the unsurpassed level of engagement of the loyal Metromix audience,” said Andy Ellenthal, CEO for quadrantONE, the national ad platform representing the Metromix network.
The launch contributes to Metromix’s growth momentum, extending the reach of their existing network, with monthly unique visitors doubling and page views more than tripling over the last two years, reaching 4.3 million and 70 million in November 2009*, respectively. The Metromix network receives more than 4 million unique visitors each month*, and is a leader in user engagement with twice the page views per visit than the nearest competitor, Yelp!**
Metromix’s existing local sites that are affiliated with local newspapers and TV stations offer a mix of professional and user-generated content relating to each particular market, including reviews and opinions on restaurants, bars, events and local attractions. The new unaffiliated sites will focus more on user-generated content and data from content partners and provide customizable social planning and recommendation tools, easily shared with friends. The new sites also offer a number of easy and entertaining ways for visitors to engage with the site and contribute data, such as “The Pulse,” a series of one-click questions about a venue’s vibe. These sticky features are helping to quickly build content in new markets, while enticing visitors to return again and again.
Local consumers and national advertisers aren’t the only ones to benefit; local venue owners also have unlimited access to update their listings with photographs, event information, specials and other happenings of local interest.
“Entering these additional 27 cities is a major milestone for Metromix, as our network enters its next phase of growth,” said Kara Walsh, CEO. “Metromix sites already have a deep engagement level with our users, and the expansion extends the reach of that engagement into new markets, providing more content for our consumers and new opportunities for advertisers, national partnerships and affiliates.”
“We continue to develop new affiliate relationships and believe that our rapid expansion into new markets will help us entice prospective affiliates by offering a live product ready to join forces with and grow,” said Walsh.
The full list of markets can be found here: http://www.metromix.com/pick_your_city
ABOUT METROMIX
Metromix is a national network of local entertainment Web sites targeting 21- to 34-year-olds with information on where to go and what to do. Metromix was formed through a joint venture between Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) and Tribune Company, two of the country’s largest media companies with newspapers, TV stations and Web sites in the nation’s top markets. Metromix recently expanded into 27 new cities extending its reach to more than 50 top U.S. markets, including New York and Chicago.
Metromix has received a number of awards, including an EPpy Award for Best Entertainment Site and the Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program. The Metromix network currently attracts 4.3 million monthly unique visitors and generates 70 million monthly page views*.
* Omniture SiteCatalyst, November 2009
** comScore Media Metrix, October 2009
