BBC Worldwide And Viki Partner On Ad Sales

Will help Viki expand ad efforts for its international video site into Asia, Europe and Americas

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/15/2012 9:00:00 AM

Viki, Inc. has announced a video advertising partnership with BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. The agreement allow Viki to draw on the sales and operations of BBC Worldwide's advertising sales business, BBC Advertising, to expand its ad sales in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Viki's international video site, which offers movies, TV shows, music videos, Korean dramas, Japanese Anime, Spanish novellas, Bollywood, and independent films from many countries, is accessed by users in from over 200 countries around the world who have viewed over 1 billion videos.

In 2011, Viki announced $20 million in Series B funding from such strategic investors as BBC Worldwide and SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom as well as funding from existing investors Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, Neoteny Labs and others.

It has also inked distribution deals with Hulu, Netflix, Yahoo and MSN and concluded deals with BBC Worldwide, NBC, A+E, TVB in Hong Kong, SBS in South Korea, Fuji TV in Japan and Amedia in Russia.

"With viewership growing by millions each month, we are excited to partner with BBC Worldwide and to connect with globally-focused and innovative advertisers," said Razmig Hovaghimian, CEO and co-founder of Viki, in a statement. "The appetite for premium global video with local audiences is proving to be compelling for advertisers, especially with the highly engaged audiences found on Viki."

In a statement Chris Dobson, managing director of global advertising sales at BBC Worldwide also noted that the agreement "extends the spectrum and diversity of media opportunities we can take to advertisers across the world."