Cox Digital Solutions Acquires IB Ad Network and Sales

Cox Digital Solutions has acquired Internet Broadcasting's IB Local Network business and advertising sales group. Cox Digital Solutions was formed recently following the merger of Cox Cross Media and Adify.

Internet Broadcasting (IB) manages online content for media outlets, competing against the likes of Broadcast Interactive Media, Inergize Digital and WorldNow. IB backers include Hearst and Post-Newsweek.

Cox Digital Solutions "will deliver a unique mix of local and vertical content blended with industry-leading targeting and provide a truly differentiated offering through its deep publisher relationships," the company said in a statement.

"IB Local Network's publisher relationships and media sales power are a natural fit with Cox Digital Solutions," said Steve Shaw, president of Cox Digital Solutions. "This combination will enable us to meet a wider set of customer needs through a richer solution set, increase efficiencies, and significantly expand our opportunities for growth."

With the sale of its local network business, IB can now "fully focus on providing publishers with its digital publishing platform and services," said the company.

Hearst Television Senior VP of Digital Media Roger Keating is IB's interim CEO following the departure of David Lebow in May.

"We can now concentrate on what has always been our core business--helping our media publisher clients use their content and consumer relationships to build a powerful digital presence by providing them with the most contemporary publishing platform and services available in North America," said Keating.

Cox Digital Solutions is based in New York and is a subsidiary of Cox Reps, which is part of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.