In Great Britain, media and entertainment group Global is known for such iconic radio brands as LBC, Heart, Capital FM, Smooth FM, Radio X, Gold and Classic FM.
As of today, in the U.S., Global will be known as the company expanding its digital audio sales platform Digital Audio Exchange (DAX) with the acquisition of New York-based AudioHQ.
The acquisition sees AudioHQ become a part of DAX, and creates the largest digital audio ad platform in the world.
Terms of the deal, announced Monday (10/15), were not disclosed. It comes just days after TuneIn agreed to a new multi-year deal allowing AudioHQ to be the exclusive domestic re-seller of TuneIn’s audio advertising inventory.
AudioHQ has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.
Publishers with inventory on the AudioHQ roster include Slacker, Major League Baseball, and SoundCloud.
In addition to its primary advertising business, AudioHQ made its first foray into original audio content in 2016 when it partnered with Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate to produce Bronzeville, distributed through Apple, Google Play, SoundCloud, Radio One, TuneIn, Spotify and other platforms.
Global launched DAX in the U.K. in 2014. Group CEO Stephen Miron says it was created “to offer advertisers a simple way to reach the growing number of people consuming digital audio. In the past three years, demand from advertisers has intensified as the audience has grown, and we’ve continued to innovate to keep DAX ahead of the market.”
He calls taking DAX stateside “a natural next step” for Global.
“We’re confident it will be a huge success in the U.S.,” Miron says. “For Global, this acquisition is a significant milestone as we enter the U.S. advertising market.”
AudioHQ CEO and co-founder Matt Cutair will run DAX in the U.S., alongside Chief Revenue Officer and co-founder Jeff McCarthy. Additionally, Cutair and McCarthy retain a stake in the business.
All AudioHQ team members will join the DAX team.
“DAX has been blazing a trail in Europe, with Global introducing a whole suite of market-leading technical capabilities,” said Cutair. “These include everything from ‘Listener Insight ID,’ which allows advertisers to measure and track the impact of their campaigns, to audience targeting, programmatic capabilities and creative production. Being able to tap into all that innovation is fantastic news for U.S. advertisers and publishers.”
Global is also continuing to expand its presence in Europe with new offices opening in France and Germany in November.
DAX will now operate from new locations in Paris and Hamburg led by David Cooper, Global’s head of DAX sales in the European Union.
Cooper joined Global in July from Spotify, where he was director of sales.
