Being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization doesn’t stop Tribune Company from making business investments. The company announced it has invested in a local content provider.
Tribune said it has made a strategic investment in Journatic LLC, described as “a provider of extensive local content to media companies and advertisers,” and that the two companies will have a significant operating relationship going forward. Journatic will use the investment to expand its ability to meet the rapidly growing demand for its services from publishers, advertisers and agencies. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
What is Journatic? According to Tribune, it enables publishers and advertisers to better serve their customers through the efficient creation of hyper-local content, with a focus on “people”, “places” and “events.” This formula leads to engaging content that is of most interest to local audiences.
“We are thrilled that Tribune has chosen to invest in Journatic,” said Brian Timpone, Co-founder and CEO of Journatic. “We look forward to benefiting from Tribune’s experience in developing successful ventures within the media space.”
“We’re excited to partner with Journatic, both as an investor and as a customer,” said Dan Kazan, Tribune’s Senior Vice President of Investments. “Journatic will expand Tribune’s ability to deliver relevant hyper-local content to our readers, and we believe that many other publishers and advertisers will benefit from its services as well.”
RBR-TVBR observation: Hyper-local is certainly a growth area – and no one is better positioned to fill that niche than existing media companies operating local outlets.
