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Tribune Launches Local Entertainment
Websites in Los Angeles and New York City
CHICAGO,
July 10, 2007 -- Tribune Interactive,
a division of Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), today announced
plans to expand Metromix http://www.metromix.com, the leading
local entertainment website in Chicago, across all of its newspaper
markets. The award-winning service, also available in Orlando
and Baltimore, is launching new sites this week in Los Angeles
and New York City.
Metromix is a hip, dynamic site for
young, socially active adults looking for the insider’s
perspective on local trends and hotspots. Through a searchable
database of up-to-the-minute entertainment listings, user-generated
content and stimulating editorial coverage of the city’s
newest restaurants, bars & clubs, events, music, TV
and movies, Metromix gives users the tools, information,
and insight to customize their social scene and effectively
manage "life’s
playlist."
"Expanding Metromix supports our over-arching
strategy to grow our interactive business in Tribune markets
and beyond," said
Tim Landon, president of Tribune Interactive. "Our
goal is to become a national brand with very engaged local
audiences, offering advertisers a valuable opportunity to
reach a highly desirable demographic in new, unconventional
ways."
Metromix has been a staple in Chicago’s
entertainment scene for the past decade, capturing the
highest online engagement among local entertainment guides,
per comScore. The site has been recognized with numerous
awards including the EPpy Award for Best Entertainment
Site and the Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program.
"Metromix will fill a much needed role
as the fun, clever and comprehensive local entertainment
website as we expand into new markets," said Kara Walsh,
general manager of Metromix. "We’ll also have
the benefit of the Los Angeles Times’, Newsday’s
and amNewYork’s
local resources in the new markets we’re entering this
week, and those of our other newspapers as we expand further."
Underpinning this expansion is a massive database that contains
tens of thousands of local entertainment listings. In Chicago
alone, the site's searchable database highlights more than
45,000 reader reviews, 5,000 current events, and 20,000 destinations,
including more than 10,000 restaurants, and 3,000 bars and
clubs.
Key Metromix advertising categories span industry segments
eager to capture the attention of active 18-to-34-year-olds
with high disposable income, including movie studios, liquor,
financial services, auto, telecom and fashion, as well as
local restaurants, bars and clubs, music venues and retail.
Metromix will help advertisers make a strong impact with
customizable rich media solutions, integrated ad units and
unique sponsorship opportunities.
To support Metromix’s expansion, Tribune Interactive
has retained Leo Burnett, a global leader in advertising
and brand services. Burnett will be responsible for Metromix’s
digital marketing along with TV, print and cinema advertising.
The agency’s first major execution will be a 30-second
commercial for Metromix L.A. that will be shown in movie
theaters across the city and on Tribune-owned KTLA-TV.
Experience the first new site, launched yesterday, by visiting
Metromix L.A. at http://losangeles.metromix.com.
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Tribune Interactive, a subsidiary
of Tribune Company, manages the interactive operations
of major daily newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Tribune, Newsday and their associated websites,
plus all aspects of Tribune’s
print and online classified advertising operations. Its national
classified sites include Careerbuilder.com, Cars.com and
Apartments.com. With more than 50 websites overall, Tribune
Interactive ranks among the nation’s leading news and
information networks. The sites attract more than 14 million
unique visitors per month.
TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of the
country’s top media
companies, operating businesses in publishing, interactive
and broadcasting. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S.
households and is the only media organization with newspapers,
television stations and websites in the nation’s top
three markets. In publishing, Tribune’s leading daily
newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune,
Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant. The
company’s broadcasting group operates 23 television
stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago’s
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and
information websites complement Tribune’s print and
broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide
audience.
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