TV One Ad Sales Up 40%, Develops Original Series

Martin

As Comcast moves to take a larger stake in the network, TV One says ad sales rose by nearly 40% in the first quarter, and it has opened a West Coast office. The network, which targets a slightly older African-American demographic than BET, also said that it signed 50 new advertisers last year.

TV One saw net ad revenue increase 17% to $51.9 million in 2010, according to SNL Kagan.

The network is developing new original scripted series and debuted its first, the comedy "Love That Girl," earlier this year with 15 episodes. Martin Lawrence is a co-executive producer of the show. It also airs syndicated versions of "Martin" and "Living Single" in prime time on weekdays.

The Los Angeles office will be led by former Screenvision executive Seeta Zieger, who becomes the vice president of sales for the Western region. TV One Chief Revenue Officer Keith Bowen said he hopes to make inroads in generating business among tech companies in Silicon Valley and automakers based in Southern California, such as Honda and Toyota. Even Seattle is starting to become more fertile ground with Starbucks brewing up TV spots.

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"It's at that point we really need to have somebody in the market full-time," said Bowen, also the CRO at Radio One.

Zieger will report to Lisabeth Hayes, based in TV One's Chicago office. Before Screenvision, Zieger worked at FirebrandTV and Firebrand.com. She spent some time at Current TV and worked with NBCUniversal networks USA network, Syfy and Bravo.

TV One is in the process of reorganizing its ownership structure; the plan is for Radio One to own 51% and Comcast 49% by year's end. The Comcast stake will be managed by NBCUniversal, opening up some opportunities for cross-company initiatives.

NBCU's "Green is Universal" program is running on TV One now.

Formed in 2004, TV One is in over 52 million homes and has picked up added distribution in Chicago and Miami this year.

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