• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 2, 2013

NCM Media Networks, best known for its in-theater advertising, has tapped BuddyTV to expand its online and mobile presence.
 
As part of the new relationship, NCM Media Networks will exclusively sell all ad inventory and content for BuddyTV, a publisher of TV-related news and information, along with its discovery app, BuddyTVGuide.
 
Ian Owen-Ward, NCM Media Networks’ senior vice president of online and mobile, said there was already a “loose partnership” in place between NCM and BuddyTV. However, “this new deal significantly changes things.”
 
According to Owen-Ward, ad placements on BuddyTV will mesh with in-cinema ads to create “360-degree integrated marketing” opportunities for brand partners.
 
“NCM and BuddyTV will create custom digital advertising programs,” Owen-Ward said. “We’re helping brand advertisers connect the dots.”
 
BuddyTV joins NCM’s Online and Mobile Networks, which already includes 41 entertainment-related Web sites, and over 100 mobile applications, according to Owen-Ward.
 
In a sign of deals to come, Owen-Ward added that NCM has several “social plays” in the works. “I’ll be happy to talk about [those deals] in six-to-eight weeks,” he said.
 
Currently, BuddyTV says it attracts roughly 5 million unique visitors per month, while its app has been downloaded over half a million times by iOS users.
 
NCM Media Networks’ theater ad network reaches over 19,300 screens in 183 markets, according to parent company National CineMed NCM. Last year, some 710 million patrons attended movies shown in theaters in which NCM currently has exclusive, cinema ad agreements in place, the company claims.
 
Looking ahead, Owen-Ward said NCM is currently experimenting with in-theater mobile integrations. “It’s not the easiest thing to do, but we’re working on it.”