Media Rep Firms Pool Sales To Form Gen Media Partners

With advertisers demanding both extended reach and more precise audience targeting in their media buys, a number of media sales representative firms are joining forces to offer greater scale and flexibility.

In the latest such tie-up, media sellers McGavren Guild Media, Local Focus, Commercial Media Sales, HRN Radio Network, and MG Malls are joining forces to create Gen Media Partners, an umbrella radio and digital media sales rep company.

Under the integrated media sales structure, headed by McGavren President and CEO Kevin Garrity, the companies will remain separate entities while gaining access to each other’s media affiliates on behalf of advertising clients, enabling cross-media sales.

Centered on radio, the partnership spans a variety of media types, including digital, outdoor, experiential, and social media.

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The core radio platform consists of over 1,000 radio stations in 330 markets across the country, for 98% reach in major, medium and small U.S. media markets. The combined sales force include offices in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Back in December 2013 McGavren parent company Genesis Media Holdings acquired Local Focus, a national radio sales rep firm with assets including the DJ Lifestyle Network and Commercial Media Sales, which specializes in stations serving small and medium markets.

Genesis also owns MG Malls, an independent company associated with McGavren, focused on place-based mall media, which should allow the partnership to offer more local marketing options.

As noted there have been several new radio sales rep relationships unveiled in recent months. In January, Local Radio Networks joined forces with AdLarge Media to market round-the-clock music programming for syndication to radio broadcasters across the U.S., with AdLarge handling exclusive national advertising sales representation for the formats.

In August of last year, Katz Radio Group launched a new division, Westwood One National Sales, to serve stations owned by Cumulus, which acquired Westwood One in 2013.

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