NBCU Inks Deal With Casale Media For All Canadian Display

NBC Universal has tapped Casale Media as its exclusive direct sales agent for all Canadian online display inventory, the companies are expected to announce Thursday.

Per the deal, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, the Canadian-based Casale will be the exclusive Canadian source for online inventory across NBCU's entire roster of properties, including Access Hollywood, Bravo, iVillage, NBC, NBC Sports, Oxygen, Syfy, USA Network and all NBC Local Stations.

Alex Gardner, Casale Media's director of publisher relationships, said the deal allows Casale to "leverage our extensive agency relationships within Canada to fulfill (NBCU's) Canadian online sales needs."

Likewise, Michelle Sarlo, director of Yield Management at NBCU, attributed the move to Casale's "entrenched position within the Canadian marketplace and their well established relationships with top Canadian brands."

The deals comes at a particularly difficult time for NBC, beaten down by poor ratings, the unrelenting recession, the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien fiasco, and speciation that the network could lose up to $200 million on the approaching Winter Olympics.

Casale claims to be growing its sales force, with which it plans to directly sell NBC's Canadian inventory to agencies located in Canada.

The deal represents Casale's second major client win in recent months. Last October, eBay named the online media network as the direct sales agent for all eBay.ca online display inventory.

The deal includes representation across all of eBay.ca's contextual online channels, including motors, electronics, clothing, shoes and accessories, and home and garden.

Under the terms of the agreement, Casale agreed to develop strategic sales and sponsorship packages for eBay Canada, and directly represent eBay.ca ad space to clients nationwide.

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