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The Media Group Bolsters Ad Sales Team

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 December 2006, 12:00 CST

The Media Group (TMG), the leader in advanced, transactional and interactive television (iTV) advertising, announced today the additions and promotions of several TV advertising veterans for TMG's ad sales division, The Ad Group.

"TMG is experiencing an increased demand for iTV advertising, direct response and transactional programming services, which are proving to be effective acquisition tools for new customers and beneficial retention tools for existing customers," said Chris Kager, president of The Ad Group. "With the ability to insert commercials across 108 national cable networks, triggered by interactive TV elements, we are giving advertisers optimization tools for delivering targeted media that works while eliminating media that doesn't. These additions to our sales force demonstrate our commitment to embracing the dynamic growth we're seeing for our services."

TMG's The Ad Group announced the following additions or promotions:

Art Cohen was promoted to executive vice president of TMG's The Ad Group. Cohen leads The Ad Group's efforts in iTV advertising, ad targeting and transactional media initiatives. Cohen served as chair of the Addressable Media Coalition, chair of NYNMA ITV Group and currently serves as chair of the Interactive Television Alliance. Prior to TMG, Cohen was senior vice president at ACTV where he was responsible for the addressable advertising sales. Previously, Cohen served as vice president of Advertising for Your Choice TV and held management positions at AT&T's WorldNet Service and Turner Broadcasting System. He also helped launch Interactive Age, the first convergence and internet business publication.

Tim Miller joins TMG as senior vice president of sales, based in New York. Miller previously served as vice president of Ad Sales at NBC Universal and has served in ad sales leadership roles at NBC Universal Television, Universal Ad Sales, SFM Media Buying Group, and ad firm Bozell Kenyon and Eckhardt.

Mike Kerans joins TMG as senior vice president of sales, based in New York. Previously, he served as global senior vice president and general manager for search platform Miva. Prior to that, Kerans built and sold his own non-traditional media firm, and he worked for Paramount Television in both ad sales and program distribution over a 14-year period. At Paramount, he also managed online ad sales across all studio business units.

John Wettersten joins TMG as vice president of Midwest Sales in Chicago for TMG's The Ad Group. Wettersten previously served as vice president for MGM TV Advertiser Sales, and held lead sales roles at MultiMedia Entertainment and Raycom in Chicago as well as Belo Broadcasting in Houston.

Brian Byrne, with more than 25 years' experience in advertising and media research, joins TMG's New York office as Director of Long Form Ad Sales. Byrne held top positions at Telepictures Corp. as vice president; Orbis Communications, Inc., as executive vice president; and Planet Television, Inc., as president.

Mike Driscoll was promoted to Director of National Sales, based in Denver. Driscoll previously led long form ad sales from TMG's Denver office. Driscoll brings years of TV sales experience from Seltel and Blair from Chicago, KUSA TV in Denver, and TCI/AT&T in Denver.

The Ad Group is responsible for ad sales revenue approaching half a billion dollars annually. These sales positions will oversee advertising sales for TMG's advanced technology division, The iTV Group, as well as TMG's transactional media channels: Men's Outdoors & Recreation, The Men's Channel, Healthy Living Channel, America's Preview Channel, Beauty & Fashion Channel, Resorts & Residence, iDrive, and iShop TV.

"Using our nationally distributed television networks, on-screen triggers, ¾ screen i-Ads, hard drive technology and the ability to reach a nationwide audience, The Ad Group and its sales force are setting the pace for the future of TV advertising," said Gary Turner, chairman and CEO of The Media Group.

About The Media Group

The Media Group, formerly known as Turner Media Group, provides interactive TV advertising, direct response programming and transactional TV networks. TMG owns and operates eight transactional networks. Comprised of three divisions -- The Ad Group, The Networks Group, and The iTV Group -- TMG reaches an aggregate of more than 100 million homes nationwide through EchoStar's DISH Network satellite TV and major cable TV distributors such as Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House Networks and Cox in select markets. TMG represents more than 6 million ad avails annually. TMG has offices in N.Y., L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas and Denver. Visit www.themediagroup.com.

Source: Business Wire

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