Chicago, IL, May 14, 2009 - Tribune Media Services (TMS), producer of the leading entertainment news and listings website Zap2it.com, today announced an expansion of its recently launched partnership with Zvents, the innovative local search engine and event listings service. The new agreement calls for the Zap2it national advertising sales team to exclusively represent display advertising inventory and sponsorship opportunities on the Zvents destination web site.

 

Zvents.com (http://www.zvents.com) helps consumers discover things to do and places to go by offering timely, local information on movies in theaters, events, concerts, festivals, restaurants and more. The site features high-quality content from four sources: the web at-large, consumers, content affiliates and the Zvents Media Network. Zvents' listings are enhanced by user-contributed and professional reviews, recommendations, maps, links and images making them the definitive source for information on out-of-home entertainment options.

 

The announcement comes at a time when consumer demand for local entertainment information is at a high-point and advertising within guide product environments is embraced. A recent Forrester white-paper entitled "Defending Local Entertainment Coverage" reports three key findings:

Zvents is the latest addition to the Zap2it Entertainment Network (ZEN) created to help marketers in the entertainment and non-endemic verticals reach Internet users as they are actively engaged in entertainment discovery and decision-making. The Network reaches 4.04 million unique visitors per month and posts outstanding Time per Person, Web Pages per Person and Sessions per Person metrics (source: Nielsen NetView, March 2009).

 

The ZEN benefits marketers by providing enhanced reach among consumers seeking information on in-home and out-of home entertainment options. The Network provides single points of contact for advertising sales, trafficking and post-campaign reporting resulting in a simplified planning and buying process.

 

"This expansion of our agreement with Zvents was a logical next step in our relationship," said Kathy Tolstrup, General Manager, Sales and Marketing for Tribune Media Services' Entertainment Products division. "We have a top-notch advertising sales organization with a track record of achieving revenue results and Zvents.com has a highly valuable environment for advertising and sponsorship messages. We're excited to put the two together and offer our national clients another effective marketing solution while opening new monetization opportunities for Zvents."

 

TMS powers the nation's leading television and movie guide products which reach millions of consumers through clients including Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish Network, TiVo, IMDB, Yahoo!, AOL, the New York Times and USA Today. Zap2it.com is the online destination for more than 3 million TV and movie fans who want to stay connected to popular shows, films, celebrities, events and other fans. 

 

Tribune Media Services' Entertainment Products division is an international leader in entertainment navigation.  It provides industry-leading databases of TV, movie and celebrity information; guides in print, online and on-screen formats; and advertising and marketing services to build audiences. For more information about TMS Entertainment Products visit TribuneMediaServices.com.

Zvents is a local search and advertising network (http://corporate.zvents.com/company/media.html ) with hundreds of web and mobile partners, featuring event listings to promote local business. Zvents provides a complete and compelling local user experience, enabling users to find, contribute, share and promote local businesses, entertainment, sports activities, retail promotions, events, and performers. The company aggregates rich business and event information from the open-web, user-contributed content, 3rd party event sources, and links high-quality editorial partner content with its search index. For more information, visit www.Zvents.com (http://www.Zvents.com).

###