Interactive ad opportunities available via Dish Network

Interactive ad opportunities available via Dish Network

Turner Advertising Group (TAG), the exclusive ad sales rep for EchoStar Communications' Dish Network, is offering interactive ad opportunities via Dish. Turner Media, the sister company of TAG, owns more than 100 channels including the Men's Channel and Healthy Living Channel. Of its 12.5 million subscribers, more than 11 million are interactive, the company says. Dish subscribers, using a button on their remotes when prompted by an onscreen icon during a commercial, can access long-form video about particular products, or be sent to a Web-like screen to find additional information. ---- TAG Pitches Interactivity Multichannel News via NewsEdge Corporation : Turner Media Group, which sells interactive advertising and owns a stable of transactional networks, last week for the first time conducted a series of upfront presentations for ad agencies and advertisers. The company's ad sales arm, Turner Advertising Group, and its new president, Chris Kager, made stops in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to pitch the group's interactive ad platform to media buyers. TAG is the exclusive ad sales rep for EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network. Kager will be based in New York for TAG, where he will be responsible for an estimated $250 million in media sales for the group. TAG not only sells local avails on just over 100 networks that the satellite provider carries, it also offers interactive ad opportunities via Dish. “Dish is the largest interactive-television platform in the world,” said Jodie McAfee, senior vice president of corporate development and marketing for Turner Media, which is not tied to Turner Broadcasting System Inc. “They've got 12.5 million subscribers, and over 11 million of those households are interactive. The next largest player in the space is [British Sky Broadcasting Group plc] in the U.K.” Dish subscribers, using a button on their remotes when prompted by an on-screen icon during a commercial, can access long-form video on particular products, or be sent to a Web-like screen to find additional information, order a catalog or find the nearest product retailer. Turner Media also owns a stable of networks with transactional capabilities, services such as The Men's Channel, Healthy Living Channel, Beauty & Fashion Channel, Resorts and Residents, iDrive and iShop TV. Those networks are carried by Dish, and they have secured distribution with cable operators including Time Warner Cable, Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc. and Bright House Communications. <<Multichannel News -- 04/06/06>>