Satellite broadcaster BSkyB is hiring cellco Orange’s advertising arm to boost its display ad sales in Europe, as it seeks to capitalize on strong subscriber numbers outside its home markets.
Orange Advertising Network will market Sky channels in 25 countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. The broadcaster claims to have 3.9 million unique visitors a month beyond its core UK and Ireland markets, generating 168 million page impressions. Sky’s own teams will continue to handle ad sales in the firm’s home markets.
Tim Hussain, head of digital platforms at Sky Media, says the deal with Orange will boost revenues from his firm’s European online services. “Our entertainment, sports and news properties attract a dedicated audience across Europe who are highly engaged with our content and also respond well to advertising,” he states.
The firm claims its current line up offers advertisers access to customers aged 35 years and over, who fall into the AB demographic and are broadly evenly split between men and women (57% versus 43% respectively).
Luc Tran Thang, vice president of Orange Advertising Network, says the Sky deal takes the number of unique users on its network to 150 million, and represents a “premium opportunity for advertisers.”