Since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early March 2020, TownNews has remained laser-focused on assisting our local media partners. By delivering new programs for revenue and audience growth, we've helped our sites take advantage of record high traffic and audience numbers.
Newspaper and broadcast journalists are proving once again how essential they are to our society.
As a result, a record 113 local media partners received checks from TownNews totaling more than $157,000 last month. The revenue generated by these sites from the TownNews iQ and other programs more than covered the cost of their monthly website hosting and digital services bill.
The TownNews iQ team has been working diligently to monitor and maintain programmatic advertising performance for our partners. After rates bottomed out in April, there has been a slow but steady increase in CPMs. And in the past three months, $1.2 million in programmatic ad revenue was generated throughout the TownNews network of sites—also a record performance for the program.
With a populace anxious for trustworthy, up-to-the-minute coronavirus coverage, local media organizations are stepping up. In the week or so s…
But that's not all! Of our top media groups, 14 had their monthly TownNews bill reduced by more than half and an additional 12 had their bill reduced by 20% or more. TownNews also reduced monthly billing by 31% for hundreds of independently owned media companies.
The TownNews iQ Ad Ops team continues to work with our partners to share best practices, improve viewability scores, and provide support during this unprecedented time. Contact your sales representative to learn more.
Rick Rogers is Chief Revenue Officer for TownNews.
