LIN Acquires Tech Outfit Nami

Local broadcaster LIN Media has acquired a minority ownership position in online marketing and technology company Nami Media. Nami specializes in "online traffic quality management" and cost per click (CPC) advertising.

"Performance marketing is one of the fastest growing areas of internet advertising and our investment in Nami Media provides us with technology and synergies to maximize the effectiveness of our customers' online advertising campaigns," said Vincent L. Sadusky, president and CEO of LIN. "Through this transaction, we have acquired a majority ownership position in a well-run company that will augment our company's digital business."

LIN is bullish on digital dollars. It acquired the online ad services firm RM Media two years ago for nearly $8 million. In the third quarter of 2011, LIN's digital revenues, which include Internet advertising and retransmission fees, increased 38% to $22.1 million.

Terms of the Nami deal were not disclosed. A LIN spokesperson said it was a modest investment for LIN, but one with big upside.

Alex B. Cory, CEO of Nami, said the deal "represents a very important piece of our strategy to significantly grow our business and enhance our already powerful reach in the traffic quality and CPC marketplace."

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.