AdMore Parent Bought by Cannella Response

Cannella Response Television agreed to acquire Media Properties Holdings, parent of top programmatic advertising platform AdMore.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

AdMore earlier this week agreed to have its network of 1,700 broadcast and cable outlets included on Rubicon Project's automated order system, a deal that may increase the amount of TV business that’s done using programmatic technology.

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In addition to AdMore, Media Properties Holdings owns REVShare, a short-form direct response company and Lead Generation Technologies, which creates spots that generate sales leads and sells those leads through online bidding. All become part of Cannella.

Cannella is in the long-form direct response TV business. Founder Frank Cannella became well-known for creating the Tai Bo exercise infomercials during the 1990s.

“The acquisition of MPH is another great milestone for our 30 year-old company. MPH not only has three great business models with tremendous upside potential, but we're also getting a phenomenal management team and staff,” said Frank Cannella.

Cannella’s CEO Rob Medved will oversee the combined company as CEO. Cannella president Tony Besasie will be president. Brendan Condon, CEO of Media Properties Holdings, will serve as president of AdMore, REVShare and LGT.

“We’ve been very fortunate to experience exponential growth at AdMore for the past two years, and its continued success is integral to this acquisition,” Condon said. “We can use all the intelligence and insights gained from our programmatic media planning and buying based on audience engagement with specific content in the short-form and now apply it to the most optimal placement of long-form as well.”

By acquiring Media Properties Holding, Cannella’s long-form infomercial clients can complement campaigns with REVShare’s short-form capabilities, the companies said. REVShare clients can take advantage of Cannella’s expertise in long-form to engaged consumers. Both businesses benefit from their relationship with AdMore as more media buying moves to a big-data programmatic approach.

Cannella Response Television investors ZMC, Palladium Equity Partners and Veronis Suhler Stevenson will continue to hold their investments in the combined company.

Media Properties Holding was founded in 1992 and its owners included The Carlyle Group and H.I.G. Growth Partners.

Last year, AdMore expanded its business, adding sales staffers and opening an office in Chicago. The company also formed a partnership with TubeMogul to connect advertisers and agencies using TubeMogul’s programmatic platform with ad inventory on the broadcast and cable outlets AdMore does business with.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.