Youth publisher Sound Alliance has shifted its sales representation from Ignite Media Brands to MCN, marking one of the final defections to the rival sales house as Ignite winds down its operation.
Sound Alliance, which houses popular youth and music brands including InTheMix, FasterLouder and Junkee, joins the likes of Fox International Channels, Nat Geo, Adventure and FX, in heading to MCN.
MCN will commence non-exclusive sales representation for the Sound Alliance network from 15 April, with exclusive representation starting 1 July.
Ignite made a number of redundancies in the wake of the departures at the end of last year, which followed the loss of channels TV1 and SF. Those channels ceased broadcasting at the end of 2013, with many of their programs resurfacing under NBC's Universal and Syfy brands – part of MCN's stable.
Ignite will continue to represent Viacom International Media Networks until 30 June, before ceasing operations. The company currently employs 39 people in Sydney and Melbourne.
Sound Alliance chief executive Neil Ackland said in a statement: "We've been leading the youth and music digital space for over a decade, so to combine our audience specialty with the creative power and scale of MCN makes perfect sense. We’re excited to create big, bold and effective campaigns for brands trying to engage with the youth demographic."
Elizabeth Minogue, national director for integration and content partnerships at MCN Multiply, said: "The Sound Alliance team are experts in creating highly engaging content, which resonates strongly with the Australian youth market. The partnership with Sound Alliance reinforces MCN’s leading multi-screen youth portfolio, delivering brands a powerful solution to engage with young Australians."
Viacom International Media Networks ANZ senior vice president and general manager Ben Richardson said: "The collaboration between Sound Alliance and Viacom International Media Networks has been tremendously successful over the past 12 months, and we’re delighted that it will continue under MCN’s representation.
"Their brands combined with the MTV brands has proven to be very attractive to advertisers targeting young adults, and we’re confident this will only grow with the additional offerings in MCN’s portfolio."
Ignite's official company statement:
Effective 1 July, Ignite Media Brands will no longer represent subscription television brands in the Australian marketplace and commence the process of closing the business.
Ignite Media Brands currently employs 39 people in Sydney and Melbourne. We are committed to assisting employees find opportunities within the industry, and will do what we can to introduce them to the organisations assuming representation of the brands in Ignite’s portfolio. We’re confident the brand and sales expertise members of our team have developed will be very attractive to the marketplace.
Ignite Media Brands will continue to represent Viacom International Media Networks until 30 June 2014. Staff is working closely with clients to ensure they are aware of the opportunities across all of these brands throughout this period.
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