Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT) (“MediaCentral” or the “Company”) today announced strong pick up rates of over 91% from mid-March to the end of April for the print editions of its flagship publications NOW Magazine (“NOW”) and Georgia Straight (“Straight). Despite pressures from the global pandemic that has seen competitive brands temporarily or permanently cease print versions of their publications, MediaCentral continues to service its large and influential readership by printing weekly versions of its papers in both Toronto and Vancouver.
The strong audience engagement reflected through the consistent pick up of MediaCentral’s print editions is also mirrored in this valuable demographic’s interactions with the Company’s digital platforms. The Company recently reported double-digit growth in users, search impressions and click-through across all three digital sites nowtoronto.com, straight.com and canncentral.com. MediaCentral’s combined monthly audience of 6.5 million consumers makes it the largest publisher of alternative media in Canada and provides the Company with a solid platform from which to execute its strategy of monetizing an ever increasing audience brought about through the further acquisition of currently targeted complementary publishers, agencies and technologies.
“For all the social distancing turmoil caused by the pandemic, our venerable readers continue to turn to the printed word. We are thrilled with the impressive pick up rate for NOW and the Straight, and we’re grateful for being be able to provide our loyal readers with print editions of our particular brand of news, information, and entertainment during this extraordinary time,” said Brian Kalish, CEO of MediaCentral. “Our story hasn’t changed despite the disruption caused by the virus. We are going to deliver high-quality content omnichannel, across our print, digital and social media platforms as we continue to identify ways to grow and monetize our audience.”
With existing primary audience demographics consisting of urban, educated men and women who enjoy both a $100,000+ median household income and a high disposable income, the Company represents an innovative opportunity for players in the US$333.35 billion-dollar digital advertising industry clamoring to connect with influential consumers.
“Our hyper-engaged and premium audience is part of an extremely attractive demographic that advertisers want to engage with but don’t have one clear path to do so. Our unwavering strategy at MediaCentral is to exponentially increase our audience size. We will continue to aggressively pursue new opportunities to acquire additional readers, by acquiring additional publications. We are looking to maximize efficiencies in a severely fragmented market, that will ultimately have us capturing the single most coveted group of consumers in North America, and then using the most innovative digital tactics to monetize them,” said Kalish.
In addition to NOW and the Straight, the Company owns digital cannabis lifestyle platform canncentral.com and last week commenced beta-testing of a second digital property eCentralSports.com, which will cover the burgeoning world of egaming and esports.
MediaCentral is actively searching for synergistic and accretive acquisition opportunities to further expand the Company’s reach across North America as it continues to execute its strategy to consolidate, unify and monetize over 100 independent urban publications and their audiences.
