France Telecom aquires online media group Cityvox

France Telecom has acuired 100% of Cityvox.  This is in line with Orange’s strategy to develop its internet services and the audience on its portals, consolidating its current position in France as number three for audience and number one for advertising on the web.

What is Cityvox?

Cityvox is a leading outings and leisure site.
 
It was founded in 1999 by Bertrand Bigay and Michel Athenour, Cityvox SAS is one of the leading internet media groups, number one in France for local sites and a specialist in online outings and leisure news. The http://www.cityvox.fr , www.cinefil.com, www.concerts.fr and www.spectacles.fr sites attract over 2.2 million unique visitors each month and more than 350,000 regular contributors. In just a few years, with a profitable business model, Cityvox has established itself on the French market as the benchmark for outings and leisure activities (restaurants, cinema, bars, concerts, hotels). For several years now, France Telecom has been entrusting Cityvox with managing the “in town” section on the orange.fr site. For its part, Cityvox has been working with Orange Publicité since 2002 for marketing its advertising space.

Developing business on the local services and advertising market.

With more than 58 million unique visitors around the world each month, including 17 million in France, the audience for Orange’s services and the performance of its advertising agency will enable Cityvox’s know-how and expertise to come into their own for the development of local services. Orange’s new ambition with Cityvox covers various aspects: - further strengthening Orange’s positioning on local content and developing new local services, notably on mobility - offering local advertisers a better presence on digital media and generating more advertising revenues - ramping up Cityvox’s model at international level, drawing on Orange’s worldwide presence.

What we think?

Orange is now pushing online advertising on its agenda. Orange has been an advertising focused player since launch and obviously will cross push online and mobile local advertising using Cityvox as a platform in France.

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