Village Media has extended its relationship with Rogers Media to a new city, using Rogers’ content and ad sales team to launch local news site OttawaMatters.com, reports Media In Canada.
The site will host stories and video content from Rogers’ 1310 News, while Village Media will provide the platform for smartphone, desktop and tablet users. Rogers will oversee sales of the site’s ad inventory.
The two companies first partnered last year with the creation of HalifaxToday.ca, which incorporated content from Rogers radio station News 95.7 into the ad-supported site.
Village Media serves a number of small- to mid-size markets with local news sites, including Sudbury, Barrie and Elliot Lake in Ontario.
When HalifaxToday.ca launched, Mark Campbell, Rogers’ director of news and programming for the region, told MiC the site was designed to keep the radio partner’s listeners engaged with content beyond its programming schedule.
“We’re kind of being responsive and going to where our listeners are going,” he said. “People will always want to go online to get more of the story.”
