PMC adds Vox Media brands to its Canadian ad sales portfolio

The two companies already had a working relationship as a result of PMC's investment last year.
By Andrea Hernandez
March 21, 2024

Penske Media Corporation (PMC) has partnered with Vox Media to exclusively sell the media company’s advertising inventory in Canada.

The agreement, which became effective on March 8, will allow PMC to represent Vox Media’s entire portfolio in direct sales efforts. By combining their inventory, PMC will be able to offer advertisers the ability to buy the full network or specific audience segments. Vox’s portfolio includes brands such as The Verge (pictured), The Cut, Eater, Vulture, The Strategist, Polygon, SB Nation, Thrillist, Popsugar, New York Magazine and The Dodo. Vox will continue to manage the programmatic and branded content area.

“Our partnership and expansion into Canada with Vox Media marks such an important moment for us,” said PMC VP of international sales Richard Han. According to Comscore, the combined audiences represented by PMC would have the second largest reach of any digital media portfolio in Canada, said Han.

The partnership comes a year after PMC paid US$100 million for a 20% ownership stake in Vox Media. The Washington-based company had been working with third-party resellers to represent its advertising inventory in Canada.

“We’re thrilled to have PMC representing our advertising sales efforts in the Canadian market. Our
combined scale and influence along with best-in-class marketing solutions will offer clients an unbeatable proposition,” said Vox CRO Geoff Schiller.

Vox also owns Vox Media Studios, which develops, produces and distributes programming for TV, OTT, podcasts and brand partners, and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

For its part, PMC publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including Variety, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Women’s Wear Daily, She Media, Deadline, Sportico and Fairchild Media. In addition, it owns several cultural events such as Life is Beautiful, Latin Music Week and ATX Television Festival. The company is headquartered in New York and Los Angeles with additional offices in 14 countries. It established a direct sales team in Toronto several years ago.