Skype Clinches Ad Deal with CNN

Skype, a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet, has clinched an ad deal with news broadcasting company CNN, in a bid to target the business market. The global programme sponsorship involves a multmedia campaign for Skype to target CNN audiences in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The former eBay acquisition will sponsor a segment of CNN International’s nightly programme ‘Connect the World’. In return, CNN will provide Skype exclusive advertising presence within the show’s website and dedicated mobile WAP site.

The sponsorship will be supported by a TV campaign, which will promote Skype business features, such as free video calls, its availability on mobile phones and its ability to connect calls to landlines and mobiles at home or abroad at low rates.

Max Raven, senior vice president of ad sales at CNN International, said: “This is an ambitious strategic solution that establishes a meaningful brand association for Skype around a core part of CNN’s new prime time evening line-up.

“Skype’s brand attributes are a great match for our own. We look forward to seeing this commercial partnership executed across CNN’s multiplatform distribution internationally, in front of an increasingly engaged audience”.

Last week, Skype was sold in $2.75 billion deal to a consortium of investors. eBay announced that it was selling 65 percent of the Internet phone company to a group that includes Silver Lake, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board. The auction giant gets $1.9 billion in cash for the stake, along with a note for $125 million.