Today, Salon.com (Nasdaq: SALN; www.salon.com) , one of the leading Internet media companies, announced a major sponsorship agreement with eVineyard.com, a leading online retailer of fine wines. eVineyard has become the exclusive wine partner for Salon Travel & Food, one of the 11 sites on the Salon.com Web network, and the premier sponsor for Burt Wolf's weekly column of travel and culinary dispatches from around the world. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Under the agreement, eVineyard will also be a premier advertiser on a number of Salon.com's convergence initiatives, including "Burt Wolf: Travels & Traditions," the PBS television series for which Salon.com is the parent sponsor. In addition, eVineyard has agreed to participate in a number of Salon.com's events. Last month, the wine retailer co-sponsored the Salon Politics2000 launch party held in Washington and broadcast live on C-Span, the public affairs cable network.
"eVineyard is an ideal wine partner for Salon.com's upscale, mass-market audience," said Michael O'Donnell, CEO and president of Salon.com. "eVineyard executives immediately recognized the opportunities in Salon.com's innovative, multifaceted campaign across our various media properties. The program goes way beyond the banner ad to create a more effective convergence model."
In January, Salon.com announced it was teaming up with travel and food personality Burt Wolf, author or editor of more than 60 books and host of popular travel programs on PBS, CNN and the Discovery Channel. At that time, Wolf began a weekly column for Salon Travel & Food and Salon.com became the sponsor of Wolf's 13-episode television series for PBS, "Burt Wolf: Travels & Traditions," debuting later this year. Salon.com has sold two 15-second sponsorship acknowledgements to eVineyard on each of the 13 episodes as part of the convergence package announced today.
"We're excited to be associated with both Salon.com, a benchmark Internet brand, and Burt Wolf, a renowned name in food and travel," added Larry Gerhard, CEO of eVineyard. "When we were looking for the best demographics and quality content to generate sales, Salon.com was the natural choice."
"We are aggregating the best brands for our users who shop online and eVineyard has clearly established itself as the premier wine destination on the Web," added Michael O'Donnell.
eVineyard offers the industry's largest online selection of premium wine products as well as rich editorial content, a wine club for gift-giving and an informational community experience. In addition, the retailer is an anchor tenant in NBC Internet's shopping area (formerly Snap.com).
About Salon.com
Salon.com (Nasdaq:SALN; www.salon.com; AOL Keyword: Salon) is an Internet media company that produces a network of 11 award-winning, original content sites and hosts two communities: Table Talk and The WELL. The site was founded in 1995 by David Talbot, former arts editor of the San Francisco Examiner. Salon.com currently has relationships with more than 325 advertisers including industry leaders such as IBM, Lexus, Microsoft, EDS, Virgin Megastore Online and Intel. In December 1999, Salon.com announced a content and equity agreement with Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp. and NBC. Strategic distribution partners include America Online (AOL), Lycos, Go.com, AltaVista, Reuters, CNN.com and CNet as well as wireless innovators AvantGo and Rocket eBooks. Salon.com content is also syndicated to print publications through United Features Syndicate. The site had 3.4 million unique visitors in December 1999.
About eVineyard.com
Based in Portland, Ore., eVineyard offers the Web's largest selection of premium domestic and imported wines available. Shoppers will find an ever-increasing selection from major wineries as well as hard-to-find wines from independent vineyards -- wines that are often overlooked by other traditional marketplaces. Visit eVineyard's Web site at www.evineyard.com for more information.
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