National Public Media to Partner with Operative, Inc. for Online Sponsorship Workflow Automation

Agreement Includes NPR and PBS National Web Sites, NPR Podcasts

NEW YORK, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- National Public Media, LLC (NPM), the premier sponsorship company for public broadcasting -- representing NPR, PBS and all public radio and television stations around the country -- has reached an agreement with Operative, Inc. to implement a sponsorship and underwriting workflow automation solution to support NPM's broad array of online properties, including the active NPR and PBS national Web sites.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070926/OPERATIVELOGO )

Through the agreement, Operative, a global advertising technology and operations management provider, will provide transparency into NPM's online sponsorship and underwriting sales with its flagship software, Operative Dashboard(TM). Operative Dashboard(TM) will offer a seamless integration with NPM's sponsorship serving technologies, providing a single process and data set that streamlines workflow for faster digital sales, implementation and execution.

"After a thorough evaluation of the vendors who offer solutions for our needs and opportunities, we chose Operative as the 'best of breed' provider of the level of quality technology and service expected by national brands like PBS and NPR," said Bryan Moffett, Director of Digital Operations, NPM. "Operative's feature-rich Dashboard will allow NPM to maximize revenue by providing an end-to-end solution to forecast, report and financially manage all our sponsorship and underwriting campaigns on the Web."

Under the agreement, all NPM's Web display activities will be managed through Operative Dashboard(TM), which will help support NPM's inventory management, available forecasting, product optimization, approval setting, fragmentation alleviation and affiliate delivery reporting. NPM's representation of online inventory includes:

  NPR.org, one of the foremost news and information sites worldwide

  NPR Music, the successful music discovery site aggregating diverse
  broadcast and original-to-online content from NPR and NPR Member stations

  PBS.org, one of the most popular dot-org sites in the world, which hosts a
  broad range of content, including companion sites for PBS television
  programs and substantial Web-only content, podcasts, blogs and real-time
  learning adventures.

  the NPR Podcasts, the most extensive slate of podcasts from any media
  company

  NPR Mobile, a mobile service offered by NPR and Member stations for
  cell phone and landline phones featuring NPR news, information and
  entertainment and local and regional news, as well as streaming and
  click-to-call audio

"NPM represents some of the strongest, most trusted brands in digital media and these websites and podcasts continue to enjoy tremendous growth," said Michael Leo, CEO and President of Operative. "We look forward to helping accelerate that growth by working with NPM to refine its sponsorship workflow management."

About National Public Media, LLC

National Public Media is the largest representative of media assets in public broadcasting: on television, radio and digital media; locally, nationally and worldwide. It was created in October 2007 when NPR and WGBH acquired National Public Broadcasting, LLC, the company formed in 1997 to represent all the PBS and NPR Member stations in the U.S. Integrating the NPR Sponsorship Division into it, this new organization represents more than 150 weekly hours of NPR programming for Member stations; PBS' "The News Hour," on-air and online; and more than 200 public television and radio stations across the country. That inventory, combined with aggressive Web representation, enables national marketers to take advantage of rapidly-expanding cross-media opportunities that offer a comprehensive underwriting and sponsorship approach to multimedia audiences throughout the United States.

About NPR

Since its launch in 1970, NPR has evolved into a leading worldwide media company, award-winning primary news and information provider and dominant force in American life. NPR produces and/or distributes more than 1300 hours of programming weekly, including more than 150 hours of news, information, talk, and entertainment shows for 870 NPR Member stations, attracting more than 26 million listeners weekly. NPR also programs five 24/7 music multicast channels for Member stations' HD Radio channels, two public radio channels for Sirius satellite radio and nearly 100 NPR Podcasts, making it the biggest podcaster among American media companies. Its NPR Worldwide program stream reaches listeners in more than 100 countries and the comprehensive website http://www.npr.org/ has a global audience for its extensive original content, hourly newscasts and free audio streaming of current and archived NPR programs. NPR Music is a free music discovery website combining original and broadcast interviews, concerts and performances, artist information and other features from NPR and Member stations. NPR's continuing expansion in digital media includes the recently-launched NPR Mobile, in partnership with public radio stations.