Cross MediaWorks, an independent media services firms in the US and owner of Cadent Network, a national unwired TV advertising network, has acquired BlackArrow, a company in advertising and data solutions for the pay-TV industry.
Reaching more than 40 million homes, BlackArrow provides software solutions that help the global pay-TV industry deliver more timely and efficient sales and marketing messages, extend TV services to new platforms, and gain real-time measurement and audience insights across multiple screens. BlackArrow customers include leading pay-TV operators such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter Communications, Bright House Networks, Rogers Communications, Liberty Global and Virgin Media.
The addition of BlackArrow to the Cross MediaWorks family will expand the types of products and services the company can offer to pay-TV operators and advertisers on a worldwide basis. BlackArrow software products enable inventory owners to manage, sell, and optimize their own inventory. Coupled with Cross MediaWorks’ existing media sales via Cadent Network and creative and advertising services through The Cross Agency, the company is now uniquely able to offer customers a full range of services from self-serve software to fully managed services across all forms of TV inventory.
Nick Troiano, CEO of BlackArrow, will serve as CEO of Cross MediaWorks, and Stephanie Mitchko-Beale, CTO of Cross MediaWorks will assume CTO/COO responsibilities. Troiano, a successful media executive with Maven Networks and Yahoo!, has guided BlackArrow’s growth since joining the company as president in 2009. Mitchko-Beale joined Cross MediaWorks in 2014 after having pioneered deployment of advanced advertising during a 15-year career with Cablevision Systems Corporation.
Troiano will join Barry Baker and Bob Wright, senior advisors to Lee Equity Partners, on the Board of Directors of Cross MediaWorks, a Lee Equity Partners portfolio company. Baker previously headed Boston Ventures’ communications and entertainment practices, and was CEO of USA Interactive, parent company of USA Networks, Sinclair Communications and River City Broadcasting. Wright formerly was chairman and CEO of NBCUniversal and was a vice chairman and executive officer of GE.
