NEW YORK: BlogTalkRadio, a service that allows consumers to
create and host live talk shows over the Internet, launched a blogger outreach
campaign June 25 after securing $4.6 million in financing during a search led by the Kraft Group.
BlogTalkRadio, aided by Middleberg Communications, targeted
The New York Times' Bits blog, and then bloggers who cover talk radio,
podcasting, publishing, and technology, as well as general interest publications, according to Alan Levy, the platform's CEO and
co-founder.
“[The outreach] was leveraging two things: for one, The New
York Times piece, and the other was the funding news along with the concept of
the platform and how it's empowering citizen journalists or broadcasters to
express their views and opinions in a public worldwide forum,” Middleberg MD David Bray, said.
The funding aids the PR push as well as enables an expansion of the company's offerings and upgrades to its interface. Already the presidential candidates have appeared on shows, and corporations like Intel and Sun Microsystems maintain channels on the site, which has a target demographic of ages 20 to 54,
split evenly between males and females, according to Levy.
Four Middleberg employees are working on the account from
the agency's New York
office. BlogTalkRadio retained the firm as AOR last November in an undisclosed budget.