iMedia Digital Services Teams with Taboola in Multiyear Advertising and Content Recommendation Partnership; Newest Deal to Surpass 10-year Milestone Together for Companies

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (“iMedia”) (NASDAQ: IMBI, IMBIL) announced its advertising arm, iMedia Digital Services (iMDS), entered into an advertising and content recommendation partnership with (NASDAQ: TBLA), effective October 1, 2022. This is the seventh year that Taboola has provided advertising products to iMDS to help drive user engagement and conversion for iMDS advertisers as well as new ecommerce solutions from Connexity. This newest six-year deal solidifies a decade-long partnership between iMedia and Taboola.

Under the deal, iMDS will continue to adopt Taboola’s extensive product portfolio, including Taboola Feed, a seamlessly integrated feed that provides readers with personalized content, including video, for a more engaging experience. iMDS is a long-time user of Taboola Newsroom, an offering that provides unique editorial insights that inform how to create more engaging content and discover new coverage areas that drive loyal readership.

iMDS clients include telecom portals, such as Centurylink and Armstrong, as well as owned and operated entertainment brands like ShopHQ, ShopBulldog TV, ShopHQ Health, and 1-2-3.tv reaching more than 200 million monthly US users.

“Taboola continues to be an important digital content and advertising partner for us,” said Matt Leardini, President of iMDS, “We appreciate Taboola’s constant efforts to enhance their platform and to remain innovative, most recently with the enhancements to its ecommerce capabilities, helping us further engage users, create new ecommerce revenue channels, and capitalize on continued innovation in digital advertising.”

“iMDS continues to show why they’re a leader at the intersection of entertainment, commerce and advertising,” said Adam Singolda, CEO at Taboola. “We have a long and productive history together, where we’ve partnered closely for mutual growth around testing, learning, and implementing solutions for their audiences. iMDS is taking a truly holistic approach to growth using Taboola products, from recommendations, personalization, ecommerce, and insights and we look forward to hitting the decade mark together.”

About iMedia Brands, Inc.

iMedia Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMBI, IMBIL) is a global media company capitalizing on the convergence of entertainment, ecommerce, and advertising. The Company owns and operates four television networks, which are ShopHQ, ShopBulldogTV, ShopHQHealth and 123tv. ShopHQ, the company’s flagship television network with a thirty-year history, is nationally distributed in the U.S. to over 90 million homes via its affiliation agreements in cable, satellite, and broadcast, and reach viewers through its social platforms and its OTT Ap on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Samsung Smart-televisions.

iMedia’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market stock exchange under the ticker IMBI. iMedia’s 8.5% bonds are also publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker IMBIL and pay holders 8.5% interest quarterly in arrears on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.

About iMDS

iMDS (iMDS.tv) is iMedia Brands, Inc.’s advertising arm for its four television networks, specializing in engaging shopping enthusiasts across multi-screen formats including television, online, mobile social and OTT advertising marketplaces. iMDS’s flagship product is its Retail Media Exchange™ a leading proprietary advertising auction platform that in real-time simultaneously engages with advertisers, digital publishers, supply-side-platforms, and demand-side platforms to optimize advertising opportunities with consumers.

About Taboola

Taboola (NASDAQ:TBLA) powers recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like. The company’s platform, powered by artificial intelligence, is used by digital properties, including websites, devices, and mobile apps, to drive monetization and user engagement. Taboola has long-term partnerships with some of the top digital properties in the world, including CNBC, BBC, NBC News, Business Insider, The Independent, and El Mundo. More than 15,000 advertisers use Taboola to reach over 500 million daily active users in a brand-safe environment. Following the acquisition of Connexity in 2021, Taboola is a leader in powering e-commerce recommendations, driving more than 1 million monthly transactions each month. Leading brands, including Walmart, Macy’s, Wayfair, Skechers and eBay are among key customers.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements regarding future revenue and adjusted EBITDA are forward-looking. The Company often uses words such as anticipates, believes, estimates, expects, seeks, predicts, should, plans, will, or the negative of these terms and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward looking-statements contain these words. These statements are based on management's current expectations and accordingly are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from the expectations contained herein due to various important factors, including (but not limited to): variability in consumer preferences, shopping behaviors, spending and debt levels; the general economic and credit environment, including COVID-19; interest rates; seasonal variations in consumer purchasing activities; the ability to achieve the most effective product category mixes to maximize sales and margin objectives; competitive pressures on sales and sales promotions; pricing and gross sales margins; the level of cable and satellite distribution for the Company’s programming and the associated fees or estimated cost savings from contract renegotiations; the Company’s ability to establish and maintain acceptable commercial terms with third-party vendors and other third parties with whom the Company has contractual relationships, and to successfully manage key vendor and shipping relationships and develop key partnerships and proprietary and exclusive brands; the ability to manage operating expenses successfully and the Company’s working capital levels; the ability to remain compliant with the Company’s credit facilities covenants; customer acceptance of the Company’s branding strategy and its repositioning as a video commerce Company; the ability to respond to changes in consumer shopping patterns and preferences, and changes in technology and consumer viewing patterns; changes to the Company’s management and information systems infrastructure; challenges to the Company’s data and information security; changes in governmental or regulatory requirements; including without limitation, regulations of the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, and adverse outcomes from regulatory proceedings; litigation or governmental proceedings affecting the Company’s operations; significant events (including disasters, weather events or events attracting significant television coverage) that either cause an interruption of television coverage or that divert viewership from its programming; disruptions in the Company’s distribution of its network broadcast to customers; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights; the Company’s ability to obtain and retain key executives and employees; the Company’s ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; changes in shipping costs; expenses related to the actions of activist or hostile shareholders; the Company’s ability to offer new or innovative products and customer acceptance of the same; changes in customer viewing habits of television programming; logistics costs including the price of gasoline and transportation; and the risks described from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, including, but not limited to, the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

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