• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, December 6, 2011

With the film awards season kicking off, Cox Digital Solutions Tuesday rolled out an entertainment-focused ad network spanning more than 1,000 sites and a combined audience of 15 million. Called Red Carpet Media, the new network includes sites such as AMC Entertainment, People’s Choice Awards, SideReel, and Mevio.

As part of the initiative, Cox also announced an exclusive partnership with ABC-owned Web site OnTheRedCarpet that includes online and offline ad opportunities.

The deal calls for Red Carpet Media to sell OTRC inventory, such as pre-roll video and mobile app advertising, as well as newsletter and after-party sponsorships.

Red Carpet is the second vertical network that Cox has launched to date. In June, the company launched Appetite Media, a food-themed ad network reaching an online audience of 20 million across more than 400 specialty food and cooking sites. Partnering on that effort was Gourmet Ads, an existing ad network focused on the same category.

As with Appetite Media, Cox will offer advertisers on Red Carpet media a variety of customizable ad options, including roadblocks, background “skins,” video and sponsorships in addition to standard display units. Like its food-related ad network, the Red Carpet Media audience skews toward women -- but younger, in the 18-24 age range.

Red Carpet Media and Appetite Media are the first two in what Cox plans to be a series of premium ad networks built around verticals, such as travel and finance, promising the type of prominent placement typically associated with single site buys.

Since acquiring the Adify ad network in 2008, Cox has offered advertising on 7,000 niche content sites representing an audience of 130 million. (Cox Digital Solutions was formed earlier this year through the merger of Cox Cross Media and Adify.) Cox Digital is now a division of Cox Reps, and part of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group.

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