TheGrio and Rolling Out Partner to Form Digital Ad Network


Two top media sites for reaching millennial and multicultural audiences have partnered to offer expanded reach for brands trying to connect with these coveted consumers. Popular news site thegrio.com and lifestyle and entertainment outlet rollingout.com have joined forces to form the Rolling Out Digital Ad Network. TheGrio, rolling out and the other digital sites in the network will reach more than 10 million targeted consumers through the websites and social media channels with geo-targeting capabilities. This alliance provides advertisers with a diversified digital platform representing some of the best in news, lifestyle and entertainment content. This content is offered through mobile, Web, and video to audiences who over-index on consumption of digital content.

[Related: New TV Network for African Americans Set to Launch in Detroit]

 Established in 2009, TheGrio has been a premier news organization for the urban community for delivering content to its online community. RollingOut has been the source for national and local lifestyle and entertainment news for more than 15 years, maintaining both print and digital publications.

 “The minority-owned network will provide digital, mobile, and video scale for reaching African American audiences that companies want to authentically connect with. The alliance will also provide cultural insights and data,” said Munson Steed, president and CEO, Steed Media Group and RollingOut Digital Ad Network.

 “TheGrio is proud to join efforts with RollingOut. This partnership not only allows us to better serve our users with the quality content they have come to expect from our brands but also presents a one-stop shop for advertisers looking to reach America’s most influential demographic, the urban millennial, in an authentic and effective way,” said David A. Wilson, theGrio’s co-founder and executive editor.

TheGrio and RollingOut will produce exclusive investigative pieces and offer exclusive 2016 campaign coverage, community information, technology coverage, and highlight issues affecting the African American community. The network’s sales team will represent both media properties as well as other targeted sites reaching young, urban professional content consumers who access these sites daily for news on fashion, politics, social justice, celebrities, art and more.

RollingOut is also adding a new content studio to its offering to provide targeted and engaging content that can be supported through brand partnerships. Located in its Atlanta headquarters, the studio will begin production on serialized original video content and newscasts in partnership with TheGrio.

RollingOut offers hyper-localization of original content given its print and online platforms with newspaper distribution in 19 cities across the country. RollingOut will continue to provide amplification opportunities for brands through the network including signature events and custom content.

 About Steed Media Group

Steed Media Group is a multimedia company comprised of several media brands including RollingOut urban style weekly, rollingout.com, video-on-demand (VOD) channel Hip Hop On Demand, Talking Pretty and several others. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with several offices across the country in key African American media markets, Steed Media Group produces and distributes 19 newspapers, and develops content for custom magazines, television programming and production, internet properties, and branded publications such as Producer 10. Steed Media Group also creates signature events and marketing initiatives.

 About TheGrio

The independently owned, theGrio.com is a video-centric online news community devoted to providing African-Americans with stories and perspectives that appeal to them but are underrepresented in existing national news outlets. Based in New York city and reaching 6 million people every month, theGrio.com serves stories that affect and reflect urban America through original video, opinions, and cover everything from breaking news to politics, health, business and entertainment.


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