Emmis Interactive's heritage is rooted in the radio industry, where we successfully incubated for a number of years. We formed near the end of 1999 with the goal of building a profitable interactive division for Emmis Communications. By 2003, we successfully turned the Radio Division's online efforts into a multi-million dollar franchise. Understanding the promotional strength of the radio industry and the ability of interactive media to effectively connect listeners to advertisers enabled us to build a highly successful and scalable integrated sales model, a model that's in use today by hundreds of clients.
In 2006, as the local interactive market matured and local media companies began experiencing revenue growth from interactive/non-spot sales, Emmis Interactive identified an ever growing challenge for local broadcasters: whether to build the required technology infrastructure to support this growing part of their business or to license it. We understood the challenges of building in-house - from ongoing capital investment to technology staffing to scalability and most importantly, speed to market - and soon began to provide other broadcasters with a way to leverage a scalable technology platform that is in a constant state of development.
In April 2008, Emmis Interactive became a separate, wholly-owned subsidiary of Emmis Communications. Our focus has been on providing the best engagement platform in the industry coupled with effective sales strategy and first-class customer support. Today, we support hundreds of sites and sales initiatives for numerous clients across broadcasting, publishing, and affinity/special interest brands.