Vivio Named New President of Cox Target Media and Valpak^®

(LARGO, FL — Dec. 6, 2010) — Michael Vivio, most recently Publisher at the Austin American-Statesman and CEO of the Statesman Co., has been named as President of Cox Target Media/Valpak effective in early January. Vivio succeeds Greg Bicket, who is retiring at the end of 2010.

Vivio’s appointment is part of Cox Media Group maximizing the expertise and talents of its industry-leading media professionals across its portfolio of radio, television, newspaper and direct marketing businesses. 

“Michael is an innovative leader with an excellent track record in media sales, marketing and digital business,” said Doug Franklin, Executive Vice President of Cox Media Group.  “His people-centric management style will benefit our Valpak franchisees and Cox Target Media (CTM) employees.  He also will be a great champion of the mailbox, our business clients and developing a complimentary digital portfolio to grow the Valpak brand and CTM businesses.” 

In his new role, Vivio will build on the success Bicket and the Valpak leadership team have started to advance the company’s vision, mission and objectives and to promote revenue, profitability and growth. Additionally, he will continue to look for new opportunities to innovate and build new business so Valpak continues its leadership position in connecting advertisers with existing and new customers.

During his time at the Statesman, the organization launched two successful community newspapers, a website called hookem.com, and recently purchased InFactDaily, an online newsletter offering in-depth coverage of City Hall.   This spring the newspaper was named Best Metro Newspaper by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and Statesman.com was named Best Metro Online Newspaper by the same organization. Vivio, a native of Dayton, Ohio, is also a graduate of Ohio State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree.

About Valpak^®
Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group. With 180 franchises throughout the United States and Canada, The Blue Envelope^® delivers savings and value to nearly 40 million households each month. Annually, Valpak will distribute some 20 billion offers inserted in nearly 500 million envelopes. Valpak also offers digital solutions with www.Valpak.com^®, an online site for local savings, which has nearly 40 million offer views each month, as well as mobile phones, including apps for iPhone^™,  iPod touch^®, Android^™, Palm^® Pre^™ and Blackberry^® and Windows^® Phone 7 platforms. For more information, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, is an integrated broadcasting, publishing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. With $1.8 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, four metro newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.

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