Viacom and Microsoft strike ad and content deal

Viacom has signed a five-year, exclusive ad and content deal with Microsoft, estimated to be worth a total of USD500m. Under the deal, Microsoft's Atlas division will serve ads on Viacom's US websites and be the exclusive seller of its remnant display advertising in the US. The software giant will also license long and short-form TV content and movies from Viacom's cable network and motion picture businesses, on a non-exclusive basis. These will be used on Microsoft web, digital and gaming properties such as MSN and the Xbox. Viacom, which owns Paramount and MTV Networks, says it will work to become a preferred publishing partner across Microsoft's casual gaming platforms.

The deal includes a combination of revenue sharing provisions, guarantees and content licensing agreements. It is unclear how it affects Viacom's existing ad deal with Yahoo!, which it struck in Apr, making Yahoo! the exclusive provider of sponsored search and contextual ads for Viacom's 33 broadband sites.