Fast-growing audience share, industry-leading first-party data and content integration provide opportunities for advertisers in exclusive markets

TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Media Central Corporation Inc. ("MediaCentral" or the "Company") (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT) today announced impressive growth at its wholly owned subsidiary, Canncentral.com ("Canncentral") a digital cannabis lifestyle publication.

As a direct result of digital marketing efforts that began in November 2019 combined with the integration of Canncentral with MediaCentral's other wholly owned subsidiary, NOW Magazine ("NOW"), organic traffic at Canncentral has seen triple-digit month-over-month growth: 117% in December 2019 as compared to November 2019 and 318% in January 2020 when compared to December 2019. Canncentral's organic visitors originate from: US (51%), Canada (11%), UK (10%), Australia (5%), and Germany (2%), with other global centers making up the balance.

"The stellar growth in organic traffic at our flagship cannabis publication speaks to the tireless efforts of our journalists and digital marketers to drive traffic from Google, Yahoo and Bing across the US and Canada," said Brian Kalish, CEO of MediaCentral and Publisher of Canncentral.com. "Our teams are constantly innovating, developing new processes and formulas for increasing Canncentral's targeted audience share and exceeding our growth expectations."  Kalish goes on to say: "Canncentral and the other specialty digital publications expected to launch this year are driven by our targeted and highly influential readers. Building these publications into global brands remains a top priority for us."

MediaCentral is also pleased to announce that Canncentral.com has recently been approved by Google News for indexing. This is a direct result of Canncentral's high-quality content that complies with Google News' strict policies, ensuring visitors are served the best possible experience. Approval by Google News for Canncentral suggests that the growth-trends currently being enjoyed by Canncentral are set to continue throughout 2020 and beyond.

In addition to the increase in its organic traffic^*, Canncentral has also seen a substantial and meaningful increase in referral traffic^** from NOW. As a result of the successful integration of the digital publications (announced in December 2019), referral traffic to Canncentral rocketed by 302% in January 2020 as compared to December 2019.

"Integrating Canncentral.com with NOW and nowtoronto.com has not only improved the user experience for those looking to engage with exclusive information about the world of cannabis, it has also dramatically increased traffic on Canncentral.com, providing advertisers with new opportunities to access expanded audiences that are otherwise difficult if not impossible to reach through traditional digital ad networks" continued Kalish.  "Leveraging the millions of readers already engaging with our urban publications is expected to yield tremendous results. This level of integration and the monetization opportunities resulting from it are further testaments to MediaCentral's model."

Canncentral.com also recently implemented Elastic Stack, an industry-leading data integration tool allowing for the collection and visualization of first-party data^***. Recognizing the need to provide personalized experiences to visitors that are tailored to their preferences while maintaining the highest levels of privacy standards is another example of MediaCentral's commitment to digitally innovate its publications.

References
*Organic traffic (visitors) is defined as visitors landing on a website from a search engine.
**Referral traffic is defined as visitors landing on a website from direct links on other websites.
***First-party data is the information organizations collect from their own sources.

Sources
1. Digital – Google analytics (October 2019 to January 2020)

About Canncentral Inc.
With unique daily content appealing to both new and experienced cannabis consumers, Canncentral is poised to become the leading digital publisher for all things cannabis. Presenting authentic news and lifestyle content through a verified lens, Canncentral is emerging as an industry leading authority on knowledge, product and insight for cannabis enthusiasts, patients and investors around the world. Canncentral Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT).

Canncentral.com
Instagram: @canncentral
Twitter: @cann_central
Facebook: facebook.com/canncentral

About NOW Central Communications Inc.
NOW Central owns and operates NOW Magazine and nowtoronto.com. NOW is Toronto's news and entertainment voice, published in print every Thursday, and daily at nowtoronto.com.  Reaching over 25 million annual readers, NOW has been a leading publication, defining and pioneering the independent and alternative voice for more than 38 years. NOW Central Communications Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT).

nowtoronto.com
Instagram: @nowtoronto
Twitter: @nowtoronto
Facebook: facebook.com/nowmagazine

About Media Central Corporation Inc.
Media Central Corporation Inc. (CSE: FLYY, FSE: 3AT) is an independent media company situated to acquire and develop high-quality publishing assets starting with the recent acquisition of NOW Communications Inc. and the launch of digital cannabis platform CannCentral.com. MediaCentral is consolidating and digitally monetizing the over 100 million coveted and premium readers of the 100 alternative weekly newspapers across North America, creating the most powerful untapped audience of influencers.

For more information: www.mediacentralcorp.com

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to internal expectations, expectations with respect to estimated margins, cost structures, and cost structures in the media industry. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the media industry generally, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of MediaCentral to implement its business strategies; competition; currency and interest rate fluctuations and other risks.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive and should carefully review the various risks and uncertainties identified in the Company's filings on SEDAR and EDGAR. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws.

Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Media Central Corporation Inc.

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