for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, May 6-8 in Palm Springs.
Big Village Media and EMX Digital file Chapter 11 proceedings
Big Village Media, formerly known as Engine Group, and its ad tech entity EMX Digital have filed for bankruptcy protection, a development that will have creditors pondering if they’ll ever receive payment.
Chapter 11 papers filed in a District of Delaware Court this week (Feb. 8) by Big Village and EMX Digital, plus affiliated entities, list its estimated number of creditors between “5,000-10,000.”
The same documents listed its estimated assets between $10-50 million while estimated liabilities are in the range of $50-100 million with the largest creditors including a roster of names including Pluto TV, Yahoo, and Google.
Of the 30 largest creditors listed in the filing, sizes of the claims vary between $6.6 million (CPX Interactive) and $348,527 (Roku) with the former filing for payments in mid-January according to separate court papers seen by Digiday.
The developments follow the departure of senior executives including the chief executive of both Big Village — its former CEO Kasha Cacy recently joined Known — and EMX Digital with Michael Zacharski understood to have left the company last week.
EMX has closed most of its operations; AdExchanger reported that a “small skeleton crew” remains at the entity, while Zacharski was unable to respond to Digiday’s request for comment by press time with the developments coming a week after Big Village’s Australia also appointed administrators.
Seasoned observers of the sector will recall how the downfall of EMX Digital, a supply-side platform, is evocative of the 2019 bankruptcy of Sizmek — then a full-stack ad tech offering before it was sold off piecemeal — whose decline was interpreted as symbolic of the “end of an era” at the time.
Similarly, publishers will be reminded of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a number of ad tech vendors citing force majeure clauses in their contracts in developments that left media owners receiving less than they had bargained for in the immediate term.
More in Media
‘I’m playing the long game’: Journalists are striking out alone and discovering the business is toughest beat of all
News Creators have become preferred sources for younger viewers, but how do they grow and sustain their independent endeavors?
Creator scandals have turned morality clauses into brands’ go-to exit strategy
The fine print in creator contracts has never mattered more. A succession of high-profile creator scandals is putting morality clauses at the center of how brands manage risk.
In Graphic Detail: New data shows publishers face growing AI bot, third-party scraper activity
New data shows publishers face a surge in AI bots and third-party scrapers harvesting content without compensation.