PriMedia Inc

For the South African media company, see Primedia.

For the former owner of magazines, see Rent Group.

PriMedia Inc is a media buying and marketing firm based in Rhode Island, U.S.^[2][3] The company was founded by Ed Valenti and Barry Becher,^[4][5] and helped pioneer infomercials, the use of credit cards and 800 numbers on Television ads, and the 30-minute infomercial format on shopping channels.^[6][7][2]

PriMedia Inc

Industry	Media buying
Predecessor	Dial Media
Founders	Ed Valenti Barry Becher[1]
Headquarters	Rhode Island , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	James J. Cooney
Website	www.primediahq.com

History

PriMedia (then named Dial Media) was founded in 1975 by Ed Valenti and Barry Becher.^[8] PriMedia became the first major infomercial company and launched several mainstream products including the Ginsu knives.^[9] The company also developed the “long-form” infomercial formats, which later developed into standard half-hour infomercial formats used in Home shopping channels including QVC and HSN. Primedia was one of the first to use toll-free telephone numbers in television ads to allow use of credit cards to order products in real-time.^[10]

James J. Cooney, who was a teenager when he first met the firm's co-founders, later joined the firm.^{[citation needed][a]}

Notes

1. Cooney didn't co-found the company. He met Valenti and Becher after they founded the company in 1975, when he was 16 or 17.