The five shortlisted shops include PHD, which Viacom dropped as MTV's media agency in January 2015 during a trading row between the company and Omnicom, the owner of PHD.
The other contenders are the7stars, Starcom Mediavest Group and the two incumbents – Vizeum, which oversees Channel 5 and MTV, and UM London, which handles Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. The "eight-figure" account is thought to be worth up to £20 million.
Kerry Taylor, Viacom's first ever Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for its operations managed out of the UK, wants to leverage the company's scale for "more efficient" media buying.
Omnicom stopped advertising on Channel 5 last year following its sale to Viacom. The row eased following Viacom moving the broadcaster's ad sales to Sky in the Spring, and Omnicom clients have since returned to the channel.
Original source: Campaign.
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