MarketingVOX: Time-Warner subsidiary AOL today announced that it has acquired broadband video and audio advertising firm Lightningcast, a privately held firm based in Washington, D.C. Lightningcast will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL's Advertising.com, based in Baltimore.

AOL will merge Lightningcast streaming media technology and advertising network operations under Advertising.com within AOL's Audience business unit. Advertising.com's newly launched pre-roll video network and Lightningcast's InStream network will merge, operating as InStream.

The combined network will comprise 300 websites and 175 million monthly streams. Advertisers will be able to target video campaigns across the network by behavior, demographic, content channel and otherwise.

Lightningcast's InStream sales force will continue to focus exclusively on video and will work with the Advertising.com sales team. Lightningcast will also continue to build and expand its third-party video ad-serving business.

Since 2002, AOL has used Lightningcast's platform, first for audio (AOL Radio) and later for video streaming advertisements (AOL Video) - including recently launched broadband network "In2TV" from AOL and Warner Bros.

The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Lightningcast's 34 employees - including CEO Tom MacIsaac - will remain on board.

"This acquisition will provide a huge infusion of talent, technology, and publisher relationships for Advertising.com at a time when streaming video is growing at a blistering pace," Mike Kelly, president of AOL Media Networks, said in a statement.

"This acquisition brings together true pioneers in online advertising," says Tom MacIsaac, President and CEO of Lightningcast. "Advertising.com has always been ahead of the pack in interactive marketing, and Lightningcast has been the leading innovator in broadband video advertising. Now, we will be able to fully leverage Advertising.com's powerful sales team - and their expansive publisher base - to propel InStream forward as the dominant force in the streaming video advertising arena."

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