Wagon Wheels Keep On Rolling With ITV’s On The Ball

Granada Enterprises has secured Burton’s Wagon Wheels as the six-figure sponsor of ITV1’s football preview show, On The Ball, for the second year running.

The deal, which launched last weekend to coincide with the start of the new Premiership football season, includes full broadcast sponsorship of the Saturday lunchtime show fronted by Gaby Logan, as well as an integrated online element at www.itv/ontheball.co.uk.

The sponsorship was negotiated by Mark Rosengk at Granada Enterprises and Matthew Platts at Vizeum. It follows an initial one year deal secured last August.

On The Ball, which is screened on Saturday afternoons between 1.10pm and 2pm, usually attracts an average audience or around 1.3 million to ITV1. However, the programme has seen viewing figures peak at just under 1.7 million.

The future of top flight football on ITV has been thrown into uncertainty following the Premiership League’s recent decision to award the free to air highlights package for the 2004/5 to the 2006/7 season to the BBC.

The BBC’s move to win back the Saturday night highlights rights had been widely anticipated but the bid of £105 million over three years is much less than the £189 million offered by ITV back in 2000, when football’s stock was at its highest (see Rival Broadcasters Round On BSkyB’s Premiership Deal).

Granada Enterprises: 020 7396 6000 www.granadaenterprises.com

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