ABC1 Appoints DMS To Handle Unique Ad Structure
Walt Disney’s recently launched ABC1 entertainment channel has announced that it will soon begin to carry advertising, adopting an American format with no breaks between programmes, instead favouring breaks in the middle of its shows to achieve increased standout for advertisers.
Advertising sales on the channel will be handled by DMS (Digital Media Sales). John De Napoli, managing director of DMS said: “We are very pleased to be representing the most exciting channel to launch in the UK in recent times. The unique break pattern, and our sales strategy of working with a select number of advertiser partners in the first year, demonstrates ABC1’s commitment to providing advertisers with a clutter free environment and real stand-out.”
The move follows a successful launch for the channel in September, with the channel claiming to have been consistently ranked fifth among the commercial channels available via the Freeview platform, only beaten by ITV1, Channel 4, Five and ITV2.
The broadcaster also claims to have increased its viewing share during November, rising from 1.5% at launch to 1.8% last month. Commenting on the new advertising structure, Simon Bailey, deputy managing director of Walt Disney’s UK branded TV operations said: “Basically we don’t have any end breaks, do each programme flows straight onto the end of the preceding one. We are going to place our ad breaks within the actual programmes instead, which will effectively mean an ad-break after the first two or three minutes of the show and then again two or three minutes before the end of the show.”
He added: “Launching ABC1 is something that we have taken on with an aim to build a channel which is going to be highly competitive and we were looking for ways to differentiate this channel, given that it is brand new and it is looking at the future, and I think that a point of difference like this will attract advertisers because the ads will be within the programmes and not in the traditional end breaks.”
Bailey expects the advertising format to be picked up by other broadcasters hoping to achieve standout for their clients and states that, although there is no direct research, the response from viewers seems to be positive due to the channel’s increasing viewing share.
He said: “The channel launched on 27 September on Freeview only and had a 1.5% share, that share then built in November to 1.8%, which I think is indicative of the fact that it’s certainly not a turn off! We were very pleased that the audience share grew at a time when ITV3 launched, so without any direct consumer response it hasn’t hurt our audience share, that’s for sure.”
In addition to its inclusion on the Freeview platform, ABC1 has begun its roll out to the nation’s cable services, becoming available on both Telewest and NTL’s digital TV services.
Walt Disney Company: 020 8222 1000 www.disney.co.uk
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