Channel 4 Calls In Pizza Hut To Sponsor The Simpsons

Channel 4 has secured Pizza hut as the sponsor of The Simpsons, which makes its long-awaited debut on the channel next Friday.

The Simpsons will form a key part of Channel 4’s autumn schedule and the sponsorship is thought to be one of the broadcaster’s biggest as it seeks to recoup the £700,000 per episode that it reportedly paid for the hit animated sitcom.

It has not been revealed how much Pizza Hut paid for the twelve month deal, which was negotiated by Starcom Motive and Channel 4. Pizza Hut will be the second fast food brand to be associated with the series, which is currently sponsored by Domino’s Pizza on Sky One.

Channel 4 has scheduled its back catalogue of The Simpsons in the 6pm slot from Mondays to Fridays. However, it will show the latest series at 9pm on Fridays in an attempt to fill the gap left by stalwart ratings winner, Friends, which ended its mammoth ten year run back in May.

The Simpsons performed well in its early evening slot on BBC Two, regularly drawing an average of more than 3 million viewers. Channel 4 will no doubt be hoping the success of the show will provide a boost to its share of viewing, which has dipped since Big Brother came to an end (see Big Brother Finalé Attracts Record 9 Million Viewers).

Channel 4 secured the terrestrial broadcast rights to The Simpsons back in 2002 after outbidding Channel Five. The BBC pulled out of negotiations to keep the show claiming that rival bids had become ‘vastly inflated’. Channel 4 is understood to have paid around seven times as much for the rights as the BBC (see BBC Says Doh! Over Simpsons Rights).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.co.uk

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