Classic FM Secures Sky For Drive-Time Sponsorship
Classic FM has secured Sky as the exclusive sponsor of its daily drive-time show as part of wider brand marketing campaign recently launched by the satellite broadcaster.
The six-figure deal will see Sky sponsor Drive-time with Mark Forrest for the next three months in a deal that marks the first partnership of its kind between the two broadcasters. During each show Sky will receive full credits and a 40-second advertorial, as well as trials to be played across the week on Classic FM.
The sponsorship is part of an extensive cross-media campaign launched by Sky last week to promote the satellite broadcaster to the millions of viewers who still do not subscribe to it. The ten-week push will showcase the breadth and diversity of Sky’s offering to those who see the broadcaster as being largely synonymous with football and films (see Sky Targets Digital Refuseniks With Cross-Media Campaign).
The deal was negotiated by Classic FM media partnerships Executive Lydia Arrowsmith and Sky’s head of promotions Bob Suppiah. Drive-time with Mark Forrest (pictured) broadcasts on Classic FM weekdays from 4:00pm to 6:30pm and regularly attracts around 362,000 listeners.
Commenting on the partnership, BSkyB marketing director, Charles Ponsonby, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring Classic FM’s Drive-time. With this targeted marketing activity we aim to stimulate a reappraisal of Sky’s content by Classic FM listeners.”
Last week Classic FM’s managing director and programme controller, Roger Lewis, announced that he is leaving the GWR-owned radio station at the end of this month to join ITV. Lewis, had been in talks with ITV for some time, but was unable to announce his decision to step down earlier because of the effect it would have had on merger talks between Capital and GWR (see Classic FM Loses Managing Director To ITV).
The latest RAJAR results for the three months to June 2004 reveal a relatively lacklustre performance for Classic FM, which saw its weekly reach decline by 1.2% year on year to just below the 6.5 million mark. However, the station recently promoted Giles Pearman to the role of marketing director as it gears up for the next stage of its million pound advertising campaign (see Classic FM Appoints Marketing Chief Ahead Of Ad Drive).
GWR Group: 020 7284 3000 www.gwrgroup.com
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