TV Travel Shop signs agreement to sponsor New Year ITV programmes

TV Travel Shop is to sponsor ITV’s programming on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, in a deal worth more than £500,000. The deal has been timed to coincide with the crucial post-Christmas holiday booking season.

The TV holiday channel has faced stiff competition since last December when Thomas Cook launched its own travel channel (MW November 8, 2001). It was expected that the competition would intensify with the launch of a rival channel from beleaguered holiday outfit MyTravel in October. This now appears to have been postponed to February (MW November 21).

Tim Brady, managing director at Zenith Alliance, negotiated the sponsorship deal on behalf of the TV Travel Shop with Carlton Media Sales.

Walt Disney Studios, the new theme park at Disneyland Paris, paid about £500,000 for a similar sponsorship deal last year (MW November 29, 2001).

Carlton Media Sales is also expected to reach an agreement with pharmaceutical giant Roche for its indigestion treatment brand Rennie to sponsor a raft of programmes over the Christmas period up to New Year’s Eve.

Rennie has sponsored programmes around Christmas on ITV for more than two years, paying about £750,000 a year.

The Christmas and New Year deals exclude long-term sponsorships such as Coronation Street.