DFGW wins BBC digital TV launch
The BBC has appointed DFGW as lead agency for the multi-million pound launch of digital terrestrial platform Freeview this autumn.
The corporation has pledged that it will back the launch of the platform with its “biggest ever” marketing push.
Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO (AMV) will also provide strategic and creative work, and the BBC’s in-house creative department, BBC Broadcast, will handle production. AMV’s sister agency Proximity will support the launch with below-the-line work. The appointments were overseen by BBC director of marketing and communications Andy Duncan.
The digital campaign will be integrated by BBC roster agencies into existing work for BBC channels, including the to-be-launched BBC3, which was given the go-ahead by culture secretary Tessa Jowell yesterday (Tuesday).
Despite reports suggesting that the launch of Freeview will be delayed due to indecision over the line-up of channels on the platform, the BBC maintains that it will go ahead by the end of October.
ITV and Channel 4 are understood to have made a last-ditch appeal to the Independent Television Commission to allow them to broadcast more digital and pay-TV channels on the digital terrestrial platform. This would fly in the face of plans by the BBC and its consortium partner Crown Castle to change the frequency specifications and place tight controls on the number of channels in order to boost the digital signal.
The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers is backing ITV and Channel 4, which are arguing for more commercial channels on the platform to offset the dominance of the BBC.
