Skype secures TV show placement deal with Crystal Entertainment
Skype has partnered with Crystal Entertainment to introduce Skype calling into television programmes.
The company says the deal is intended to “spearhead its entry into the broadcast content and talent arena in the UK.”
The relationship will focus on promoting real-time Skype video calls and other products that offer new ways to connect with people around the world.
A first deal has been secured to help ITV1 integrate Skype video into This Morning’s Cook in! show.
Skype will be used to provide high quality real-time video connections with people at home to enhance viewer engagement in an easy and affordable way.
The company says that in addition to integrations within existing and newly commissioned TV shows, it is eager to explore ground-up formats based around real-time video.
Jonathan Watson, Skype’s head of marketing for EMEA, says: “We are keen to develop broadcast opportunities that will help bring the benefits of Skype to life for the millions of people in the UK who do not have a good understanding of how wonderful and useful it is.
Gideon Joseph, director of Crystal, adds: “Skype is brilliantly suited to integration within Television shows with emotional communication at their core. I have no doubt we will see its use more and more across the entertainment world given its ability to reduce production costs and its unique flexibility to deliver content from anywhere around the world.”
Meanwhile Skype has refuted reports that it is looking for a creative agency to handle a global ad brief.
