MTV Sky Box
MTV Networks International has renewed its channel distribution agreement with BSkyB, at the same time moving its advertising sales to Sky Media, a move that is expected to lead to significant redundancies at its own Viacom Brand Solutions.
Sky Media will manage MTVNI’s advertising sales in the UK and Ireland for all its pay TV services across music, kids and entertainment, which include MTV, Viva, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and BET. Separate advertising windows run in the Irish Republic on a number of MTV branded channels. The five-year agreement will take effect on January 1, 2010.
The MTVNI channels will also be able to take advantage of Green Button advertising, where extended versions of commercials are presented to Sky subscribers, and the Sky AdSmart targeting due from 2011.
David Lynn, Executive Vice President, Managing Director, MTVN UK & Ireland and Australia said the new agreements would further strengthen the channel portfolio in the UK and Ireland. “Appointing Sky Media as our exclusive ad sales representative enables us to harness the scale and diversity that both companies have to offer which in turn will develop more innovative and engaging advertising solutions for our clients,” he said. “ Our new partnership with Sky will enable us to build on that success and will allow us to invest more in making great content for our channels. And we’re extremely pleased that our great brands will have continued access to over one in three homes across the UK and Ireland.”
MTV Networks UK & Ireland operates 3 channel groups – Comedy, Kids and Music. The ten branded music and entertainment channels comprise of MTV, MTV+1, MTV Two, MTV R, MTV Hits, MTV Dance, MTV Base, VH1, VH1 Classic and VIVA. They feature the best in music alongside popular shows such as Pimp My Ride. Comedy Central, which rebranded earlier this year from Paramount Comedy, and Nickelodeon in the UK are part of MTV Networks International joint ventures with BSkyB.
