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DC Thomson Sponsors CITV In Run Up To Thunderbirds Magazine Launch

By John Freeman on June 18, 2015

In a first for DC Thomson Publishing, the magazine business today announced it will become a new sponsor of the UK’s most watched commercial children’s channel, CITV.

The deal, which includes broadcast, online, mobile and licensing elements, will see separate 10-second sponsorship idents created across DC Thomson’s popular range of children’s titles, which will run from 0925-1800 on CITV for a 12-month period from 1st August.

The activity coincides with an exciting year for the DC Thomson, which is launching a new Thunderbirds Are Go title later this year. The broadcast sponsorship will be supported by a range of activity including 5-second idents across CITV content on ITV Player and a major POS push in supermarket and high street retailers.

DC Thomson’s Head of Publishing (Consumer Entertainment) Neil O’Brien said: “We’re keen to increase awareness of our brands and this campaign will help to showcase a range of our children’s titles.

“We’re hoping that this will not only appeal to our current readers but also assist in attracting new readers and it’s an ideal platform to match our portfolio.”

DC Thomson Head of Advertising (Consumer Entertainment) Andrew Williams commented: “A huge amount of research has gone into this campaign and there’s great potential for retail partnerships. Previous youth insight studies have shown that many of our readers are CITV viewers so we’re delighted to be launching this campaign to help maximise exposure of our brands to the right audiences.”

Kirsty Matthews, Group Marketing Manager for DC Thomson said: “CITV has an approach that reflects our brand’s values to engage children in a fun, creative and educational way. This multi-title campaign will provide key support to our brands starting from the important summer selling period and shows DC Thomson’s commitment to supporting the stable of publications.”

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.