Branding Run Amok: Example 1,004
It looks like Bloomberg TV won the rights to broadcast FIA GT1 racing series.
In a ground-breaking broadcast deal, the FIA GT1 World Championship will be screened on Bloomberg Television for the next two years.
The agreement means that FIA GT1 races will be broadcast live or delayed in a number of territories as well as the screening of a one-hour highlights package of the whole weekend worldwide.
Bloomberg Television, which has a global footprint of over 245 million households, will have a news crew on site at FIA GT1 World Championship race weekends producing extensive race coverage, feature material and interviews from each round of the championship.
In announcing the agreement, Stephane Ratel, the promoter of the series, said: “Bloomberg Television is a fantastic broadcast affiliate for the FIA GT1 World Championship.
Oh, really? I know Bloomberg can be a bit eccentric at times with its programming, particularly at night, but what does car racing have to do with business news? At least it’s on weekends and not during key weekday business hours as is the case with Imus on FBN, so Bloomberg isn’t ceeding much business programming time (note that Bloomberg Asia Pacific is apparently exempt from this deal). But still this seems to me like a bald faced ploy for ratings at the expense of branding…
April 16, 2010 at 4:48 pm
…a bald faced ploy for ratings…
Oh, really? I have no idea what Bloomberg thinks they’re getting out of this, but ratings aint it. I think it’s great…me and the 3 other shut-ins in America who care.
April 17, 2010 at 12:25 pm
See? Told ya nobody cares but me.
After looking at Bloomberg’s weekend schedule, this makes sense to me. There’s nothing on..might as well pay some bills. Most non-NASCAR racing series pay to be broadcast (see American Le Mans Series occasionally on NBC, when everybody knows there’s no viewers for it). It’s an infomercial for the FIA.