Programming is Attracting New Key Sponsors
Marking First-Time Buy for Ford Motor Company on AMC
Four Hour Epic Stars Academy Award winner Robert Duvall and Oscar Nominee Thomas Haden Church Premiering June 25th at 8PM
New York, NY, June 19, 2006 – AMC, basic cable's premiere destination dedicated to movies and movie culture, announced today that Ford Motor Company has signed on as a key sponsor for Broken Trail, a four-hour Western epic movie event. This will mark the first time Ford Motor Company has advertised on the network and will include a fully integrated marketing package for their "bold moves" campaign. For Broken Trail, AMC teamed up with Emmy® winning director Walter Hill and executive producer and Academy Award® winner Robert Duvall, who stars in the film along with Oscar® nominee Thomas Haden Church and Emmy Award winner Greta Scacchi, to create the four-hour Western epic airing June 25th and June 26th at 8:00 PM EST/ 7:00 PM CST.
For Ford Motor Company's sponsorship of Broken Trail, the company will be highlighting their "bold moves" campaign, featuring everyday people overcoming challenges by taking a 'bold move.' AMC will thematically align the "bold moves" campaign with bold scenes from Broken Trail and air them as 30-second and 60-second custom short form vignettes, featuring the cast and crew in the "making of" the movie. The sponsorship package also includes tagged tune-ins, integrated bumpers, logo presence on print ads and online exposure on AMCtv.com and the Broken Trail mini-site. Broken Trail is AMC's largest multi-tiered marketing effort to date.
"Broken Trail is the largest marketing initiative in 2006 for AMC, and on the heels of its most successful year of ratings in the network's history, coupled with this new movie event, AMC continues to maintain our loyal core audience while also attracting a younger, informed viewer," said Arlene Manos, President, Rainbow National Network Advertising Sales. "With Broken Trail, we are offering our audience an original and compelling programming event enabling us to attract key advertisers like Ford Motor Company, to deliver a customized integrated package that makes sense for their brand while providing a wide consumer appeal."
Broken Trail is the first-ever original movie event for AMC and boasts a star-studded cast including Academy Award® winner Robert Duvall who wrote, directed and plays the lead role; Oscar® nominee Thomas Haden Church, most recently acclaimed for his role in Sideways; Director's Guild® Award winner Walter Hill, best-known for Deadwood, and Emmy® Award winner Greta Scacchi, who just appeared in Syriana. The Western is a story about the waning days of the Old West where a veteran rancher and his nephew set out on an arduous horse drive from Oregon to Wyoming. On the trail, they risk their lives to rescue five innocent Chinese girls who have been sold into prostitution, transforming their trip from a demanding physical challenge into an unconventional emotional journey that will change all of their lives forever.
AMC's commitment to the original programming genre garnered record ratings growth for 2005 leading to the best year ever in the history of the network. 2005 ranked as the network's strongest year to date in Primetime HH ratings, Household, and A18-49 & A25-54 deliveries. Additionally, AMC ranked among the top 20 networks in primetime performance of key demos. **
**Source: Nielsen Media Research, 2005 (12/27/04-12/25/05) Primetime: M-Su 8-11p; Since beginning of Nielsen measurement 4/97. Comparisons to ad-supported network performance exclude Nick, which does not broadcast more than 51% of primetime daypart.
About AMC
AMC, a division of Rainbow Media's Entertainment Services, which also includes WE and IFC Companies, is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 86,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and a critically-acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. AMC has garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including 14 Emmy awards. AMC is "TV for movie people."
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media creates and manages some of the country's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands including popular national and regional television channels AMC, fuse, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), WE, and three FSN affiliated regional sports networks managed by Rainbow Sports Networks. The company also manages Mag Rack and sportskool, two original on-demand networks; VOOM HD Networks, the largest and most diverse suite of high definition channels available anywhere; IFC Entertainment, its film distribution, production and exhibition division; Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales division; and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.