New York, NY, October 17, 2005-AMC, basic cable’s premiere destination dedicated to movies and movie culture, has signed on Hyundai as the exclusive sponsor of their franchise, Movie of the Month. The deal was put together through World Marketing Group, the in-house media arm for Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America. This marks the first time the network has offered an entitlement opportunity to a sponsor. The sponsorship begins this month, October 2005 and runs for a full 12-month package, through October 2006.
Hyundai Movie of the Month, is a new way of looking at movies with a fresh look all its own. It goes behind the stories of some of the world’s most beloved movies and re-imagines them in an informative new format complete with trivia and factoids presented in a bold new graphic style. The next three movies, viewers can expect to see in this series include: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Holiday Inn and Goonies. Other movies in the series, slated for 2006, include The Princess Bride, The Birdcage and Jurassic Park and Jaws.
As part of the sponsorship agreement Hyundai will ‘own’ the franchise with entitlement every month, providing exposure for one complete year. Tactics include: 30s spots, tagged tune-ins, billboards, and a customized visual sponsor logo.
“Hyundai Movie of the Month,” is a perfect example of how an AMC popular franchise can provide a long-term branding opportunity to an advertiser,” said Arlene Manos, President of Rainbow National Network Advertising Sales. “On the heels of its most successful ratings summer in the network’s history, AMC continues to maintain our loyal core audience while offering our sponsors, like Hyundai, the wide consumer appeal they desire.”
“We are thrilled to have put this agreement together on behalf of Hyundai” said Elias Dawly, National Manager, Media Services. ” Movie of the Month‘s “backstory” analysis provides programming that is of interest to both the Hyundai consumer and AMC’s audience.”
AMC’s commitment to the original programming genre has garnered record ratings growth for the first 3 quarters of 2005, leading to the best season ever in the history of the network. The 04/05 season ranked as the network’s strongest ever in Primetime HH ratings, Household, A18-49 & A25-54 deliveries. Additionally, AMC ranked among the top 20 networks in primetime performance of key demos.
**Source: Nielsen Media Research, 04/05 season (9/27/04-9/25/05) 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: Women’s Entertainment 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 Hyundai
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles are distributed in the U.S. by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 660 dealers throughout the nation.
About World Marketing Group
WMG is the in-house media arm for Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America. The company is located in Irvine, Calif and is responsible for managing all media planning and buying for both brands.