Discovery adsales up 60 per cent in Asia

The Discovery Channel has achieved a 60 per cent increase in advertising sales in 1999, doubling the number of its regional clients in Asia. Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and China are the key markets driving the channel's distribution, which grew from 23 million to 45 million homes. "1999 was an extremely encouraging year for us, with growth in every aspect of our business," said Discovery Channel Asia senior VP and general manger Kevin-john McIntyre. Seventy five per cent of regional clients renewed their deals with Discovery; including Mercedes Benz, Caltex, Acer, Canon and Apple. New clients include ABN Amro, Citizen, 3Com, the New Zealand Tourism Board and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. "We work closely with our on-air and marketing departments to offer clients the most effective media buy available to accomplish their branding objectives," said Discovery VP, adsales, Eric Lynge. For instance, Citizen signed a multi-level marketing deal, involving not only traditional spot buys but also POS campaigns in Citizen retail outlets. The campaign featured the "Discover the World with Citizen" contest offering consumers the chance to win special prizes. Apple computers also ran a similar campaign earlier this year as part of its marketing strategy for the launch of iMacs. Advertising sales growth is expected to be consistent in 2000, said Mr Lynge, who added that local advertising revenue, currently accounting for about 45 per cent of total income, would grow further over regional sales. Accessing 150 million households worldwide, Mr Lynge said Discovery had strengthened its global sales initiative, with every region selling advertising opportunities for other regions as well. Currently boasting more than 40 million subscribers in Asia, Discovery's hotel distribution has more than doubled from 1998's 65,000, to 1999's 130,000 hotel rooms. Discovery programming is now featured on board with Cathay Pacific's inflight entertainment programmes. For Discovery's sister network Animal Planet, Mr Lynge said strengthening distribution clout was the key focus for the channel, which will start selling advertising this year.

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