blinkbox music Announces ITV Partnership

ITV Commercial has announced a fully integrated partnership with blinkbox music, the music streaming service owned by Tesco, for The Big Reunion. The deal includes sponsorship of the new series of The Big Reunion, produced by ITV Studios for ITV2, as well as sponsorship of the upcoming live nationwide tour and an off-air licensing agreement.

The partnership, negotiated by Arena on behalf of blinkbox Music, includes an integrated sponsorship package across broadcast, online and mobile platforms. The idents will be produced by Karmarama and show how using blinkbox music everyday moments can be lit up.

As part of the deal, a number of initiatives will also be activated across off-air and digital platforms. These include; brand presence at tour venues, competitions and artist-hosted playlists on the blinkbox music platform. The partnership will also be activated across social media channels including Twitter and Facebook.

The Big Reunion, produced by ITV Studios, features exclusive and explosive accounts from former pop heroes. The first series reunited some of the UK’s favourite bands from the 1990’s and 2000’s including Blue, Atomic Kitten and 5ive – the ITV2 series achieved an average audience of xx and the live tour attracted an audience over xx. The cast of 2014 includes:

- Eternal (Easther Bennett, Vernette Bennett, Kelle Bryan)

- A1 (Ben Adams, Christain Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read)

- Damage (Jade Jones, Andrez Harriott, Rahsaan J Bromfield, Noel Simpson, Coree Richards)

- Girl Thing (Jodi Albert, Linzi Martin, Anika Bostekaar, Michelle Barber, Nikki Stuart)

- 3T (Taj, TJ, Tayll Jackson)

- 5th Story (Gareth Gates, Dane Bowers, Adam Rickitt, Kavana, Kenzie)

Iain Sawbridge, Marketing Director at blinkbox music said: “We are thrilled to have partnered with ITV and The Big Reunion. The show’s cult status will be a great platform to introduce fans of pop music to our playful and mainstream service.”

Mike Barrett, Account Sales Manager at ITV, said: "We are delighted to welcome blinkbox music to ITV with this integrated partnership incorporating on-air sponsorship with live events. We believe The Big Reunion is a great brand fit for blinkbox music and look forward to working with them to make this unique multiplatform partnership a great success.”

Beatrice Boue, Managing Partner at Arena, added: “At Arena we are ecstatic to have created and brokered this project which will see blinkbox and this 90s nostalgia primetime TV show deliver high impact, rich, and shareable content. It’s been brilliant working with blinkbox across all its departments to broker this deal.” 

blinkbox music will launch on 6 February 2014 with the partnership spanning the blinkbox music site, Tesco and ITV through all Paid Owned and Earned media. The blinkbox music site will be adapted to integrate content from The Big Reunion artists and a Tesco stores roadshow will welcome the bands during the tour.