HALLMARK CHANNEL SECURES RIGHTS TO AIR THIRD SEASON OF FAMILY THEMED REALITY SERIES "NASCAR ANGELS"
Goodyear Gemini Extends Presenting Sponsorship
Hallmark Channel has secured the rights to air the third season of "NASCAR Angels," the reality program that fixes the cars and trucks of deserving individuals across the country. The half-hour, weekly series will premiere on the family-friendly network on October 5 and air Sundays at 8 a.m., ET/PT. "NASCAR Angels" is produced by MagicDust Television and distributed by Litton Entertainment.
Goodyear Gemini, the show's presenting sponsor for the past two seasons has renewed its commitment to the program, providing the help of its automotive technicians and products to perform repairs on vehicles for those chosen to be highlighted on the show.
"Viewers connect with strong and iconic brands such as NASCAR and Hallmark Channel," said Bill Abbott, Executive Vice President, Ad Sales, Hallmark Channel. "Advertisers recognize this connection and the incredible value to their marketing efforts of associating themselves with powerful consumer brands. By showcasing NASCAR's unique programming on Hallmark Channel, it is a win-win for both viewers and advertisers."
"'NASCAR Angels' demonstrates the spirit of NASCAR to bring new and innovative programming to connect to our fans," said Paul Brooks, Senior Vice President of NASCAR and President of NASCAR Media Group. "We are thrilled to add this partnership with Hallmark Channel which provides us greater reach than ever before, in particular, to our growing diverse fan base of women. We thank Goodyear Gemini for their strong support of the program and recognition for the genuine good the NASCAR community can provide to its fans."
The series will be hosted by former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion and current ABC/ESPN broadcaster Rusty Wallace and NASCAR.COM talent Shannon Wiseman. Production on the 22 original episodes has begun on location in major NASCAR race markets, including seven top 20 media markets such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix. Additional markets include Birmingham, Charlotte, Kansas City and Richmond. "NASCAR Angels" will continue to feature top NASCAR drivers and crew chiefs giving deserving individuals the chance to go behind-the-scenes to meet their heroes and get an up-close-and-personal glimpse into the NASCAR experience.
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 85 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel which plays the greatest family movies of all time, Hallmark Movie Channel, and launched Hallmark Movie Channel HD in April, 2008. For more information, please visit www.hallmarkchannelpress.com.
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), celebrating 60 years in 2008, is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport � holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.
NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.
Developed in 1996, NASCAR's Automotive Licensing program builds awareness for the sport by creating marketing alliances with leading manufacturers in the automotive industry. NASCAR supports its aftermarket with a fully-integrated media platform that includes a weekly television show on SPEED, a weekly radio show on the Motor Racing Network (MRN), monthly magazine sections in Babcox publications, in-race car care advice on MRN, bi-weekly car care advice in NASCAR Scene as well as the NASCAR Performance Network on NASCAR.com. Today over 35 leading companies are a part of NASCAR's Automotive Licensing program.
MagicDust Television, with solid roots in news and journalism, has a 30-year history of creating entertaining and informative programs for local television. The MagicDust Television team has won PROMAX's award for best major-market, local TV promotional spot or campaign in the world more than a half-dozen times and also has a string of awards for news, editing, art design and animation.
Litton Entertainment, the preeminent independent distributor in the television industry, has been producing and distributing quality programming for twenty years. Programs include Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures, Baywatch, Cribs, Pimp My Ride, Storm Stories, Date My Mom, NASCAR Angels, Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller, BusinessWeek Television, and theatrical films. Litton News Services include Good Housekeeping Reports, Brighter Living with Jill Cordes, BusinessWeek Reports from Wall Street, Standard & Poors Customized Reports and Consumer Reports. For more information, visit www.litton.tv.
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