PRESS INFORMATION
6 MARCH 2015
SUNSET+VINE SHOWS PEDIGREE WITH CHANNEL 4’S BROADCAST OF CRUFTS 2015
- CHANNEL 4 AND MORE4 TO SHOW NINE HOURS OF COVERAGE
- SUNSET+VINE DIGITAL TO DELIVER 46 HOURS OF LIVE STREAMING FROM SHOW ON CRUFTS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
(London) Sunset+Vine, the multi-award winning UK independent TV sports production and media company, and part of The Tinopolis Group, will be producing television coverage the nation’s favourite dog event, Crufts, which airs on C4 and More4 from 5th to 8th March. Channel 4 will broadcast for two hours on both Saturday and Sunday and for an hour and a half on Friday, with Thursday and half of Friday’s coverage being covered on More4.
Clare Balding will be presenting Channel 4’s coverage assisted by a supporting cast including former Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas, Kate Beavan from “Lambing Live” and Victoria Stilwell from “It’s me of the Dog”. Viewers will also get to see a guest appearance from Channel 4's Super vetNoel Fitzpatrick.
In a separate development, Sunset+Vine has renewed their deal with The Kennel Club, rights owners of Crufts,to live stream on www.youtube.com/crufts daily from 0900hrs to 2030hrs, making this the most comprehensively covered dog show in the world. Sunset+Vine digital will also take over the channel management of the Crufts YouTube channel year round and will be responsible for optimising and monetising Crufts content. This adds to Sunset+Vine’s growing number of YouTube channels under management including the MCC and Tottenham Hotspur.
Jeff Foulser, chairman of Sunset+Vine, commented:
“Crufts is one of the most iconic and best loved of our nation’s events and we are delighted to have the opportunity of working with Channel 4 and The Kennel Club to make this the most comprehensively covered dog show in the world.
“If the Channel 4 and More 4 presenting team wasn’t exciting enough, over the four days of full live YouTube coverage, commentary will be provided from the likes of Peter Purves, Jessica Holm, FrankKane, Jim Rosenthal and Graham Partridge. It will make for a truly memorable few days for many thousands of dog lovers across the UK and the world.”
Michael Cole, commissioning editor at Channel4, said:
“Crufts continues to engage and excite our audience, which is demonstrated by the consistently high viewing figures. The coverage on Channel4 will span three days of the show, in addition to the More4 coverage, and we look forward to capturing all of the action from Crufts, as well as discussing topics that are of interest to all dog lovers.”
Caroline Kisko, Secretary of the Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, added:
“Crufts holds such a special place in dog lovers’ hearts because it celebrates everything that we most love about dogs and Channel4 and More4 reflect the full diversity of the event. The programmes not only show exciting sports such as agility and flyball, and enable people to marvel at the huge range of wonderful breeds in this country through the showing aspect of
Crufts, but it also covers topics of importance to dog owners about choosing, caring for and enjoying life with dogs.”
Watch Crufts on More4 from 6.30pm - 9pm from 7th – 9th March, and on Channel 4 from 6pm-8pm on Sunday 10th March . This will include all of the highlights from the Arena programme, including the presentation to the Friends for Life winner. Also watch Crufts live on the Crufts YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/ Crufts.
ENDS
For further information on Sunset+Vine:
Greg Moore, Head of PR, Sunset+Vine M: +971 (0)55 885 4734 E:
About CRUFTS
Crufts is a unique celebration of happy, healthy dogs and of the loving relationship that they enjoy with their owners. It recognises the varied roles that dogs play in society and highlights the many different disciplines and activities in which dogs are involved.
About SUNSET+VINE
Sunset+Vine is a leading independent supplier of sports programming to broadcasters in the UK and overseas. It has won over 35 broadcast awards including nine Royal Television Society awards and six BAFTA’s most recently for “Best Sport and Live Event” in relation to its production of Channel 4’s ground-breaking coverage of The London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Sunset+Vine was appointed as primary production partner for BT Sport (launched August 2013) and now produces the channel’s live English Premier League Football and Aviva Premiership Rugby matches and all support programming. The company was Host Broadcaster of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and is currently host broadcaster for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015. In the Middle East, Sunset+Vine has been Host Broadcaster for the Dubai World Cup for 17 consecutive years. A leader in Advertiser Funded Programming, the company devised the world’s most watched weekly sports’ show “Gillette World Sport” (shown in 180 countries at its peak) which has recently been re-commissioned. Mobil 1 - The Grid is also amongst its extensive portfolio. The company is part of The Tinopolis Group.
About THE TINOPOLIS GROUP
The Tinopolis Group comprises 17 companies dedicated to the creation and global distribution of world-class content. It is one of the largest remaining independent television producers with significant business bases in London, Wales, Glasgow and LA, producing high quality content for all key networks in both the US and the UK and for a fast-growing stable of brands and agencies. Tinopolis produces and distributes over 2,500 hours of award-winning broadcast and online content, across seventeen companies.
Tinopolis comprises some of the most respected names in the industry across the US and UK, including A. Smith and Co, Base Productions, Daybreak, fFatti fFilms, Firecracker Films, Magical Elves, Mentorn Media, Passion Distribution, Pioneer Productions, Rain, Sunset + Vine and Tinopolis Wales/Cymru. The group recognises the importance of technology in today’s media landscape and invests in solutions to bring added value to its content customers. http://www.tinopolis.com/
For further information on Tinopolis please contact:
Franklin Rae PR: Shereene Whitter/Safia van der Zwan/Sophie Naylor
T:+44(0) 203 011 1023
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