San Francisco -- Excite@Home will be the exclusive Internet
sponsor of TVN Entertainment Corp.'s August Cirque du Soleil: Quidam pay-per-view
event.
As event sponsor, Internet portal Excite's logo will appear
on all PPV-event promotional materials, including posters, print ads and cable affiliate
materials, the company said.
In addition, visitors to the portal site (www.excite.com) will have the opportunity to enter
a special Cirque du Soleil-themed sweepstakes.
The grand prize is a trip for two to see a live Cirque du
Soleil performance in the United States. TVN will award Cirque du Soleil merchandise to
second- and third-prize winners.
"Having this special pay-per-view event prominently
mentioned on Excite.com -- which is seen by millions of Internet users every day --
combined with this sensational contest will provide us with tremendous
word-of-mouth," TVN senior vice president of new programming development and
distribution Steve Rockabrand said in a prepared statement.
The deal marks the second PPV-event sponsorship for Excite.
The company will be one of several sponsors for TVKO's Sept. 18 Oscar De La Hoya-Felix
Trinidad welterweight PPV-boxing event.
In other TVN news, the company is sponsoring an August PPV
sweepstakes that will award a cable customer a grand-prize trip for two to New Orleans
during Mardi Gras 2000.
PPV viewers can enter the sweepstakes by ordering any PPV
movie or event on TVN during the month of August. TVN has prepared a number of turnkey
materials for its cable affiliates to use to promote the sweepstakes on a local level,
including customizable ad slicks, cross-channel spots and radio spots.
TVN will also provide sweepstakes premiums to its
affiliates upon request for use in local promotions or as internal
customer-service-representative incentive rewards.
"We're always looking for creative ways to enhance the
pay-per-view experience for consumers," TVN senior vice president of affiliate sales
and marketing David Sears said in a prepared statement.
"This promotion offers consumers a chance to win a
great trip to New Orleans, or other prizes, while allowing our cable affiliates an
opportunity to create goodwill in their communities by tying in on a local level with this
exciting sweepstakes," he added.
