Knoxville, Tenn. -- Home & Garden Television will be
the national title sponsor of a home-show tour scheduled to visit 20 cities next year.
Lila Everett, senior vice president of marketing and
communications for HGTV, said the network had hoped to sponsor such a series for a few
years, but it was "more concerned with finding the right partner than getting in
early." IMG Expositions, a division of a sports- and events-marketing agency, is
producing the tour.
HGTV will have a 50-foot-by-50-foot booth at each home
show, where attendees can meet on-air personalities, witness live "how-to" demos
and register to win a Florida beach house.
Everett said HGTV will also make free space available in
its booth for local cable affiliates that want a presence at the home shows. The network
will offer cross-promotion for cable operators that choose to have their own booths at the
shows.
The first stop on the tour is Philadelphia in January, and
it will continue to Indianapolis; Cleveland; Boston; Portland, Ore.; St. Louis;
Cincinnati; Charlotte, N.C.; Minneapolis; Dallas; Kansas City, Mo.; Phoenix; Pittsburgh;
Detroit; New Orleans; Atlanta; Anaheim, Calif.; Houston; Tacoma, Wash.; and Washington,
D.C.
