TV Guide Channel will team with 20th Century-Fox and Microsoft Corp. on a June marketing campaign designed to boost pay-per-view buy rates for the war film Behind Enemy Lines.
In what the network called its largest promotion to date, the "Give Your Pay-Per-View Wings" campaign will consist of two promo spots — slated to run from June 7 through June 30 on TV Guide Channel — as well as tie-in ads in TV Guide
magazine and TV Guide Online.
In addition, participating affiliates have committed to airing the promos at least 300 times across various major cable networks during the campaign window.
The spots will inform viewers that they can get Microsoft's "Simulator 2002 Standard Edition" PC video game (which retails for an estimated $54.95) as a free gift when they order Behind Enemy Lines, starring Gene Hackman.
Before the war movie airs on PPV, Debbie Matenopoulos and Ken Taylor — cohosts of TV Guide Channel's The Screening Room
— will prompt viewers to enter to receive the flight-simulation game and tell them to stay tuned for a code word. After the movie ends, the cohosts will reveal the code word and tell viewers to register for the PC game at TV Guide Online (www.tvguide.com).
The first 600 consumers to enter the correct code each day will get the PC video game.
During the film's first four weeks on PPV, TV Guide Channel officials estimated, the total prize value for the PC-game giveaway will be more than $730,000.
The film, which was released to theaters last November, amassed nearly $59 million in domestic box office revenue through the end of 2001, according to Variety
reporting data from EDI FilmSource.
"This promotion is another example of our commitment to drive our affiliates' most important revenue streams through compelling consumer offers that leverage the power of TV Guide's brand and attract major entertainment partners like Microsoft and 20th Century-Fox," said TV Guide Television Group and TV Guide Networks president Pam McKissick in a statement.
