Lifetime Gearing Up for ‘Army Wives’ Return

LOS ANGELES — After wrapping up its new race car, Lifetime
next weekend will take the wraps off a multi-pronged
sponsorship supporting the fourth-season premiere of its
top series, Army Wives.

The women’s-targeted
programmer
steered a deal with
NASCAR and JR
Motorsports, terms
of which were not
disclosed, for on-car
branding and talent
appearances during
next Saturday’s
race in Nashville. The
promo is intended to drive awareness for the return of the
series on April 11 at 10 p.m. As part of the partnership, JR
Motorsports’ No. 7 car, driven by Scott Wimmer, will be
completely wrapped with Army Wives branding during
the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Nashville 300 race, televised
by ESPN on April 3 at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

Lifetime also will bring the “Army Wives Experience” to
NASCAR’s Fan Zone at the Nashville Superspeedway, where
series’ stars Brigid Brannagh and Wendy Davis will join Wimmer
and fellow JR Motorsports driver Kelly Bires for an autograph
session with attendees. The network will also drop
the flag on “Army Wives Race of a Lifetime Sweepstakes”
on myLifetime.com, where visitors can enter to win an allexpenses
paid trip for four to a future NASCAR event this
summer; a meet-and-greet with a JR Motorsports driver or
executive; and a ride in the race’s official pace car, plus an exclusive
tour of the speedway’s pit, garage and hauler areas.

Lifetime parked the partnership because many NASCAR
supporters have a strong affinity for the series, which follows
the lives of men and women living on an Army post
in South Carolina, where stock-car racing has many fans.

“This promotion uniquely ties Lifetime in with NASCAR
and JR Motorsports, reflects auto racing’s longtime support
of the armed forces, and strategically reaches the Army Wives
audience,” said Alex Ignon, vice president of media and
consumer promotions for Lifetime Networks. “Through the
NASCAR and JR Motorsports sponsorship, we will be able to
capitalize on one of America’s most popular sports to effectively
market Army Wives and inform its fans about the new
season in an immersive, exciting and targeted way.”

GolTV to Speak Bilingual HDTV

MIAMI — GolTV will put an HD service in the back of the
net this summer.

The soccer service will launch a simulcast channel on
Aug. 1, making it the first HD network in the U.S. to be
offered simultaneously in Spanish and English. During
its rookie season, GolTV HD will present more than 250
matches in native high-definition with coverage from
Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga, as well as highlight
and magazine shows like La Liga 360, Hallo Bundesliga
and Bundesliga Magazine. GolTV News, the network’s weeknight
show dedicated entirely to soccer news, will also be
delivered in 1080i HD format, according to network officials.

The service, at this point, is working toward securing
carriage contracts.

“There’s no doubt that soccer aficionados will welcome
the chance to see our exclusive matches in HD. Our research
shows that soccer fans want to see the world’s most
thrilling matches in stunning HDTV clarity. This summer, we
will deliver what our viewers want with the launch of GolTV
HD,” said chief operating officer Rodrigo Lombello. “Sports
is unmatched for delivering live, unedited events that make
for compelling television viewing. Now, our distribution
partners can capitalize on the value of offering their customers
the first all-soccer bilingual channel in premium HD.”