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Hotwire appointed by YooMedia for corporate and public sector remit
YooMedia appoints Hotwire for interactive TV push
London, 1 March 2004 - YooMedia, the interactive media group led by former managing director of Telewest and BBC board member David Docherty, has appointed Hotwire to handle its corporate communications in the UK.
YooMedia, formed in 1997, provides interactive TV-based chat, games and portal services for brands and broadcasters. The company launched the first ever games channel on Freeview and has the exclusive license for Tetris across NTL, Telewest and Freeview. YooMedia has also launched an interactive games portal for the Cartoon Network on NTL Home which includes pay-per-play games such as The Powerpuff Girls and Tom and Jerry.
The company, through its public sector subsidiary iPublic, is also working closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and local authorities to allow citizens to access local and national services and information through the TV.
Hotwire has been appointed to raise awareness of the YooMedia brand and its services to broadcasters, corporates and the public sector. The appointments follow a competitive pitch process involving five agencies. Hotwire’s programme director Narelle Morrison will report into Anick Sinclair, YooMedia’s head of public relations.
Anick Sinclair said: “With the mass take-up of digital TV services such as Freeview, more and more brands and government bodies are using interactive TV as a medium to engage with consumers and build loyalty. With the support of Hotwire we will continue to increase YooMedia’s position as a driver of interactive TV services, with a major focus on gaming and the public sector.”
About YooMedia
YooMedia plc is an interactive media group that has built strong, deep content businesses in the areas of dating, games, gambling and chat across interactive TV, Internet and mobile communication channels.
Its brands include YooPlay, the only gaming channel available on all four digital TV platforms; Fancy-a-flutter, one of the leading gambling channels on the Sky Digital Interactive Platform; and YooChat, the only interactive TV chat service in the UK. It also operates the Dateline dating service on Sky Active.
YooMedia has also pioneered the use of mobile phones to interact in real time with TV and radio programmes. The Trigger TV technology, which is exclusive to YooMedia and protected by a worldwide patent, has been successfully trialled with the BBC and Turner Broadcasting.
The government has selected the group’s public sector arm, iPublic, as the only dedicated interactive TV company for the E-voting Framework.
YooMedia’s partners include Sony Digital, which has a substantial shareholding in the group and a seat on the board.
YooMedia plc is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market.
About Hotwire
Hotwire is a European technology public relations consultancy established by Europe’s leading PR specialists to provide the technology industry with progressive PR services.
Since its foundation, Hotwire has won a number of prestigious awards for its work across Europe. The accolades include the French Public Relations Top Com d’Or Trophée in the Corporate Business category and the 2003 International Public Relations Association award for Best Business-to-Business Campaign for Scottish telecoms company THUS. In 2002, Hotwire won Best IT PR Company at the Computing Industry Awards and New Consultancy of the Year at the PR Week Awards.
Hotwire is headquartered in London with offices in Paris and Frankfurt. The company has six client practice areas: consumer technology, enterprise & electronics, telecommunications, digital media, applications & services and banking & finance.
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