ITV branding creeping in on UTV

This year all the programmes which don’t have a regular sponsor are being supported by Dreams Beds. The announcement is simple: “Dreams Beds sponsors Christmas on ITV.”

In one way this is no surprise. All the new sponsorship bumpers in recent months with ITV references have not been rebranded on UTV.

But this one is extremely high-profile and appears to explicitly refer to the channel as “ITV”.  Other sponsorship bumpers such as those for the ITV National Weather or ITV Movies may sound like a reference to the programme itself.

In terms of the impending channel refresh, It’s important not to read too much into the sponsorship bumper branding or make presumptions. But UTV viewers will certainly feel they are part of the ITV network this Christmas. If they hear the ITV name in trails and continuity shortly, it will not be such a shock.

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