PEARL & DEAN AWARDED FOUR YEAR ADVERTISING DEAL

SMG have announced that their subsidiary, Pearl & Dean Cinemas, have been awarded a four year contract to sell advertising across the UK and Ireland cinema network of UGC Cinemas (UGC), the European cinema owners.
The contract will take effect from January 7, 2002 and covers UGC’s 43 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, whose screens total 405. This will increase to 1,406 the number of screens handled by Pearl & Dean, whose existing clients include: Warner Village, Showcase Cinemas, Apollo and SBC International. Pearl & Dean will now account for 43 per cent of the UK cinema advertising market.
Christine Costello, Chief Executive of SMG’s Out of Home Division, said: “This agreement underpins Pearl & Dean’s strong position in the cinema sector, which in the face of the current downturn is forecast to grow by around 40 per cent in 2001. UGC are significant players in UK cinema, and now with almost half of the cinema market, we can focus on increasing the profile of cinema advertising overall in the UK to the benefit of all our customers.”
Andrew Flanagan, SMG’s Chief Executive, said: “This is a significant step forward in our strategy of expanding SMG’s presence in the fastest growing sectors of media across the UK. Cinema’s a unique medium that has proved remarkably buoyant throughout the advertising downturn, putting advertisers in front of valuable and attentive audiences.” (CD)