TALKTALK ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF THE X FACTOR

TalkTalk, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and ITV announced today TalkTalk’s sponsorship deal for one of the UK’s biggest entertainment programmes, The X Factor. TalkTalk will use its official sponsorship of The X Factor 2009 to confirm its position as the ‘brighter phone and broadband company’. Sponsoring the multi BAFTA award-winning show for the first time marks TalkTalk’s status as the biggest supplier of broadband to UK homes following the acquisition of Tiscali UK in July.

The on and off-air sponsor package, which includes broadcasts on ITV1 and ITV2, as well as sponsorship of the BAFTA nominated The X Factor website (http://xfactor.itv.com/), begins at the show launch later on in the summer. The sponsorship is supported by TalkTalk’s new ‘brighter’ advertising campaign that uses light graffiti.

TalkTalk is giving viewers the chance to become ‘bright stars’ themselves by creating their own light graffiti ‘bright-dance’ which could appear on prime time TV during The X Factor idents. Budding stars can visit www.talktalk.co.uk/xfactor to record their own ‘bright-dance’ and winning entries could be broadcast on ITV.

Olivia Streatfeild, Marketing Director at TalkTalk, said: “We are really excited to kick off our sponsorship of the nation’s favourite entertainment programme and we can’t wait to bring the magic of The X Factor to our 4 million customers. “

TalkTalk will be bringing The X Factor fever home to its customers through themed products, downloadable X Factor parties– plus, the chance to win tickets to the live shows.

Bhavit Chandrani, Sponsorship Manager, ITV said: “The X Factor is one of the most talked about shows on British television and TalkTalk is the perfect partner to take advantage of this fully integrated sponsorship package.”

Jana Gray, VP Sponsorship UK, FremantleMedia Enterprises, who oversees the off-air sponsorship activation, added: “We are delighted to be working with such an important brand as TalkTalk in helping to bring their extensive multimedia sponsorship programme to life. The X Factor franchise keeps growing and we are certain that this sponsorship together with TalkTalk’s new brand campaign will provide a strong communication platform and an exciting proposition for TalkTalk’s customers.”

The X Factor is talkbackTHAMES/Syco TV co-production, talkbackTHAMES the UK production company owned by FremantleMedia.

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For more information, please contact:

Hazel Moss Belinda Thomas
TalkTalk Press Office Sr. PR Manager
TalkTalk Group FremantleMedia Enterprises
Tel:0208 617 4932 Tel: +44 (0)20 7691 6911
mossh@cpwplc.com belinda.thomas@fremantlemedia.com

About TalkTalk

• TalkTalk, launched in February 2003, is the biggest provider of broadband to Britain’s homes. It now has 4.25 million home phone and broadband customers signed up to TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and Tiscali, which it acquired in July 2009.
• The TalkTalk fully unbundled network now extends to approximately 1,700 exchanges, covering 80% of the UK population, with 73% of TalkTalk customers now on its own network.
• In uSwitch’s Customer Satisfaction Report in 2008, TalkTalk was voted the best value for money home phone provider and the best value for money bundle (combining home phone and broadband). This is the most comprehensive survey of UK telephone and broadband suppliers, and is based on the verdicts of over 10,000 home phone and 11,000 broadband customers.
• In November 2008, TalkTalk became the first phone and broadband package to move away from the ‘one size fits all’ package. The Essentials package delivers value through choice by enabling customers to tailor a package that suits them. Essentials provides an award-winning 8Mb broadband service along with a great value phone bundle. Boost products can be added from £2 a month and enable customers to upgrade their internet security, speed and download limits as well as access great phone deals such as ½ price mobile calls, anytime calls and calling features.
• Follow TalkTalk on Twitter and on our blog: http://www.twitter.com/talktalktips and
http://www.talktalkblog.co.uk

ABOUT FREMANTLEMEDIA ENTERPRISES AND FREMANTLE MEDIA
FremantleMedia is one of the leading creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world. FremantleMedia is part of the RTL Group, Europe’s largest television and radio broadcast company, which is in turn 90 percent owned by Bertelsmann AG, one of the world’s major media and entertainment companies. FremantleMedia’s worldwide production arm is responsible for many of the world’s highest rated prime time entertainment, drama, serial drama and factual entertainment programmes. FremantleMedia Enterprises is the brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, offering a one-stop-shop for all Licensing, Distribution and Home Entertainment around the world. The FremantleMedia Group (which includes talkbackTHAMES, UFA and Grundy amongst others) has operations in 22 countries, one of the most comprehensive global networks, creating over 14,000 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 60 formats and managing over 300 individual titles. FremantleMedia has some of the world’s most sought after and long running formats in its catalogue, and globally, produces such programmes as: Idols (co-produced with 19 Productions in the US), The X Factor (co-produced with Syco in the UK), Got Talent (co-produced with Syco in the UK and the US), Neighbours, The Bill, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Farmer Wants A Wife and Hole In The Wall.

ABOUT talkbackTHAMES
talkbackTHAMES is one of the UK’s largest production companies providing award winning programming for all major terrestrial and digital channels. With an unparalleled range of programming spanning all genres – The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, to The Bill, Grand Designs, Property Ladder, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The IT Crowd, QI, The Apprentice to Stephen Poliakoff’s award winning dramas – talkbackTHAMES has aired over 500 hours of programming on terrestrial TV in the past 12 months alone. talkbackTHAMES is the UK Production arm of FremantleMedia.