The Score’s new P&G-sponsored reality show Drafted: The Search for Canada’s Next Sportscaster debuts Sept. 21 with a unique eight-minute format and new daily episodes. Running until December, Drafted features a cast of wannabe sportscasters competing to win a one-year contract with Score Media and a one-year spokesperson contract with Gillette.
The idea for the show was hatched by Starcom, and was handed off to Gillette’s media buying AOR MediaCom to execute. Targeting males 18 to 49, the show’s short-form edit is designed to integrate into The Score’s nightly highlight-based programming. With a new episode airing nightly, four-minute segments repeating daily and weekend repeats, Drafted will air over 40 times a week, says Score Media’s Stephany Lynch, director, sales and promotions.
‘Drafted is in line with our goal of developing signature, short-form content,’ says Lynch. ‘Based on our proprietary research of what viewers want, and when and where to capture their attention, we have interwoven the show into the target’s regular habit of watching sports news and highlights. We created smaller, packaged doses of reality TV more suitable to the target’s viewing habits and immersed Gillette brand messaging within the content.’
The first three weeks of the show will follow contestants through auditions (taped in May and June this year) and the selection of the five finalists. Weeks 4 to 11 will feature a mix of taped and live segments, as contestants vie in a series of challenges. The winner of the show will be announced the week of Dec. 7.
Gillette’s exclusive title sponsorship includes content integration (contestants use Gillette products as they get camera-ready), prizing, a Gillette ‘graffiti wall’ backdrop in-studio and ads on the Drafted website. The media buy (handled in-house) to promote the show, executed during audition, pre- and post-launch phases, includes OOH, radio tags, promos and brandsell on radio stations nationwide, daily and commuter newspaper ads and TV spots. The show will also be promoted across Score Media’s own web, radio and on-air properties.
www.drafted.ca
www.thescore.com
