Microsoft Advertising launches ad campaign for Discovery Channel 'Deadliest Catch' series

Corporate IT Update, April 14, 2009

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Microsoft Advertising, a provider of media, tools and services to advertisers and publishers, has announced a simultaneous three-screen ad campaign for the Discovery Channel 'Deadliest Catch' television series.

The advertising campaign, which spans MSN, MSN Mobile, Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft Live Search and Xbox LIVE, has been designed to arouse interest for the premiere of the fifth season of the channel's reality series about crab fishing in the waters off Alaska.

The company said that because of Microsoft Advertising's comprehensive publisher portfolio and breadth of cross-network media properties, Discovery devoted the show's entire on-line advertising budget to the campaign. The main advertising push will be happening across Microsoft's Media Network today (14 April), when the new season debuts at 21:00 ET/PT on the Discovery Channel.

The TV channel has purchased over 90% of the advertising inventory owned on MSNBC, Fox Sports, MSN, MSN Mobile and Xbox LIVE for 14 April and will feature the first-ever home page conjunction takeover across MSN and MSN Mobile. The campaign is to involve a variety of Microsoft-developed video, mobile and interactive media, as well as in-game advertising assets supported by Microsoft subsidiary Massive Inc.

In addition, Microsoft will participate in the first CatchCon event - a 'Deadliest Catch' one-day fan festival being held in Seattle, USA, on 25 April, 2009. The event will include an Xbox lounge, featuring Greenwave's 'Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm' video game for Xbox 360, the company said.

No financial details were disclosed.

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