TV adverts for Santa Calling

1 Dec 2005 07:01

TV Commerce Holdings PLC01 December 2005 Jingle bells, jingle bells... "It's for yoo-hoo" 1 December 2005: Thousands and thousands of disbelieving children can expect atelephone call from Santa this Christmas thanks to a project due to be announcedtomorrow by AIM-quoted interactive media group TV Commerce. Their parents will be able to arrange for the call from Santa by telephoning anumber advertised on nationwide TV from tomorrow until December 23. Santa willcall back on Christmas Eve. The ads will run on ITV, GMTV, Channel 5, Channel 4 and selected SKY channels. The "Santa Calling" service allows adults to book a personalised message takingaccount of such details such as the child's age and whether the child is a boyor girl. Callers arrange what time they want the call back on Christmas Eve. The technology used, developed by PNC Telecom Ltd, can handle thousands ofsimultaneous outbound calls to cope with expected demand. The service has beenpopular in the United States for some years. TV Commerce will share revenues generated by the premium rate calls with PNCTelecom and British Telecom. TV Commerce will receive approximately £3 for eachcall. TV Commerce CEO Vince Stanzione said: "This is an innovative use of hi-techtelephone technology to deliver a great service with mass appeal. The chargegoes directly to telephone bills, and the whole booking process takes only a fewminutes." PNC Managing Director Darren Jones added: "We are delighted to be working inpartnership with TV Commerce on this exciting project and look forward to takingmore of our compelling concepts to the mass market through the medium of television." For further information please contact: Vince Stanzione, CEO, TV Commerce plc: +44 (0) 1908 330 747 +44 (0) 7712 651 777Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: +44 (0) 207 436 7486 +44 (0) 7736 064 982 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange