Message from a Sponsor

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Dear Legend Fans:

I joined these forums to send you a message. I’m a huge fan of the show and am saddened by this news. However, I work for one of the companies that has sponsored one of the episodes of Legend of the Seeker: Season 2.

I urge you to not forget about writing the sponsors. This is SO crucial and just as important as writing the studio. Companies love to hear from viewers to know that there is interest in a product and why (in this case because they sponsored Legend of the Seeker) The bottom line is sponsorship of tv shows helps keep costs down for production of the show and this is a HUGE factor for studios and production companies in determining a budget and ultimately whether it is worth it to continue a show past a certain point.

So while writing Tribune, tv stations, and ABC Studios IS important, this is equally as important. I have already suggested to the higher ups that we use our contacts from Tribune and ABC Studios/Domestic Television about the possibility of sponsoring Season 3 shows since most of the sponsors are lined up for the remaining episodes of season 2.

If you want more of a chance to save this show that you, as well as we love, write the sponsors as well. They like good old fashioned mail preferred to emails.

I have also posted this in "Legend of the seeker not to be renewed for 3rd season" topic.

Good Luck!

LOTS_Sponsor

[queenb13]

Where can we find contact info? Are the sponsors different by locality?

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Yes, sponsorships do differ by region at times, but not always. It depends on the agreement you have in place with the studio, production company, and the agreements they have with the networks. This can sometimes have an effect on what percentage of networks your product may or may not appear on. There are a lot of factors about this and sometimes can be a nightmare especially with a syndicated show on various networks versus that of a show that appears in prime-time on one major network.

There are usually first run sponsors (the first time an episode is aired) and second sponsors (usually meaning when they start re-runs). Currently Legend of the Seeker has entered a re-run stage with the remaining episodes of Season 2 starting later.

Also, there are main (bigger) sponsors and what I personally call miscellaneous sponsors. The main sponsor is usually what you will see when a show (in this case Legend of the Seeker) goes to it’s first commercial break. Usually you will see a company logo or product followed by a commercial. It can also appear before the show begins altogether, and sometimes during the show usually in the lower right hand or left hand corner of the screen.

The miscellaneous ones usually just follow the main sponsor commercial. You always pay more to be a main sponsor because you get your name, product, and logo shown and usually read out loud and it’s the first thing the viewer sees before the show starts or when cutting to commercial break.

For job security reasons I can not tell you the company I work for, but I can tell you that we were a main first run sponsor. Our company chose not to do participate in a second sponsorship for re-runs or the remaining episodes of Season 2.

However, as I stated above I and a few others will encourage the higher ups at our company to use our contacts that we have in regards to us sponsoring Season 3 episodes. Even though Tribune has said it is canceled if they get companies wanting to sponsor a show they may think twice. It has happened before…

Your help in writing the sponsors will make them think about advertising for a show again especially if you tried the product that was being advertised . I’m not saying you need to go out and buy something or apply for something, but if you do the company knows their sponsorships are working and are more inclined to do additional sponsorships. Although it is not necessary when writing marketing departments do like to know the age of the person writing the letter. This helps them in marketing their product.

I will get the list of main sponsors for the first part of season 2 sometime from work this week and post it here. As for the re-runs and remaining episodes of Season 2 I would encourage everyone to make notes on who the sponsors are and write letters to them.

LOTS_Sponsor

[Extremis]

Hey again LOTS_Sponsor
That's really cool that your company sponsored an episode of 'Legend of the Seeker' (hope they will sponsor more )

I posted a list of some of the Sponsors I've noticed in Season 2 here:
http://forums.legendoftheseeker.org/...d-season/page8

Wonder if one of those was your company??

ThanXXX very much

[griff]

Thanks for the info LOTS_Sponsor.

[kbachelder]

As others have said thanks very much for reminding us how important the sponsors are especially to a syndicated show. We'll be sure to bring this up when we record tonight's podcast.


Kevin

[kbachelder]

I came across the attached document that lists the Legend of the Seeker advertisers for the most recent episode.

It's a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.


Kevin

LotS_213_timing..pdf

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Here is a list of the main sponsors by episode that we had at our offices:

Reckoning: Quilted Northern – Georgia-Pacific

Baneling: Advil – Wyeth/Pfizer Inc.

Broken : Geico

Touched: Centrum – Wyeth/Pfizer Inc.

Wizard: Discover – Discover Bank

Fury: Leap Frog – Leap Frog Enterprises

Resurrection: Tylenol Cold – McNeil-PPC

Light: Tylenol – McNeil-PPC

Dark: Geico

Perdition: Advil Cold and Sinus – Wyeth/Pfizer Inc.

Torn: Hidden Valley Ranch – HV Food Products

Hunger: Lubriderm – Johnson & Johnson

Princess: Advil Cold and Sinus – Wyeth/Pfizer Inc.

Please note that these are just the main sponsors and this only covers the initial advertisement after the first commercial break. Some of these companies also chose to advertise more throughout the episode a different commercial breaks. A good example is what kbachelder posted in the .pdf file above.

[Dee]

Hi...I emailed all the sponsors each week that have advertised on both runs of the show (Saturday rerun and new issues on Sundays). Most of the sponsors sent me an email back. Because it did not fit within their formula-oriented response,I think they were kind enough to answer me. I did thank them for the support, I asked for continued support by advertising, and I told them we (fans) were looking forward to hearing that there would be a renewal for Season 3 and future seasons. If I liked their product or used it I mentioned that. I also included some of the sites I am a member of. (CSS posted a list of sponsors also and I included any I had overlooked.)

Question: Should I do letters?

I sent letters to ABC/Disney and to my local station KASW CW6 mentioning that I had contacted sponsors to thank and seek support for a renewal for LOTS. I also called and talked with the Assistant to the Program Director to thank them and encourage continued airing of the series.

Anything else we can do??

Thanks for your help. Glad you like the show too.

[Nasmadie]

Thanks for the info LOTS_Sponsor.

yes...Thank you so much!

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Anything else we can do??

Thanks for your help. Glad you like the show too.

It's a great show! I and a few others that I work with really enjoy the show.

Word has it that ABC Studios is possibly looking into airing LOTS on ABC Family. ABC Family reaches approx. 100 million households. Season 3 WILL happen, but how to distribute the show on tv is what is in question. I can tell you that they (ABC Studios) wants Season 3 badly and not just for the fans.

That being sad production companies love it when a show reaches 3+ seasons because then it means they can sell older episodes to networks and cable outlets which in return generates more revenue from networks and sponsors. Plus have additional money from DVD sales.

This additional revenue is usually divided up and a portion of it is put into production for further episodes to help keep the money train coming in if it is seen as profitable and ABC Studios knows this.

I have already wrote a letter and emailed ABC Family not as a sponsor or on behalf of the company I work for, but as a fan. I would recommend writing/emailing ABC Family as well. Please note though that nothing has been finalized. All I know is that ABC Family is under consideration, but in this type of business that could easily change because a more lucrative deal could come along at any given moment.

[theyellowmoon]

Thank you for the fantastic information LOTS_Sponsor. You are an asset to the community. If anyone knows the mailing address for ABC Family, please post...we do want to send our letters to the right ABC Division.

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Thank you for the fantastic information LOTS_Sponsor. You are an asset to the community. If anyone knows the mailing address for ABC Family, please post...we do want to send our letters to the right ABC Division.

Email:

http://community.abcfamily.go.com/feedback

ABC Family is a partner/subsidiary of ABC/Disney. This is what I used

ABC, Inc.
Attn: ABC Family Channel Division
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

(818) 460-7477

[Mysticgal]

Thanks for the address...will get a letter off.

[dennee]

Email:

http://community.abcfamily.go.com/feedback

ABC Family is a partner/subsidiary of ABC/Disney. This is what I used

ABC, Inc.
Attn: ABC Family Channel Division
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

(818) 460-7477

Thank you SO much - we fans truly are humbled by your helping us and appreciate all you advice - i will get on it straightaway and hope ferevntly that s3 will be confirmed soon - our fave actors deserve all our help.

[Necros]

Thank you SO much - we fans truly are humbled by your helping us and appreciate all you advice

I can only echo your words, thanks you very much! I've sent an e-mail to them too, every little bit counts.

[mtguy8787]

Lol @ people who believe some random person who signs up is a "sponsor".

If the show got renewed, that would be great, but its silly to listen to some random person.

Sending messages doesnt do anything -- use your heads people. They dont care about how much fans want the show -- its about ratings. And sending messages doesnt help them in that regard. They already have the ratings and the stats -- that's what they make decisions on. Not fan mail.

The only thing that would possibly influence the show was if the # of fan messages > than the # of people who watched the show -- which obviously isnt going to happen.

What are you, as a company exec, going to think if you got a couple hundred.... a couple thousand letters, max? All that means is that you have at least a couple hundred/couple thousand people who are going to watch the show every week --- but you already knew that from the already-existing ratings.

[Katie6232]

What are you, as a company exec, going to think if you got a couple hundred.... a couple thousand letters, max? All that means is that you have at least a couple hundred/couple thousand people who are going to watch the show every week --- but you already knew that from the already-existing ratings.

They would see how passionate we are by letting them know how much the viewers love it. Many people watch, but do they really know what we think of it? Perhaps too, our words could possibly inspire them to work harder for many seasons to come.

[Extremis]

Heya everyone
I've been updating the Sponsors to include the 'Bound' episode so that we can send letters to them also

Please click here: http://kahlanrichardlots.proboards.c...ad=3128&page=1

(Sponsors definitely DO matter, I recall 'Snapple' being a HUGE reason why 'Roswell' was renewed for Season 3. 'Snapple' even put ads for 'Roswell' on their website, and was prominent IN the actual episodes themselves )

[LOTS_Sponsor]

Lol @ people who believe some random person who signs up is a "sponsor".

I personally am not a sponsor, but the company I work for and the department that I work in sponsors many things on radio, television, newspapers/magazines, and even community events regardless of what you may think.

They would see how passionate we are by letting them know how much the viewers love it. Many people watch, but do they really know what we think of it? Perhaps too, our words could possibly inspire them to work harder for many seasons to come.

Well said.... Contrary to what others may believe, letters and emails are important.