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ITV is looking for a first-time sponsor for its thrice-weekly soap

opera, Emmerdale, in a deal which could be worth up to pounds 6m.

The sponsorship will be put together by Laser Sales, the ITV sales house

which negotiated Cadbury’s successful pounds 10m deal with Coronation

Street.

Possible sponsors for Emmerdale include FMCG and soft-drinks companies

interested in tapping in to the soap’s rural associations.

Emmerdale, one of ITV’s top rating programmes, is broadcast at 7pm on

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Last year it averaged more than 11

million viewers for each of its transmission days, chalking up a 54.3%

share of commercial viewing. Its hour-long specials were watched by up

to 14.2 million viewers.

The Wednesday episode of Emmerdale, introduced last year, led to a 25%

year-on-year improvement in audiences for the 7pm slot.

ITV has set up a number of high-profile deals recently. In January,

Going Places tied up with Blind Date, while in December Yorkshire Tea

agreed to sponsor Heartbeat.