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Channel 5 Interactive held the sales contracts for BananaLotto.co.uk and

Another.com, which the sales house won in November last year.

BananaLotto has decided to move sales inhouse, extending the remit of an

existing ad team that was set up to offer non-banner solutions. Donald

Hamilton, commercial director, will head the sales team.

It is believed Another.com is in talks with a number of internet sales

houses, but is also considering bringing sales inhouse. Lisa Wright is

commercial director at Another.

Channel 5 Interactive will close with immediate effect, with only four

staff, including sales director Nick Bampton, staying on to manage

existing ad campaigns on Channel 5's own websites.

Seven staff have already left, and Bampton will leave in the next few

weeks.

The three remaining employees are account directors Damon Letzer and

Noel Lindsell, and sales operations director Neil McCallum. As well as

winding down the sales operation, they are working on the roll-out of

Channel 5's interactive TV service, expected to launch this year.

Channel 5 Interactive opened its doors last August - under Paul Curtis,

the then sales director - offering advertisers web and interactive TV

opportunities (Media Business, 14 August).

The closure is part of a major cost-cutting drive following an

operational review by Channel 5's board and RTL, which has a 65 per cent

share in the station.

Bampton commented: "We will still take sponsorship and advertising on

the Channel 5 website, it will just be handled by a smaller team. The

closure of the department was a business decision and there are no hard

feelings."