Last year, Virgin Mobile's parent Virgin Media was the title sponsor and used the exposure to push its "quad-play" range, from Virgin Mobile to its cable TV, broadband and phone offering. This time the Virgin Mobile brand will be dominant, with limited exposure for the other offerings.
Virgin stepped in for 'BB8' after Carphone Warehouse dropped its 'Big Brother' sponsorship amid the race row ructions caused by the bullying of Indian film star Shilpa Shetty in 'Celebrity Big Brother' at the start of 2007.
'BB8' failed to live up to the ratings delivered by previous series with many critics deciding that the show's edge was dulled by efforts to avoid further on-screen trouble. It opened with 6.2m viewers and climaxed with just 5.3m, 2.5m fewer than 'BB7'.
In January, this year the Virgin Mobile-sponsored replacement for 'Celebrity Big Brother', 'Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack' was aired almost entirely on E4 and finished with just 725,000 viewers.
However, Kydd, Virgin Media's managing director of marketing and brand, is convinced he has made the right decision in renewing the sponsorship.
He said: "'Big Brother' is a ratings powerhouse, it is a perfect fit with the Virgin Mobile brand, and the audience it delivers includes many of our customers and staff."
According to statistics quoted by Virgin and Channel 4, last year's 'Big Brother' reached more than 80% of 18- to 34-year-olds and "in general" averaged around 4m viewers a show.
David Charlesworth, head of sponsorship at Channel 4, said: "We're delighted to have Virgin back on board for 'BB9'. Virgin Media are perfectly suited as they offer multi-platform opportunities that help satisfy consumers' insatiable appetite for all things Big Brother."
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