Amazon will be the new broadcast sponsors of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off for 2018, in their biggest deal since the marketplace sponsored the Downton Abbey series in 2014.
The promotion will focus on Amazon’s Echo speakers and the capabilities of the Alexa voice service – expect recipe skills and reordering baking supplies to be featured. Rumours have it that the deal is worth about £5 million making it one of the biggest TV programme sponsorship deals ever in the UK.
The sponsorship includes the ninth series of The Great British Bake Off when judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood alongside presenters Sandi Toksvig OBE and Noel Fielding return to TV screens later this year; Bake Off: An Extra Slice hosted by Jo Brand; the festive episodes; and for the first time in its brand new home on Channel 4, Bake Off: The Professionals presented by comedian Tom Allen and popular baker from the last series of Bake Off, Liam Charles who join judges and celebrated pastry chefs, Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin.
“It’s a great testimony to the success of Bake Off’s debut on Channel 4 last year that Amazon will sponsor the Bake Off programme brands this year. We’re looking forward to working with Amazon as we build towards the launch of one of the biggest TV events of the year.”
– Jonathan Lewis, Head of Digital and Partnership Innovation at Channel 4
Last year’s The Great British Bake Off final drew a consolidated audience of 10.0 million viewers and a 36.9% share of audience per episode – rising to 11 million viewers with the addition of repeats – making it Channel 4’s biggest audience ever since the current system of measurement began in 2002.
It’s been revealed that Amazon Echo owners spend 66% more than the average so if Amazon can boost sales of the devices through the programme sponsorship and convert new users to paying customers then it could be a pretty good deal for them. Amazon will likely look at the cost per acquisition and the lifetime value of a new customer to determine if they get value for money, but for merchants selling on the marketplace anything that increases sales has to be welcome.
As a spin off benefit, baking supplies sales on Amazon for everything from mixers and blenders to scales and icing will probably rocket when the show’s air.
