PARADE SIGNS LANDMARK DEAL
U.S. Public TV’s Three Year Boost For London
London’s New Year’s Day Parade (LNYDP), the turn-of-year tradition, has signed a landmark deal to be televised live across America for (at least) the next three years.
The free, family festivity, recognised as a vitally important shop window for London as a tourist destination, has won plaudits from across the World due to extensive television media coverage across continents.
The annual event, which has never received a penny of public funding, has transformed the West End of London on January 1st attracting thousands of participants to the Capital to perform and hundreds of thousands to enjoy the spectacle.
American Public Television (APT), which exclusively provides output to U.S. public television stations, will syndicate LNYDP 2024, 2025 and 2026, to around 80% of U.S. households.
Now in its 38th year, the event has become synonymous with showcasing the UK Capital and its hugely diverse communities to viewers across continents.
The three-and-a-half-hour street spectacular has been screened live for several years, securing up to a three percent audience share across nearly 250 stations.
Co-Founder of the event Bob Bone, Chair of organisers Destination Events Ltd, said: “This is a landmark agreement for us, guaranteeing us a huge audience in the USA. London tourism has suffered terribly since the pandemic, and this positive exposure at a crucial booking period, will be a huge boon to the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors.
“Our event has become hugely successful globally and we hope to attract significant sponsorship as a result.”
“APT is pleased to continue to bring London’s New Year’s Day Parade to American public television audiences for years to come,” said Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of American Public Television. “This technically demanding production provides entertainment and enjoyment for all, as the world celebrates the New Year.”
The event, which has raised many millions for London wide charities, is reckoned to have boosted the London economy by several billion pounds over the last 38 years, thanks to the 4,000 overseas performers that participate and the half a million spectators attracted to the streets of the West End.
London New Year’s Day Parade is a production of Destination Events TV. The executive in charge for APT is Thomas Davison.
About American Public Television
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and more than one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. APT’s diverse catalog includes prominent documentaries, performances, dramas, how-to programs, classic movies, children’s series, and news and current affairs programs. Midsomer Murders, America’s Test Kitchen, AfroPoP, Rick Steves’ Europe, Pacific Heartbeat, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Legacy List with Matt Paxton, Front and Center, Lidia’s Kitchen, Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, Front & Center, James Patterson’s Kid Stew, and NHK Newsline are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming — and WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science, and documentary channel. To find out more about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.