[nodisharmony]

Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin, has decided to sponser Big Brother 8 and also, has first refusal on next-year's CBB spin-off.

This is the link & the article in today's Daily Mirror 22/03/07

http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/tm_h...name_page.html

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Also, if you go to the (Big Brother 8) section in this forum, you can see the other article from a different Newspaper.

This Daily Mirror article mentions, CBB, hence, being posted here!
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THE ARTICLE......

BIG BRANSON
VIRGIN BACKS CH4 SHOW IN RACE ROW
By Clinton Manning, Business Editor 22/03/2007
VIRGIN Media is to sponsor the next series of Big Brother despite the racism row involving Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

Tycoon Richard Branson's TV, phone and internet group also has first refusal on next year's Celebrity Big Brother spin-off.

But yesterday bosses were quick to shrug off the controversy which led to previous sponsor Carphone Warehouse pulling out.

Shameful attacks by Jade Goody on housemate Shilpa caused a public outcry and led to questions in Parliament.

AdvertisementVirgin Media's marketing chief James Kydd said: "We're not worried. Big Brother has always come under the spotlight and courted a lot of attention. But it hits the bullseye in terms of our target audience."

The sponsorship deal is believed to be worth £1.5million - a knockdown bargain compared to the £2.5million paid by Carphone Warehouse.

Virgin Media, which has 3.4million customers, is keen to win back viewers after a bust-up with Sky TV. It meant customers could no longer watch hit shows, including Lost and 24, on Sky channels.