Audi switches on to television

Audi this week launches it own television channel in the UK which, if successful, could be rolled out in other countries.

The Audi Channel will run 24 hours, seven days a week and is aimed at at a mass market audience: British car owners and car enthusiasts. The launch schedule is split between product related ‘infotainment’ during the day and more general entertainment-driven material in the evenings and at weekends.

The channel is being broadcast to 7.6m UK homes over the Sky Digital satellite television platform. The channel has cost £2m to set up and Audi is committing betweeen £1m and £2m more a year to cover running costs – equivalent to annual expenditure on the Audi UK website.

Gary Savage, Audi UK’s marketing director, said: ‘In terms of advertising and marketing we have been very much following the conventional route. So we took the decision to take control of our own destiny.’