‘Chuck’ Is On the Air!

Business Wire just released this announcement:

Radio Programmers and Listeners to Create a Journey Through Music That Complements Innovative Creative for Launch of “Journeyman”

BURBANK, Calif. & SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The NBC Agency and Clear Channel Radio (NYSE:CCU) today announced unique, national radio campaigns for NBC’s fall programming lineup. Today, on-air and online promotions begin on select Clear Channel Radio stations in the top 10 demographic markets to drive viewers to the new romantic mystery/drama series “Journeyman,” which premieres on Monday, September 24 (10:00 p.m. ET). And next Monday, NBC and Clear Channel Radio will orchestrate the first-ever “takeover” sponsorship in the radio medium with NBC as the exclusive, full-day advertiser on five of Clear Channel Radio’s biggest-reach stations.

Elements of the “Journeyman” campaign include 15-second, pre-produced NBC spots that will seamlessly surround clever music programming that mixes contemporary hits and favorites from years ago to build upon the show’s travel-through-time theme. In addition, on-air spots will drive listeners to radio station Web microsites where they can select their favorite “now and then” music combinations of artists or genres to help create the “Journeyman” playlists for participating Clear Channel Radio stations. Online previews of “Journeyman” episodes are also available via these sites, like (http://www.star987.com/pages/journeyman/).

To kick off the week when NBC debuts its series premieres, the network will sponsor radio programming for the entire day on September 24 on WHTZ-FM (Z100) in New York, KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, KYLD-FM in San Francisco, WKSC-FM in Chicago and WIOQ-FM in Philadelphia. Instead of typical commercials, listeners will hear entertaining vignettes hosted by the new show talent. Unique content will be featured every hour.

Also in these markets, from 6:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., stars of a new NBC fall show “Chuck” are taking over the airwaves to discuss their new show. During these hours, all five stations will refer to themselves as “Chuck-FM”, and Zach Levi and Josh Gomez (who play Chuck and Morgan respectively) will introduce all station content reports (news, traffic, weather, sports) with no other commercial breaks or advertisers running concurrently. Starting today, Zach and Josh will be announcing their planned takeover via 15- and 30-second spots on designated and partner stations.

“We are pleased to be part of these breakthrough radio advertising concepts with the ‘takeovers’ to introduce our fantastic programming and the music bookends to build excitement through interactivity for “Journeyman”,” said Tim Farish, Vice President of Media, The NBC Agency. “We expect these fun and innovative campaigns to generate similar ratings success as previous Clear Channel Radio collaborations have for NBC series premieres like “Heroes”.”

“These marketing programs are great examples of Clear Channel’s ability to customize audio and digital messaging for massive impact,” said Jeff Howard, President, Clear Channel Radio Sales. “We expect the combination of NBC’s high-quality production and the massive listenership of five of our largest-reach vehicles in the U.S. will drive viewership in their core 18-49 demographic.”