Artsworld to Rebrand as Sky Arts

LONDON, February 5:
BSkyB will rebrand its arts channels Artsworld and Artsworld HD as Sky
Arts and Sky Arts HD, effective March 1. In related news, the new Sky Arts will
serve as the broadcast sponsor of The Guardian Hay Festival, one of the U.K.’s
largest arts festivals.

“The move from Artsworld to Sky Arts is a great testament to
Sky’s continued investment in the arts and the breadth of quality and content
that Sky has to offer,” said John Cassy, the channel manager of Artsworld. “The
change in name will help create further awareness of where to find our channel,
as well as of Sky’s association with the arts, including its ongoing
sponsorships of English National Opera and English National Ballet, the British
Film Institute and The National Trust.”

Sky Arts and Sky Arts HD, the U.K.’s only television
networks dedicated to all areas of the arts, will launch with new logos, on-air
identities and off-air communications. Upcoming programs on the channels
include a new opera strand called Monday Night Opera and further episodes of The Book Show, a weekly in-studio show hosted by Mariella Frostrup
that features interviews with leading authors such as Julian Barnes and Salman
Rushdie.

Further, the three-year broadcast sponsorship deal with The
Guardian Hay Festival gives BSkyB exclusive multiplatform broadcast rights to
the event from 2007 through 2009. The coverage will be broadcast in
high-definition on Sky Arts HD. This year, the festival celebrates its 20th
anniversary. Last year, the festival staged 392 events over 10 days and
featured speakers such as Al Gore, Member of Parliament Clare Short, author
Margaret Atwood, and musicians PJ Harvey and Beth Orton.

“Hay Festival is recognized as one of the world’s leading
arts festivals featuring many of the most influential thinkers,” said Dawn Airey,
the MD of channels and services at Sky. “Sky is delighted to be supporting and
celebrating its unique content, by bringing it to a wide audience through Sky
Arts.”