SANTA MONICA, CA (Recording Academy) - Today, The Recording Academy proudly announced Dr Pepper, Heineken, Cadillac, Verizon, PEOPLE, Yahoo! Music, Westwood One Radio, XM Satellite Radio, Hilton Hotels and Continental Airlines as the official marketing partners of the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards and its surrounding GRAMMY Week events.
"The caliber and depth of these alliances speaks to The Recording Academy's commitment to building strategic long-term marketing partnerships with today's leading companies," said Recording Academy President Neil Portnow. "We are proud to be aligned with such a stellar roster of partner brands and look forward to making this GRAMMY season another huge success."
Returning for the sixth consecutive year as a Recording Academy sponsor is Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages this year highlighting Dr Pepper as the official soft drink. Heineken, returning for the third year, is the official beer and malt beverage. Also, Cadillac and Verizon have returned to the GRAMMY roster of corporate sponsors for a second year as the official vehicle and official broadband sponsor, respectively. PEOPLE, Westwood One and XM Satellite Radio are all returning sponsors and have been joined by Yahoo! Music. PEOPLE is the official magazine, Westwood One is the official terrestrial radio network, XM Satellite Radio is the official satellite radio network, and Yahoo! Music is the official online partner. Longtime partners Hilton Hotels and Continental Airlines remain, respectively, the show's official hotel and airline.
Heineken and Dr Pepper will continue to bring consumers to Music's Biggest Night, offering once-in-a-lifetime GRAMMY experiences through online and in-store promotions. With their focus on music initiatives, Heineken will once again showcase its overall commitment to causes important to the music industry, including GRAMMY Foundation programs and the What's The Download (www.whatsthedownload.com) public education campaign, by transforming the traditional red carpet to "Green."
Yahoo! Music will host the official Web site for 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Consumers who visit https://grammy.yahoo.com will get access to exclusive GRAMMY and nominee coverage and the latest news and information leading up to the awards ceremony. Yahoo! will also create fresh original content surrounding the Best New Artist nominees, including interviews and a day-in-the-life biographical piece.
After the great response to last year's first-ever GRAMMY Edition Cadillac Escalades, Cadillac will again support this year's partnership by creating a fleet of limited-edition 2006 GRAMMY Escalades. The fleet will include more than 100 customized 2006 Escalade ESVs and the highlight of this year's fleet will be the all-new 2007 Escalade with its fresh new design that was inspired by music industry trendsetters. The vehicles will be used to transport talent to GRAMMY Week events and the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast. Following the telecast, they will be sold at local Cadillac dealerships in the Los Angeles area.
Verizon showed its support for The Academy and its charitable affiliate MusiCares Foundation by sponsoring the GRAMMY Charity Holiday Auction on eBay from Nov. 28 through Dec. 8. In addition, Verizon will promote the 48th GRAMMY Awards by developing a GRAMMY microsite exclusively accessible by Verizon broadband subscribers. The site will offer access to GRAMMY photos, trivia and a chance to attend the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
As the official print media partner of The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Awards, PEOPLE, and its parent company Time Inc., support a variety of core Academy and GRAMMY initiatives. In addition to PEOPLE's presence at the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards and official 2006 GRAMMY Celebration after party, this partnership extends to the GRAMMY Foundation, MusiCares Foundation and other platforms throughout the year.
Westwood One Radio Network will produce its annual "Backstage at the GRAMMYs" radio remotes, bringing in more than 40 radio stations from across the country to broadcast live from GRAMMY rehearsals. XM Satellite Radio will provide comprehensive coverage of The Recording Academy's activities and GRAMMY Week events with live broadcasts and behind-the-scenes interviews with GRAMMY winners and nominees across XM's various musical genres, all of which will air on a dedicated XM "GRAMMY Radio" channel for three days of continuous GRAMMY coverage.
The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The show will be broadcast by the CBS Television Network (8 - 11:30 p.m. ET/PT), supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide, with coverage of the broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, and covered on the Internet at www.grammy.yahoo.com.
