talkSPORT Appoints New London Sales Head

Wireless Group-owned sports radio station talkSPORT has appointed former Kiss 100 local sales manager, Sarah Barnard, as head of direct sales for London.

Barnard, who takes up the position today, will oversee the local sales operation for London and will report to Ashley MacKenzie, managing director of talkSPORT’s sales house, Impact.

Commenting on her appointment, MacKenzie said: “This is a fast growth area for us – particularly with our broadcast rights for Chelsea, Spurs and Fulham Premiership Games. We can offer customers a unique audience delivery for London and Sarah will help us build this franchise.”

talkSPORT has also announced details of a six figure sponsorship deal with Trinity Mirror’s recently rebranded Sunday People (see TalkSPORT Links With Sunday People).

The deal, negotiated by Zenith radio group, renews the sponsorship of the talkSPORT’s Inside Story football feature, which appears in the station’s Saturday 505 phone-in programme, hosted by former football manager Lawrie McMenemy.

Chris Morgan, talkSPORT’s head of sponsorship, said: “This is perfect positioning for SP in their crucial pre-selling period. The key highlights of the day’s football action broadly reflect the paper’s sports news agenda for the next day.”

The Wireless Group is this week poised to release the results of a study comparing the diary method of recording radio listening with an electronic wrist watch device (see MacKenzie Launches More Electronic Measurement Tests). Wireless Group chief executive, Kelvin MacKenzie, has been an outspoken critic of RAJAR’s diary system and believes that electronic measurement systems provide a more accurate picture of exactly what radio stations people listen to (see MRG Evening Meeting: The Future Of Radio Audience Measurement).

talkSPORT: 020 7959 7800 www.talksport.co.uk

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