PartyGaming Signs UK TV Deal with Channel Five

Last week, leading Gibraltar-based online gambling company, PartyGaming, announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with popular UK television broadcaster, Channel Five, to launch an exciting range of online casino and bingo services in the coming six months.

According to the deal, Channel Five will launch the PartyGaming-powered gambling service under its 'Five' brand name which it will promote heavily in order to entice its viewers to partake in its offerings. The deal is reportedly part of Channel Five's aggressive expansion of its digital strategy.

We are looking forward to a long and prosperous partnership with PartyGaming, who has been charged with creating the very best gaming experience for Channel Five's audience,' said Channel Five CEO, Dawn Airey. 'We have been looking at how to expand our presence in digital media, both in terms of our core broadcast content as well as allied offerings that reflect Channel Five's unique sense of dynamism and fun.'

The deal has been seen as something of a 'coup', after Airey's former employers, ITV, reportedly 'let the ball drop' by allowing an agreement to expire with PartyGaming to offer its own e-gaming services across some of its well-known brands, including Emmerdale, a popular UK soap opera.

But ITV's loss is Channel Five's gain, which is now one step closer to increasing its digital presence that currently includes Demand Five, an exciting video-on-demand service launched in June last year, as well as FiveFWD, a portal targeting men featuring content from Fifth Gear and The Gadget Show.

This deal is also reflection of PartyGaming's new-found freedom to make deals and form symbiotic partnerships as it pleases, after it recently settled its long-standing legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department, that served to constrain the gambling firm and its strategy to increase its presence around the world.

Following the announcement of its deal with Channel Five, PartyGaming stock on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed high at $260.75 a share on Friday, after starting the week at $235.75. The increase in its share price is indicative of the confidence the market has in the current and future success of PartyGaming.