Historic Release of New "Tonight" Collection Introduced With Respond2 Entertainment Campaign
PORTLAND, Ore. – December 1, 2010– Adoring fans of former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson can now add 30 hours of never-released material to their collections with a 15-DVD set released ahead of the holiday season by Respond2 Entertainment, the entertainment marketing company within R2C Group®.
The new set, entitled “Tonight,” more than doubles the hours of content that has been released over the previous 15 years combined. It was made possible by recent digitization of the entire 30-year, 3,300-hour Carson Tonight Show library from R2E client, Carson Entertainment Group (CEG), that has been in underground storage, and is believed to be the world’s largest entertainment archive. Before this release, just 20 hours of the library have been made available.
The “Tonight” set is supported by a long-form direct response TV campaign that moves into high gear during Thanksgiving week on sports, news and male-skewing entertainment channels. The program was tested during the week of October 26 which would have been Carson’s 85th birthday. It features a retrospective from several of Carson’s favorite guests, including actress Loni Anderson, comedian David Brenner, animal enthusiast Jim Fowler, and cowboy entertainer Baxter Black. The set is available for two payments of $59.99 plus shipping and handling through the website www.johnnycarson.com and at select retailers.
“An entertaining long-form program continues to be our best advertising vehicle for the Johnny Carson library,” said Jeff Sotzing, President of Carson Entertainment Group. “Aside from being entertaining, this program provides the information necessary for people to see first-hand the product they are buying, which leads to confident purchases and repeat business.”
The expanded Carson website now showcases more than 50 memorable clips featuring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy, Betty White, Steve Martin, Muhammad Ali and many more celebrities. Next year, the entire Carson library will be made available to the public through a searchable website created and operated by CEG and R2E that will make it possible to instantly search the entire Carson library, then view and license footage.
“The Carson library is one of the top-selling television entertainment properties of all time and yet we believe we are still in the very early stages of making this treasure available to adoring fans young and old,” said Tim O’Leary, CEO of R2C Group. “With such highly fragmented media, it is unlikely any entertainer will eclipse the impact Johnny Carson had on late night entertainment.”
Respond2 Entertainment is the entertainment marketing company within R2C Group, specializing in creating and marketing original filmed productions, existing premier television collections and other select programming via direct-to-consumer marketing strategies, as well as through traditional retail sales channels. Clients include the Carson Entertainment Group, Bob Hope Enterprises, Paul Brownstein Productions, and many others.
About Carson Entertainment Group (CEG)
CEG controls licensing rights to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, recorded between 1962 through 1992. CEG has licensed clips for use in numerous television series, movies, specials, and commercials, and the company co-produces a series of home entertainment products that has set the standard for television programming sold via direct response and at retail.
About R2C Group
R2C Group, Inc., the largest independently owned, direct response advertising agency in the country, specializes in brand-building accountable advertising. Headquartered in Portland, Ore., with offices strategically located across the country, R2C Group combines the talent of its creative division, Respond2, and the expertise of its media buying divisions, Cmedia and MMSI (Marketing & Media Services). Pioneers in branded DRTV production, dovetailed with efficient, high performance media planning, R2C Group’s clients include Adobe, bareMinerals, Humana Healthcare, NordicTrack, Rosetta Stone, Shark, TiVo and many others. More information is available at www.r2cgroup.com.
