In a first for DC Thomson Publishing, the magazine business has announced that it will become a new sponsor of the UK's most watched commercial children's channel, CITV.

The deal, which includes broadcast, online, mobile and licensing elements, will see separate 10-second sponsorship idents created across DC Thomson's range of children's titles, which will run from 0925-1800 on CITV for a 12-month period from 1st August.

The activity coincides with an exciting year for the DC Thomson, which is launching a new Thunderbirds Are Go title later this year. The broadcast sponsorship will be supported by a range of activity, including 5-second idents across CITV content on ITV Player and a major POS push in supermarket and high street retailers.

DC Thomson's Head of Publishing (Consumer Entertainment) Neil O'Brien said: "We're keen to increase awareness of our brands and this campaign will help to showcase a range of our children's titles.

"We're hoping that this will not only appeal to our current readers but also assist in attracting new readers and it's an ideal platform to match our portfolio".

The company's Head of Advertising (Consumer Entertainment) Andrew Williams commented: "A huge amount of research has gone into this campaign and there's great potential for retail partnerships. Previous youth insight studies have shown that many of our readers are CITV viewers, so we're delighted to be launching this campaign to help maximise exposure of our brands to the right audiences".

Kirsty Matthews, Group Marketing Manager for DC Thomson, added: "CITV has an approach that reflects our brand's values to engage children in a fun, creative and educational way.

"This multi-title campaign will provide key support to our brands starting from the important summer selling period and shows DC Thomson’s commitment to supporting the stable of publications".