Increased global distribution and strong media coverage for the 2009 TT Races boost Isle of Man’s profile – TT races programmes top the charts in ITV 4 weekly viewing figures – Visitor numbers increase for 2009 TT Races compared with previous year The Isle of Man’s profile has received a huge boost with increased television coverage of the 2009 TT races. The promotion of the event is part of a wide-ranging strategy by the Department of Tourism and Leisure to raise the number of visitors to the Isle of Man TT. This year saw an increase of around 2,500 visitors compared to the 2008 TT fortnight. The TT races topped the ITV 4 viewing figures during race week with the Pokerstars Senior TT on Friday 12th achieving ITV 4’s highest viewing figures of the week with an average audience of 462,000 and a peak of over 500,000. The TT races occupied the first four places in ITV4’s audience ratings for the week ending 14th June. Leading broadcasters Discovery Channel (US), Channel Ten (Australia), TVE (Spain), Rai (Italy), Abu Dhabi TV (UAE), Sport Five (Czech Republic), ViaSat (Scandinavia), Channel 4 (Finland) and Band Sport (Brazil) all took the full package of ten hour long international programmes produced by North One. ESPN (Brazil) also took the 2 one hour highlight shows. In total 35 countries carried the full international highlights package, with a total household reach of 209,627,000. As well as the exclusive country specific deals signed with leading broadcasters by North One Television the revitalised series of races and the world’s first clean emissions motorsport event, the TTXGP, also attracted the interest of leading international news stations. Three regional BBC news crews as well as Fuji TV (Japan), ARD (Germany), Rai (Italy), Reuters and TF1 (France) also filed news stories from the Island. There was also a crew from Mentorn TV with presenter John Sergeant who was filming a programme for ITV for release in October 2009. Focus TV (Germany), MTV 3 (Finland), Deal Motion (Japan), Reel to Reel (UK) BBC 3 and ITV also sent crews and presenters. Independent analysis of the Television coverage by media analysts TNS Sport has revealed that the Isle of Man TT brand received global exposure through the Television coverage to an equivalent advertising value of £4,914,550 of which £406,753 was in the UK. In addition a further £2,188,405 was generated in press coverage, including over £1.000,000 in UK titles. Hon Martyn Quayle, MHK, Minister for Tourism and Leisure, Isle of Man Government, commented: “The media coverage has been a great boost to the profile of the Isle of Man and has allowed us to promote many of the facilities and experiences on offer to visitors. The Isle of Man’s scenery and environment have also provided a stunning backdrop to the race footage. It’s encouraging to see the increase in visitors on the back of our work to improve the races and the promotion of the event and we hope that this year’s successes will lead to additional visitors booking for 2010 TT.”