Travel+Escape’s new owner will soon reveal the channel’s new look.
After acquiring Travel+Escape from CTV last year, Toronto’s GlassBox Television, which also owns and operates specialty networks Aux TV and Bite TV, will relaunch Travel+Escape on Nov. 1.
“We take ownership and control of the channel [that day], so this will kick off that we have the channel, we’re excited about it, we’ve refreshed the programming and there’s a brand new look,” said GlassBox director, marketing communications and on-air Jennifer Mason.
A national free preview will run from Nov. 1 until Jan. 31, 2012, putting the travel and adventure channel in more than 8.8 million households in Canada. Classified as a “category one” station by the CRTC, the station is offered by all major cable and satellite providers.
A redone website will accompany the channel revamp. Consisting of full-length episodes from Travel+Escape and original travel stories, travelandescape.ca also launches Nov. 1.
Mason said travel writers and bloggers were hired to populate the site with content. Some of the content will complement the channel’s shows, some will be travel stories and “best of” lists (i.e. “Best Drives in Canada”).
In the future, some of the content will be sponsorable and may be customized for an advertiser.
The new visual identity and logo for the channel, as well as the overhaul of the website, was done by Mighty. Inspiration for the on-air visuals and logo came from iconic travel symbols, such as retro luggage tags.
A dedicated GlassBox team of six people, including graphic designs and digital and on-air staffers, worked on the in-house creative for the channel’s relaunch.
GlassBox is getting the word out about the relaunch through a national advertising campaign. A large part of the on-air component of the campaign involved purchasing national U.S. ad avails, said Mason. Purchasing commercial time from U.S. cable channels for Travel+Escape “was really a great way, while people are watching TV, to get them familiar with the channel and all the great programming, then right there be able to flick over and sample the channel,” she said. The on-air component of the campaign will last the entire three months of the free preview.
GlassBox will also run a national radio campaign through the Astral Media Radio Group in November, then again in January.
It will also run ads in the winter editions of Explore and Cottage Life magazines.
There will also be a tune-in-to-win viewer contest in which two people will be sent to Hong Kong for an all-expenses-paid trip. The contest is in connection with a new Travel+Escape series launching this fall called Ship to Shore that’s about cruise lines. The contest will run in November and December and the winners will be announced in January.
The show lineup for Travel+Escape includes Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (pictured above), Let’s Shop and Ghost Adventures.
