The Inner Circle Attracts Large Audience on Launch

Zinc Media Group plc (AIM:ZIN), the award-winning television, brand and audio production group, is delighted to announce that large numbers of viewers tuned in to both the celebrity launch show and non-celebrity weekday versions of new quiz format The Inner Circle, hosted by Amanda Holden.

On Saturday 4 October, over three million viewers tuned into the first episode of The Celebrity Inner Circle (source: Overnights.tv). It was the most watched show on television in the UK in its slot, comfortably outperforming competition in the early evening segment. The weekday daytime version also had a strong start, with an average audience of 850k watching the inaugural episode on Monday 6 October.

As the owner of the IP, Zinc expects to generate additional income from international format, programme and merchandise sales. The Inner Circle will be represented by BBC Studios at forthcoming markets including MIPCOM later this month.

The launch is a significant milestone in Zinc's genre diversification strategy, being the group's first entertainment format and the result of several years of investment in the genre.

Created by Zinc's Scottish based production label Tern TV, The Inner Circle was the result of a competitive tender process that ran over several years and initially included over 100 production companies. In the format contestants are pitted against each other in rounds of questions, before being asked to 'split' the prize fund or 'shaft' their opponent in a bid to collect it all.

The launch was supported by a significant press and marketing campaign led by Zinc's in house marketing and comms team; comprising a screening, press junket, press releases and far-reaching social media promotion. This generated extensive coverage on radio, TV and in the press, including a takeover of The Sun TV Biz page, and a wave of positive sentiment.

The "gripping, high-stakes" quiz show will be shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings, including this Saturday 11 October, and weekday afternoons through October and November.

Mark Browning, CEO Zinc Media Group said, "The Inner Circle has exceeded our launch expectations, being received positively by both audiences and critics alike. We are especially proud of the initial audience numbers given the presence of highly established entertainment formats on other channels in both the Saturday and daytime slots. As owners of the IP, we're well-positioned to generate income from format, programme and other international sales. We look forward to the rest of the programmes coming to air and to many more Zinc-created entertainment programmes in the future."

Investors are encouraged to follow more updates on this show and other Zinc Media Group news by subscribing to Zinc's newsletters via the website and following the company on Instagram, Linkedin and www.zincmedia.com.

Note: audience data supplied by Overnights.tv. Data subject to change once recorded and playback viewing is captured, with total audiences likely to increase.