From MediaPost:
SOME MARKETING PLANS NEVER DIE–AND naming your town after a TV program or TV distributor is still good business.
Clark, Texas, a town of 55 homes, has agreed to rename itself Dish, Texas, after the satellite distributor EchoStar’s Dish Network–in order to get free satellite service for its 4500 residents for the next ten years. Back in August of this year, EchoStar, with about 11 million customers, launched a town-naming contest. EchoStar is in a constant battle with larger rival DirecTV, which has about 14.5 million customers. Both companies are also competing with cable operators.
This isn’t just one isolated incident. Other small towns–especially some financially troubled municipalities–are looking into selling name rights. This follows activity by sports stadiums–typically owned by cities–which have increasingly done naming deals over the last two decades.
In 2000, Halfway, Ore. became Half.com for a year in an agreement that gave $100,000 to the town, as well as a new computer lab in the school. The town had called itself “Welcome to Half.com, the World’s First Dot-com City.” The town is back to calling itself Halfway.
In the 1950s, Hot Springs, N.M. was renamed Truth or Consequences, N.M., after a popular quiz show.
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