(25 April 2006 1:30 pm)

MUMBAI: A sponsorship deal has been signed between Fox Broadcasting and Toyota that will have the car maker as the primary advertiser for episodes of Prison Break set to air on mobile phones. Earlier this month, Fox had announced that it would be rebroadcasting its content on the internet, with a revenue share deal for its local station affiliates.

Fox's Prison Break will serve as the centerpiece of a new marketing partnership between several News Corporation divisions-including Fox, FX and Fox Mobile Entertainment-and Toyota that will include a series of mobisodes inspired by the show.

The promotion coincides with the launch of Toyota's new Yaris Liftback and Sedan and will comprise Fox Broadcasting, Fox Mobile Entertainment (FME), Fox Interactive Media (FIM) and the FX cable channel.

The News Corp. subsidiary is teaming with Toyota to produce 26 short videos that are set to be released every few days for subscribers of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Power Vision service.

Saatchi & Saatchi LA will produce 10-second marketing messages for Toyota that will air at the beginning of each mobisode, followed by a two-minute episode that parallels the current Prison Break storyline.The Toyota vehicles will be prominently featured in the 26 mobisodes.

Prison Break: Proof of Innocence introduces the character Amber McCall and follows her attempts to exonerate her friend L.J., who has disappeared after being framed for murder. L.J. is the son of the show's lead character-death row prisoner Lincoln Burrows. The mobisode series is produced by Eric Young of Sparkhill, producer of the award-winning 24: Conspiracy series.

Toyota VP of marketing Jim Farley noted, "We're utilizing this emerging entertainment medium as a way to provide fans of Prison Break with details about the show courtesy of Yaris. Our partnership with Fox provides an exclusive portal to showcase Yaris to consumers in a fun way where they can discover more about the car on their own time."

Fox Interactive Media will also create a Toyota-branded Prison Break microsite within Fox.com, offering content tied to the series. Also, Fox is providing Toyota with "category exclusivity" for auto advertising during several upcoming Prison Break broadcasts, with the first airing today. Fox will also drive viewers to both the Toyota-branded microsite and the mobisodes with co-branded advertising in daily and weekly national publications. Toyota was also sponsor of the FX cable channel's Prison Break marathon last month.