DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is back, and with all the expectation of a hit second series, Disney is launching an album of music “from and inspired by” the programme. There are songs from Shania Twain and Joss Stone, plus bits of dialogue from the characters.
If that was not enough, a board game, Dirty Laundry, has been on sale since August, while a “high-end” range of T-shirts are available in the US, and in due course the UK. All that remains is the computer game, and Disney has not given up on that yet.
It is the kind of merchandising that used to be confined to films, but is now coming into television. If you have got a hit, exploit it. At some point ITV will follow.