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Nintendo flashes cash, sponsors UK Gladiators



It's not just North America and Australia that are seeing a television revival for Gladiators -- the UK is getting its own remake this summer, as hosted by Kirsty Gallagher and the highly slappable Ian Wright, and Nintendo has coughed up £1m to make sure that the "Wii" name is plastered all over it. Marketing Week reports that all transmissions and repeat transmissions of Gladiators will be exclusively sponsored by Wii, as well as all on-demand Gladiators content through Sky Anytime TV.

Although we don't personally think of gurning, lycra-clad beefcakes whacking one another with giant cotton buds whenever we boot up Nintendo's box, we can certainly see where the company is going with this: back in the 1990s, Gladiators was renowned as wholesome teatime entertainment for the family (well, in Britain at least -- I'm not sure about the U.S.), and will no doubt attract a similar all-demographics-covered audience this time around.