Brinley Hineman
Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours has made its way to the telly.
The river cruise line is in the spotlight on Channel 5, a public broadcast channel in the U.K., in a new series with English broadcaster Angela Rippon. The series will be called "Angela Rippon's River Cruises" and features the veteran journalist cruising the Mekong and Danube with Scenic.
The four-part series premiered May 9.
Rippon is best known for being the first woman to have a permanent role presenting on BBC.
While on the Mekong, Rippon explored Cambodia's temples and Vietnam's markets. On the Danube, she visited Budapest, Vienna and the Wachau Valley.
River cruising is no stranger to primetime TV. Viking has been a longstanding partner of "Downton Abbey," which is shown in the U.S. on PBS, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises launched a campaign across four networks in 2019.
Viking's financial investment in advertising on "Downton," in particular, has played no small part in propelling the company to popularity.
And the fact Scenic will be further exposed to the British market is particularly interesting. North Americans dominate the river cruise market, but you'll often find European travelers onboard. For example, Riviera Travel, based in England, is big in the UK, while Scenic Group, an Australian-founded company, lures Aussies to the world's rivers.
Scenic's feature on Channel 5, a major U.K. broadcaster, is likely to catch the eyes of new cruisers.