• by Aaron Baar , December 27, 2010

No more presenters fumbling with opening envelopes at the "People's Choice Awards." As part of Sanyo Zio's official partnership of the awards show, the presenters will be reading honorees from specially programmed mobile phones.

"This is something we worked on in conjunction and in partnership with Sprint," John Chier, director of corporate communications for Kyocera, tells Marketing Daily. "[The 'People's Choice Awards'] have always been forward-thinking in terms of their broadcast."

It is all part of Kyocera's (the parent company behind Sanyo Mobile) promotion of its Android-powered Zio smartphone, which is available from Sprint. In addition to the in-show placement, Sprint will be running ads promoting the phone during the program and the Zio's sponsorship will be highlighted during commercial bumpers, Chier says.

Still unknown, however, is whether any of the presenters will forego asking for the envelope in favor of something more Zio-centric. "I think we'll know more at rehearsals a couple days before the broadcast," Chier says.

The People's Choice Awards are set to be broadcast on Jan. 5 on CBS. Although most of the categories are closed to voting, Kyocera has also developed a special People's Choice Awards app available through the Android Market, which allows fans to vote in the categories of "Favorite New TV Comedy" and "Favorite New TV Drama" directly from any Android-powered phone. Those categories will be open until the beginning of the broadcast.