The FT Weekend has renewed its sponsorship of Jazz FM’s Friday evening show, Welcome to the Weekend, presented by former Sky News Business Editor, Michael Wilson.

Welcome to the Weekend with FT Weekend will now be extended by half-an-hour, broadcasting from 5.30pm to 7pm every Friday evening.  The show is designed to keep listeners up to date with all the news, in-depth analysis and cultural comment on music, food, wine, art and film likely to feature in the weekend ahead.

Welcome to the Weekend with FT Weekend will be supported online, showcasing a regular FT podcast series, as well as exclusive prizes and additional programme features such as listen again.

Jo Coltman, Director of Sales, Jazz FM said: “"As one of our founder, and longest running, partners we are thrilled to continue working with the FT in 2012. The re-shaping of the partnership is very closely aligned to the content of the forthcoming weekend edition allowing us to bring the ‘Smart but Casual’ proposition to life for our serious minded listeners when they are chilling out. FT Weekend is a highly regarded publication and an important sponsor for Jazz FM. This is an exciting time for Jazz FM and we are happy to build on our relationship with the newspaper.”

Mike Vitti, Head of Programming, Jazz FM said: “I’m very excited that we have been able to extend Michael Wilson’s FT Welcome to the Weekend programme. The Jazz FM and FT alliance has now moved into its fourth year and with that, it brings to the fore exciting new content opportunities for Jazz FM listeners and FT readers.”

Caroline Halliwell, Director of Brand and B2B Marketing, Financial Times said: "We are really pleased to be renewing the FT Weekend sponsorship of Welcome to the Weekend on Jazz FM.  We have been with Jazz FM since they re-launched on digital back in 2009 and it is fantastic to see our sponsorship grow. Jazz FM has a loyal and discerning audience, so it continues to be a perfect fit for our readers".

The FT Weekend sponsorship of Jazz FM’s Welcome to the Weekend programme will run for 12 months.