Channel focus > KIds channels
Digital TV Europe
April 2010
Brands like DangerMousehave helped to launch KidsCo into 85 countries.
tion, Grieder views it as a crucial component of audience engagement. Perhaps this philos- ophy also explains the seemingly odd mar- riage between Discovery Communications and toy company Hasbro, which joined forces recently to launch a kids channel in the US. If we accept Grieder’s argument that audiences actively seek out cross-platform engagement with brands, then the combination of Hasbro’s properties and Discovery’s market position makes strategic sense.
Flamman acknowledges that it is a compet- itive sector, but he says that there are still a number of holes in the distribution map that channels like Cartoonito can fill. “Clearly mar- kets such as the UK and France are extremely competitive. But for many platforms in EMEA the prospect of a new kids channel is very attractive, because the platforms generating the best revenues tend to have a strong kids offering. So, when a serious investor such as Turner, with 60 million homes and 1,300 plat- form partners comes calling, that is very com- pelling.”
While pre-school is competitive, it has to be said that the seven-14 year-old market makes it look like a cakewalk. For the most part, we are still dealing with the same major TV play- ers, but now there is competition for kids attention from social networking sites, mobile applications and a wide array of gaming plat- forms, not to mention programming that is ostensibly aimed at older audiences. For Grieder, this means that branding becomes a critical consideration. “If your brands are not available in all forms then the audience does- n’t take you seriously. That’s why we have developed our ‘one brand’ strategy behind Nick [see sidebar] and that’s why we make sure that our strong programme brands like iCarly are available in many forms because that’s what fans of the show want.” This last point is an interesting inversion of orthodox thinking. Rather than seeing licens- ing and merchandising of ancillary products as just another form of commercial exploita-
There is a similar emphasis on brand exten- sion from Turner’s Flamman, who says that a lot of energy goes into supporting flagship
shows like Ben 10 and Scooby Doo:
“Channels still need a diversity of shows on- air. But we are getting better at building and sustaining our key franchises across plat- forms. Ben 10 is in live action, animation, movies, games, apps and a range of licensing and merchandising.”
Maintaining relevance
But do kids really immerse themselves in proper- ties so completely? Surely they behave in a more random way, grazing content and moving on. “It would make a great Powerpoint slide to have a kid in Ben 10pyjamas watching the show and playing the app,” says Flamman, “but it’s not that simple because there are so many things for them to do. The point about our business is that we provide multiple touch points. We have to be totally com- fortable with the way the audience interacts with media to maintain relevance in their lives.” This doesn’t just mean driving distribution out through digital, says Flamman: “We’re a pay-TV business. But where it makes sense to have a free-to-air block we do it, because that supports our brands and creates different kinds of opportunities in licensing. We have a deal with Kabel 1 in Germany, for example.” Given all of the changes in the business, you might expect broadcasters to report a rev- olution in their revenue model. But that’s not
The rise of the superbrand
What is the secret to staying relevant in a digital- ly disintegrating world? Well, Nickelodeon believes it is the creation of a superbrand that is linked to all of its activities. In the fourth quarter of 2009 it put into action its “one brand” strate- gy, under which all of the company’s services were brought into line with the flagship. The main parts of the business to be affected included US cable channels Noggin, which was rebranded Nick Jr, and The N, which became TeenNick. These now sit with Nickelodeon US, sharing a common brand and logo design. The international market is already familiar with the Nick Jr, but the big question is whether TeenNick, which is home to shows including Degrasiand Zoey 101, will also start to roll out internationally. There’s no official line on this yet but it can’t be ruled out. Nick At Nite and Nicktoons are not really affected since they already sit with the unified brand framework. Nick’s one brand strategy also covers web-
sites such as
Nick.com,
Neopets.com and
AddictingGames.com as well as consumer prod- ucts activity. Where names are retained, Nick branding will be increased with
Nick.com the main hub. The theory is that unified branding of this kind will help audiences navigate their way
to Nick content and products once a platform- agnostic media environment is the norm. In taking this approach, Nick is implicitly sug-
gesting that its brand now has the kind of cre- ative and cultural status you’d normally associ- ate with Disney. And the truth is it isn’t far off. Interestingly, by contrast, Turner has not elected to create a unified brand. While Cartoon Network is the flagship, the existence of CN2,
Flamman: brands have been designed for different scenarios
Boomerang, Boing and Pogo suggests a more fluid attitude to channel branding. Explaining this approach, Pete Flamman, senior vice-presi- dent, entertainment for northern Europe and the UK at Turner, says: “Each of our brands has been designed for a different scenario. I think these brands work well because they have rele- vance to the audience and distribution platforms they cater for.”
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