The New York Times has an interesting article about Disney and its television properties quickly narrowing the gap between itself and Nickelodeon, the children's network that has been number one in ratings and revenue for quite some time. While Nickelodeon still has the top ten shows in the coveted "2 to 11" demographic, Disney has been getting more viewers with shows like High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls. The article has plenty of numbers, facts and figures for anyone who wants to check it out, but what I find most fascinating is how difficult it has to be to maintain a young audience. All television viewers tend to be fickle, but that's especially true of children, who are constantly bombarded with new cartoons, products and live-action series and can easily abandon one for another, given the increasing choices offered not only on television, but online as well. Nickelodeon maintains it's more interested in consistency and developing good shows, not series that may draw a large audience and then fade away over time.
[via Toon Zone]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-18-2006 @ 11:42AM
Jason said...
Come on now, the only way that Disney could ever come close to beating Nickelodeon is to bring classic cartoons like Goofy, Donald Duck, Mickey, and Chip & Dale or some great shows from when I was growing up like DuckTales, Gummi Bears, Tailspin, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, and Darkwing Duck. These were great shows that should never have gone off the air! Nickelodeon has some really good and popular shows on right now and Disney needs to go back to their roots to pass them in my opinion.
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10-18-2006 @ 12:02PM
Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen said...
..."Nickelodeon maintains it's more interested in consistency and developing good shows, not series that may draw a large audience and then fade away over time."
Mr. Meaty for example? Great move Nick, cancel your #2 show, "The Fairly Odd Parents" and put this vile piece of crap on.
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10-18-2006 @ 11:58AM
Radioscott said...
Adam, you're right on the money about kids being fickle. Nickelodeon's success lies in the subversiveness of most of its shows. Clearly that's appealing to the 2-11 demo which is a group testing their limits and boundaries. Disney continues to err on the side of caution which carries over to the Disney Channel.
Disney Channel also has a bit of a brand identity problem. Nickelodeon is a household name. They've been on basic cable since, what, the beginning of cable? Remember when Disney Channel used to be a premium service?! Not a lot of subscribers apparently, so they don't have that long history of being in every cable household.
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10-18-2006 @ 11:58AM
erroneous_nick said...
I'm not a huge cartoon watcher any more, but IMHO Disney has nothing that comes even close to as entertaining as SpongeBob is. When I watch tv with my little one, I can't stand to watch the Disney shows, while at least some Nickelodeon programming seems to keep in mind the fact that parents need to be entertained, too.
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10-19-2006 @ 6:22PM
James Anderson said...
Maybe it's just me, but neither seem to live up to thier heyday. The stuff that's on these channels now compared to just a few years ago is rubbish.
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11-07-2006 @ 8:26PM
Sophia said...
They will never catch up to Nick. I mean, what shows could be better than Spongebob,Jimmy Neutron,Fairly Odd Parents, and Danny Phantom? Those are some of Nick's hit shows.
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