ITV

Tag: Nickelodeon

  • David Gale is MTV US executive VP, new media, specialty film content

    David Gale is MTV US executive VP, new media, specialty film content

    MUMBAI: David Gale has been named to the newly created position of MTV US executive VP, new media and specialty film content.

    In this new role, Gale will find, develop, acquire and produce long-form narrative content and branded films for all platforms including online, wireless, theatrical, DVD and VOD.

    As the technology, delivery platforms and audience experiences for films continue to expand Gale will help lead MTV’s efforts in finding new, cutting-edge talent to bring a diverse slate of content to audiences, from branded films and long-form narrative productions, to documentaries and more.

    In addition to continuing to work with MTV, he will bring projects to all global MTVN brands, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1, Logo and CMT, coordinating his efforts with their production teams. In this new position, Gale will will also continue to run the day-to-day operations of MTV Films until his successor is named.

    Gale’s new role helps fulfill a key component of MTV’s global digital strategy — to combine its mission to discover, produce and showcase unique new talent and entertainment, with its continued goal of launching audience-engaging platforms such as MTV’s Overdrive, Comedy Central’s Mother Load, VH1’s VSpot, Nickelodeon’s Turbo Nick, countless 3G wireless channels and MTV Networks’ recently launched digital music service URGE.

    MTV chairman Judy McGrath says, “Our amplified efforts in creating visually rich experiences on television, as well as on computers, wireless screens and in theaters, allow us to personalize each entertainment experience our audience engages in. With David‘s new role, we’re looking to launch a new paradigm in finding, producing and distributing long-form digital content across the globe.”

    In addition to coordinating with each of the MTV Networks’ International Brand and Group Leaders (MTVN Entertainment president Doug Herzog, MTVN International president Bill Roedy and Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids & Family Group president Cyma Zarghami) for new content under the specific brands, Gale will also work closely with key executives for digital platforms on the release of film and other original long-form projects.

    Gale will also continue to work with the Paramount specialty film divisions, Vantage and Classics, to seek out the type of unique and original feature films that have made the MTV brands so distinctive in the entertainment industry.

  • Nick US touches a ratings high in May

    Nick US touches a ratings high in May

    MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has managed its best peformance for last month since 2002.

    It managed a 3.8 rating and got 1.2 million viewers among the 2-11 age bracket. This marks a rise of seven per cent in rating and an eight per cent growth in impressions above May 2005.

    Nick adds that it dominated among kid-targeted networks among the core 2-11 demo, besting Disney (2.3 kid 2-11 rating/742,000 viewers) by 65 per cent and Cartoon (1.9 kid 2-11 rating/628,000 viewers) by 97 per cent within Nick Total Day.

    Online Nick.com recorded its second most visited month ever to the site, logging nearly 14.5 million monthly unique visitors in May. This marked an increase of 86 per cent compared to May 2005 and a nine per cent rise from April 2006. TurboNick, Nickelodeon’s broadband video service on Nick.com, had its best month ever with over 21 million video streams, beating the previous highest month, March by 23 per cent.

    The number one stream for the month was vignettes for The Fairly Odd Parents’ special Fairy Idol, which captured nearly 2 million streams. In addition, the Fairly Idol – Fast Fame! game was the number one game on Nick.com with over 5.1 game plays, contributing to the nearly 77 million total game plays on Nick.com in May.

  • MTV and Nickelodeon to launch in New Zealand on Sky Television

    MTV and Nickelodeon to launch in New Zealand on Sky Television

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks Asia Pacific president Nigel Robbins has announced plans to launch a wholly-owned and operated localised MTV and the re-launch of Nickelodeon as a fully-customised channel for audiences in New Zealand.

    MTV New Zealand will launch as a 24-hour network, with localised and signature MTV programming beginning 19 August 2006.

    Nickelodeon, the widely distributed network for kids, will re-launch in New Zealand on 1 August as a fully-customised channel.

    Both channels will be carried by Sky Television and made available to more than 650,000 homes, representing 43 per cent of all television homes in New Zealand. The channels will benefit from local productions, locally-tailored programming, scheduling, on-air promos and feature New Zealand presenters.

    “Young people in New Zealand enjoy a lifestyle, sensibility and appetite for pop culture and entertainment that is totally unique, so it is particularly exciting to bring them dedicated MTV and Nickelodeon channels that reflect these nuances,” said Robbins.

    Key management appointments for the services will be announced soon, with MTV Networks Asia Pacific’s director of business development Chris Keely leading set-up efforts for the businesses.

  • Nickelodeon promotes Williams to senior vice president research and planning

    Nickelodeon promotes Williams to senior vice president research and planning

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon has upped Marsha E. Williams to senior vice president research and planning at Nickelodeon Networks. In her new position, Williams is responsible for consumer insights for Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., including all brand, programming and production, merchandising, public affairs, online and other corporate consumer research for Nickelodeon.

    The announcement was made by Nickelodeon executive vice president marketing and worldwide partnerships Pam Kaufman, to whom Williams will report.

    Williams leads Nickelodeon’s research department with senior vice president of research and planning, Ron Geraci. Geraci oversees programming and advertising sales research for Nickelodeon and digital channels Noggin, The N and Nicktoons Network related to analyzing viewer trends, and positioning Nickelodeon in the marketplace as it relates to advertising sales and the creation of sales pitches.

    “Marsha has done tremendous things in her years at the company, including establishing Nickelodeon as the leader in information and research about kids. Marsha’s keen insight into audiences and trends, as well as her experience working with Nickelodeon and other kids’ brands, make her ideal to lead the Research and Planning initiatives at Nickelodeon with Ron. She is a well-respected and talented executive and this new role acknowledges her expertise and contribution to the success of the network,” said Kaufman.

  • Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products appoints Brian Offutt as SVP entertainment products

    Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products appoints Brian Offutt as SVP entertainment products

    MUMBAI: Brian Offutt, the former head of Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products’ (NVCP) Los Angeles office, has relocated to New York to oversee the NVCP home entertainment, publishing, and record business. The announcement was made by NVCP president, Leigh Anne Brodsky, to whom he will continue to report.

    Offutt replaces Stephen Youngwood, who last month became executive vice president, digital media, at Nickelodeon.

    In his new role as senior vice president, entertainment products, Offutt has been charged with managing the home video/DVD, publishing and music businesses for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Noggin, and The N, as well as the home video/DVD, book publishing and videogame businesses for Comedy Central, Spike TV and TV Land and the book publishing business for Paramount — all networks and the movie studio within the Viacom family that are handled for licensing and merchandising by NVCP.

    Specifically, he will oversee a staff that manages relationships with Paramount Home Entertainment that distributes all NVCP home videos; Nick Records, which has been in partnership with Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group since 2004; and the publishing group, with partners including Simon & Schuster and Random House.

    “Brian Offutt has been an integral part of Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products for the past year, setting up our licensing and merchandising team within Paramount Pictures and bringing to market such successful product as the Godfather videogame. He brings to his new position a keen understanding of both the entertainment and merchandising businesses to further develop our content-driven businesses,” said Brodsky.

    Before joining NVCP in January 2005, Offutt was chief operating officer of Broadway Video Entertainment, a leading independent television and film production company founded by Lorne Michaels. In that position, he was directly responsible for the company’s post-production business unit, whose clients included CBS Sports, Showtime and MTV Networks.

    Prior to Broadway Video, Offutt was president and COO of Interdimensions, an online technology and interactive solutions company. He also served as senior vice president of Golden Books, an executive recruiter at Spencer Stuart and an investment banking analyst at JP Morgan.

    Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products manages the third largest licensing business in the world and such properties as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. The department handles the merchandising for Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTVN International, and Spike TV.

  • ‘Nick News’ with Linda Ellerbee turns 15

    ‘Nick News’ with Linda Ellerbee turns 15

    MUMBAI: The Emmy, duPont and Peabody award-winning Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, the longest-running and most-watched kids’ news show in television history, celebrates 15 years on Nickelodeon in May 2006.

    Informed by a philosophy that ignorance is not bliss, that kids deserve and need information about the world and events that shape it, Nick News has covered major world events and other issues that affect kids in a way that no show on television ever has, earning the respect of parents, educators and, most important, kids.

    To celebrate this milestone, Nickelodeon will air Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Celebrating 15 Years of Nick News on 28 May.

    The half-hour, commercial free special is a retrospective of 15 of Nick News’ most compelling stories over the last decade and a half, and a fast-forward to meet some of the players and see what their life is like today, when they’re grownups. It shows how Nick News — and kids-have never shied away from talking, in no-nonsense language, about the crucial issues of our time-war, AIDS, terrorism, natural disasters, gay parenting, homelessness, racism, genocide-and how kids have responded by working to change their world for the better.

    “No other show gives kids the opportunity to speak their minds on important issues quite like Nick News. Nick News and Linda Ellerbee present stories about issues in a manner that empowers kids and enables them to take action. The show provides a great way for kids to initiate a dialogue with their parents. Nickelodeon is proud that for the past 15 years, we have been able to offer our audience a unique outlet like Nick News to help them do that,” said Nickelodeon Television president and MTVN Kids and Family Group head Cyma Zarghami.

    “I am the luckiest journalist in television. We tried to teach kids about life. Instead, they taught me what life is all about. I look forward to my continuing education on Nick News,” said Nick News host and executive producer Ellerbee.

    A sneak peek of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Celebrating 15 Years of Nick News will be broadcast on TurboNick, Nickelodeon’s broadband video service on Nick.com, two weeks before the on-air special.

  • Viacom acquires online game service for $102 million

    Viacom acquires online game service for $102 million

    MUMBAI: With a view to let Viacom and its MTV Networks unit connect online gamers, Viacom has acquired Xfire, a Silicon Valley company that makes free instant messenger software for computer game players.

    Owner of MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and the Paramount movie studios, Viacom said it will buy Xfire for $102 million in a bid to dominate the youth market on the Internet as it has on television.

    Social networking and online gaming sites are two of the hottest investment areas for top U.S. media companies as they try to hold on to younger consumers dividing their time between the Internet and traditional outlets like television.

    As part of MTV Networks, Xfire will be better able to maximize its advertising revenues through more aggressive marketing, greater global penetration and comprehensive integration with the company’s other digital and cable properties that address the gaming demographic.

    Launched two years ago in California, Xfire has 4 million registered members who use its software. Its 1 million active users average 91 hours per month, with an average session length of over three hours. The ad-supported application supports hundreds of the latest PC games and provides social networking, instant messaging and information for online gamers.

    Viacom’s chief executive Tom Freston said. “It’s a wonderful component of our overall digital strategy, particularly on the gaming front. Our key audiences are and probably will remain kids, teens, young adults–we want to be anywhere these audiences are. On both a strategic and an economic level, this is a terrific deal for Viacom. Xfire is far and away the leading PC gaming communications and community platform, has outstanding management, and is a perfect fit with our growing digital businesses at MTV Networks. It’s a bull’s eye against our young audiences.”

    Freston said Viacom continues to look at other Internet properties as potential acquisitions, mostly deals valued much less than $1 billion, and said further purchases were possible this year. At the same time, he said, Viacom is investing in building up entertainment channels it already owns into new formats for its audience.

    MTV last year acquired NeoPets.com, a site that allows users to invent and care for virtual pets. Rival News Corp. purchased social networking site MySpace.com as well as gaming company IGN Entertainment.

    Xfire’s services are advertising based and its features will be incorporated into MTV’s online properties. The company’s technology also allows users to share such entertainment as their favorite music videos, lending itself well to distribute video from MTV.

    Xfire has a distinct combination of tools, including:

    > Friend List for Gamers – Users can see when their gamer friends are online and what games they are playing.

    > One-Click Join – Users can see what games their friends are playing and use the one-click join feature to play alongside their friends instantly.

    > Xfire In-Game Messaging – Xfire users can send and receive instant messages while playing in many games without having to minimize or leave the game.

    > Stats Tracking – Through automatically updated player profiles, Xfire displays what games users are playing and how many hours they have played them.

    > File Downloads – Xfire’s file download system delivers demos, patches, trailers, and other files to users via a closed peer-to-peer distribution system.

    > Voice Chat – Allows gamers to talk to each other over a private peer-to-peer chat network.

    “Online gaming is an intensely social phenomenon, with millions of young adults around the globe interacting constantly. Xfire is the leading gamer community platform, and we look forward to integrating its services and user base into our multiplatform strategy at MTV Networks, which already includes assets like Neopets, GameTrailers, iFilm and more,” said MTV Networks CEO Judy McGrath.

    McGrath said MTV would seek to expand Xfire’s base regionally, particularly in countries with ardent gaming communities like Japan and Korea. MTV will also promote the community network, possibly with plugs on its television shows and Internet sites.

  • Nickelodeon ups Crosby to SVP strategy and business development

    Nickelodeon ups Crosby to SVP strategy and business development

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon has named Dominique Crosby as Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids & Family Group senior vice president strategy and business development. The announcement was made by executive vice president strategy and business operations Sarah Kirshbaum Levy, to whom Crosby will continue to report.

    “With her gift for strategic thinking and process organisation, Dominique has been a major contributor to the growth of our business. She’s a talented executive whose proven leadership will insure greater coordinated strategic thinking across lines of business and that all of our strategy and business development activities get value added input and oversight,” said Kirshbaum Levy.

    In her new role Crosby will oversee all strategy and business development at Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group and will be responsible for identifying, analysing and recommending new business opportunities, as well as providing long-term strategic analysis and vision for existing lines of business.

    Crosby joined Nickelodeon’s business development team in 2001 as director strategy and business development and was named vice president in 2002. She has spearheaded the strategy work for Spike TV’s repositioning, Nickelodeon’s long range plan and Nick’s digital television networks’ positioning and expansion. She was also a key player in vital projects including Nickelodeon’s acquisition of the online site Neopets and MTV Networks’ foray into Video-on-Demand.

    Prior to joining Viacom, Ms. Crosby was an Associate in J.P. Morgan’s Venture Capital and Private Equity group focusing on the telecommunications, technology and media industries, and also worked in the mergers and acquisitions and debt capital markets departments.

  • Nick Mobile launches on Sprint Phones

    Nick Mobile launches on Sprint Phones

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon, has launched Nick Mobile on select Sprint multimedia phones in the US and will offer a full range of video clips from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. programming.

    “Launching Nick Mobile on Sprint is a natural evolution of our overall multiple platform strategy as we continue to produce, program and distribute content on different platforms in order to super serve our audience, who are increasingly on the go. The launch of Nick Mobile on Sprint provides our audience with a new way to watch their favourite characters, and further extends the Nick and Nick Jr. brand and experience for kids and parents beyond the home,” said Nickelodeon Digital Media executive vice president Steve Youngwood.

    Nick Mobile on Sprint offers a combination of short video clips, vignettes and music videos. From the Nick Jr. library, music videos are approximately two minutes in length and include clips from favourite programs such as Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, The Backyardigans, LazyTown and the recently launched Nick Jr. series, The Wonder Pets!

    From the Nickelodeon library, content will be available from top-rated series such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The X’s, Avatar and Catscratch.

    Additionally, TeeNick material will include behind-the-scenes clips from Zoey 101, Unfabulous and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.

    Nick Mobile on Sprint will also feature on-air vignette series such as Nick Jr.’s A Pup Grows Up mini series and clips from network specials. All Nick Mobile content on Sprint multimedia phones will be refreshed on a weekly basis.

  • Green Day, Will Smith triumph at Nick US’ Kids Choice Awards

    Green Day, Will Smith triumph at Nick US’ Kids Choice Awards

    MUMBAI: Rock group Green Day, Will Smith, Lindsay Lohan and Chris Rock were among those who captured Kids’ Choice Blimp Awards at Nickelodeon’s 19th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards

    US kids honoured their favourites at this year’s inimitable kudos/mess-slime fest hosted on April Fools’ Day by actor Jack Black at the University of Califronia.

    Smith was voted as Favorite Movie Actor for Hitch. This marked Smith’s fifth Blimp. Lindsay Lohan nabbed the award for Favourite Movie Actress for Herbie Fully Loaded. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won for Favourite Movie.

    Chris Rock clinched the award for Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie for Madagascar. Nick’s own SpongeBob SquarePants absorbed honours for the fourth consecutive year as Favourite Cartoon. Drake & Josh won for Favoyrite TV show. Lance Armstrong scored a Blimp for Favourite Athlete.

    In music, Green Day picked up a pair for Music Group and for the song Wake Me Up When September Ends. Jesse McCartney and the winner of the first edition of American Idol Kelly Clarkson won for male and female singer

    A highlight of the show was a aerial skiing slime stunt. US Olympic Freestyle Aerial Skier Ryan St. Onge nailed a gravity-defying freestyle ski stunt off a snowy slope, plunging into a 10,000-gallon tank of Nickelodeon’s signature green slime.

    Skateboarding Slime Diver Tony Hawk hosted the stunt.To the crowd’s delight, slime flowed freely throughout the show, targetting kids in the mosh pit as well as celebrities. An elated Adam Sandler got down and messy. In a climatic moment of mess, slime showers splashed down on a surprised Robin Williams drenching him from head to toe. Then in a “gotcha” moment, the impish Williams took the reins and turned to spread the goo, turning Jack Black a gleeful green.