Jungle Fury News Story
Toon
Disney / Jetix to become the DISNEY XD Network in February of 2009
August 31, 2008 UPDATE:
While going
through the Disney Investors Relations Newsletter, I found the logo for the
Disney XD Network.
The following is from the LA Times website:
"Disney
to target boys with rebranded cable channel
The entertainment giant plans to relaunch Toon Disney as Disney XD, which will
be aimed at boys ages 6 to 14.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski,
August 7, 2008
Someday, Disney hopes its princes will come.
The entertainment giant, which has made billions catering to the princess
fantasies of young girls, plans to relaunch Toon Disney as Disney XD, a cable
channel that will target boys. The move, under wraps for more than a year, is an
attempt by the company to capture a market that has long eluded it.
Starting in February, Disney XD will seek to become to young dudes what Disney
Channel, with its lineup of tweeny bopper programs such as "High School
Musical," "Hannah Montana" and "
"What was clear to me, and clear to us, is we had a huge opportunity to
create content that were boys' favorites," said Rich Ross, president of
Disney Channels Worldwide.
Tween boys, ages 9 to 14, account for about $50 billion in spending worldwide,
said Greg Kahn, senior vice president of strategic insights for media buying
firm Optimedia International USA Inc. Advertisers are eager to reach these young
consumers, not just snag a portion of their disposable income, but to build a
loyalty they hope will extend into even more free-spending teen years, he said.
But the Disney Channel has struggled for years to find the right programming
formula to lure boys, who tend to gravitate to Viacom's Nickelodeon and Time
Warner's Cartoon Network -- that is, when they're not spending time playing
video games. Disney Channel's popular live-action shows, from its early tween
phenomenon, "Lizzie McGuire," through its current pop-culture
sensation, "Hannah Montana," mainly attract girls.
Efforts to bring in more boys, through male-led series such as "Even
Stevens" or "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," still haven't
succeeded enough to close the gender gap between female and male viewers.
Animation, traditionally a draw for boys, has been a struggle for Disney
Channel, although its newest series, "Phineas and Ferb," appears to be
building a strong male following.
But so far, the network has failed to produce a blockbuster to compete with
Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants;" or match the guy-centric focus
of Cartoon Network, which one ad buyer described as the ESPN of animation.
"You're fighting the brand perception, the very, very strong brand equity
that's been in the marketplace for many, many years," Kahn said of Disney
Channel. "It would almost require a completely separate effort to reach
tween boys, with a completely different name somehow associated with the Disney
property, to reach these tween males."
None of this is news to Ross, who, with his executive team, spent more than a
year with focus groups pondering the eternal verities: "What do boys
want?"
The answer, perhaps not surprisingly, is that boys want it all. "What we
heard, loud and clear, is they expect from Disney this broad array," Ross
said, with programs running the gamut from animation to action-adventure to
comedy. "They expect from Disney the whole thing, including movies."
In short, tween boys are looking for more than a show or two wedged in the midst
of the musical theater-inspired programs that have come to define Disney
Channel. They want, Disney says, a channel they can call their own.
"They want a place, essentially a headquarters for them where their
favorite content exists, that has this broad array of shapes and sizes and
tenors and complexities, and treats them with the respect that Disney Channel
treats all kids, and the girls are fanatical about," Ross said.
Instead of tinkering with what works -- Disney Channel, which has spawned two
billion-dollar creative franchises in High School Musical and Hannah -- Ross
relaunched a struggling cable asset, Toon Disney, into this destination for
boys.
Toon Disney pulls only 10% to 15% of the viewers of Disney Channel, despite the
cable network's reach into nearly 70 million
As the rebranded Disney XD, the ad-supported cable network will boast original
series, such as "Aaron Stone," a live-action show about a video game
virtuoso who leads a secret double life as a crime fighter. The show boils down
to a male fantasy version of "Hannah Montana," in which an ordinary
teen leads a double life as a rock star.
Former "The Wonder Years" child star Fred Savage directed the pilot
for "Mongoose & Luther," a mock documentary series about two best
friends who set out to become the world's greatest skateboarders.
The project was created by Matt Dearborn and Tom Burkhard, who worked on Disney
Channel's "Even Stevens."
Established animated series, from "Phineas and Ferb," to "Batman:
The Animated Series," will air on Disney XD alongside new offerings, such
as RoboDz, a short-form series developed in partnership with Toei Animation Co.
of Japan, in which robotic life forms defend Earth from space invaders. Plans
for an online presence and mobile offerings are also in the works.
"We know we have a huge opportunity to take that asset and make it every
bit as powerful as Disney Channel or Playhouse Disney," Ross said."
LINEAR'S THOUGHTS:
So what does this mean for Power Rangers? I would think this would bode well. Power Rangers has been a huge staple in boys pop culture for 16 seasons now. The "geriatric" word was not used by Rich Ross, but by the LA Times writer, so don't get upset over that. I'm excited that Disney is finally wanting to dedicate a network solely to action, adventure & comedy. I will say, as Kim Possible fan, I do hope those at Disney recognize that Kim Possible is still considered an Action, Adventure & Comedy show, and while not directly targeted towards boys, can still fit into the Disney XD plan. At least I hope so, PLEASE.
So while there are still many questions to be answered, I'm sure we'll learn more as time progresses.
As more news develops on this story, I'll post it here.
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