Nick strikes up band, waits to strike deals: network sees high demand for Saturday morning CBS lineup

Cable World, March 18, 2002 by Jon Lafayette

Kids leader Nickelodeon is setting its sights on boys and settling deeper into the Saturday morning broadcast business with its Viacom sister company, CBS.

At its upfront breakfast in New York last week, Nickelodeon sang and danced about its plans. It remains to be seen when media buyers will start to sing along.

While Cartoon Network has reportedly done some deals, Susan Danaher, EVP and general sales manager for Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land and TNN, says she doesn't expect to complete deals she's working on until next month. "I really think clients are talking to us about having budgets ready in mid-April," Danaher says.

Danaher noted that the business had changed, with most advertisers buying multiplatform packages that can't be cobbled together and sold in the traditional upfront whirlwind. "They're complicated and can take quite a bit of time to develop," she says. "I'm not rushing the market. When the deals feel right and we get the pieces in the right places, that's when we'll close the deals."

Multiplatform packages are wrapped around integrated marketing efforts and often require multiyear contracts. For advertisers still making simple spot purchases, Danaher will aim for single-year deals rather than the two-year contracts Nick favored in the past. That may seem like a sound strategy in a soft market, but Danaher expects the kids market to be strong, mostly because there are fewer gross ratings points to go around now that Fox is getting out of the business and Disney is changing the schedule at ABC Family.

Jon Mandel, chief negotiating officer for Grey Advertising's buying arm, MediaCom, also noted that the kids market has changed and that fewer deals are being done as part of a traditional upfront.

"You do deals when you do deals," says Mandel, who is one of the biggest buyers of kids ad time. "We had some multiyear deals with Nick that are now up, but we're in the middle of Cartoon [Network] deals that are multiyear. It's not like it used to be where there was an upfront or one week where everyone did everything." In fact, Mandel says, because MediaCom does so many integrated packages, "we're out of the market."

Nevertheless, Mandel played a big role in Nickelodeon's upfront presentation. Mandel the ad buyer, dressed in pajamas, and Danaher the ad salesperson were the leads in a not-quite-ready-for-Broadway production that followed a Romeo and Juliet-like plot. Mandel's daughter and Danaher's son were being discouraged from becoming involved because their parents didn't see eye to eye on CPMs (cost per thousand impressions).

"That was one of the weirdest things I've ever done in my life," says Mandel, who adds that his participation in a network presentation doesn't mean he won't negotiate a tough deal. "I've done stuff for all of those people from time to time. It comes with being the one person in the industry who's willing to make a total and complete ass of himself."

The performances of Mandel and Danaher were followed by a more euphonious performance by the band Smash Mouth, whose song "Holiday in My Head" is featured in Nickelodeon's upcoming theatrical release Clockstoppers.

During the Nickelodeon presentation, EVP-general manager Cyma Zarghami said the network will launch a new Sunday afternoon block called Slam, filled with the kinds of action-oriented shows that appeal to boys. A new show, Robot Wars, will be part of the block, as will returning shows Butt-Ugly Martians and Invader Zim.

On Saturday mornings, Nickelodeon is moving shows aimed at kids between the ages of 6 and 12 to CBS. "Nick on CBS" will start at 7 a.m. with Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer for preschoolers, followed by episodes of Hey Arnold! and The Wild Thornberrys. Following CBS's The Early Show, Nickelodeon programming returns at 11 a.m. with As Told By Ginger and Pelswick.

Running shows aimed at older kids gives Nick two advantages over running shows for preschoolers: It will be able to attract a broad range of advertisers, and it will be able to load some additional spots into each show. (Networks limit the number of ads in shows for preschoolers.)

Danaher says she hasn't begun to offer advertisers spots in the new CBS schedule but notes that broadcast time is in high demand.

Nick's top-rated Saturday lineup will feature the new show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Also on the slate are CatDog, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Odd-Parents and Rocket Power.

Also on Nickelodeon's slate is its first spin-off of Rugrats. The new show, Angelica and Susie's School Daze, follows two of the show's older kids as they begin preschool.