The Change Mariner

Disney Expands TV Animation Efforts for Cable

DelawareOnline:

... The TV animation division is enjoying a much higher profile these days thanks to these animated hits on the Disney Channel. No longer relying solely on the film studio to generate new characters that can feed Disney's much-needed merchandise sales, Disney increasingly is turning to its TV animation unit to launch original

... More than 30 Disney TV animation series air seven days a week on the Disney Channel, Toon Disney and ABC in more than 80 countries.

To ramp up production and allow TV animators to work more closely with the cable programmers airing their shows, Disney integrated the TV animation unit into the company's ABC Cable Networks Group in January. Previously, the operation had come under the umbrella of the film studio.

The group was formed in 1984 as the primary source of animation for afternoon syndication and Saturday morning television on ABC. But the growth of Disney's stable of cable channels, especially the Disney Channel, has created much more demand for original animated TV series, executives said.

The elevation of the TV animation unit, which employs about 300, is a key plank in Disney's strategy to take on Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon and Time Warner Inc.'s Cartoon Network, as kids' programming increasingly shifts from network TV to cable TV.

TV animation has become an important contributor to the success of the Disney Channel, which has grown in the last 15 years, to more than 83 million households from 14 million.

...The elevation of the TV animation unit, which employs about 300, is a key plank in Disney's strategy to take on Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon and Time Warner Inc.'s Cartoon Network, as kids' programming increasingly shifts from network TV to cable TV.

TV animation has become an important contributor to the success of the Disney Channel, which has grown in the last 15 years, to more than 83 million households from 14 million.

In stark contrast to its struggling ABC Family cable channel, which Disney bought nearly two years ago and is trying to retool, the Disney Channel has been a growth engine for the Burbank, Calif.-based company.

In the last two years, the cable channel has vaulted from third place to No. 1 in ratings among 9- to 14-year-olds because of the success of original live action movies and original series such as "Lizzie McGuire" and "Even Stevens."

But the channel also has made inroads among younger viewers who typically have been the domain of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

Year-to-date, Disney Channel ranked No. 2 in ratings, closely behind Nickelodeon, among kids 6 to 11, a 53 percent jump in ratings over last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.