The Hollywood Reporter has stated that this past Tuesday, it was decided that five children’s TV channels in Europe will be changed to the popular programming of the Disney channel later this year. Disney will be claiming the original channel, entitled “Jetix,” in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which will increase the viewership of Disney by at least 12 million households.
Giorgio Stock comments in bizjournals.com that the first rebranding of Disney channel in Poland made clear the demand for the type of programs appealing to kids and family values was highly successful and hopes for Disney Channel to become the premier source of entertainment on television for children and preteens.
The programming for the channel in Europe is set to appeal to both the 2-5 and 6-14 age groups, according to MediaPost News. Stations will be specific to each individual market in the country and be dubbed for every dialectic language.
In regards to to the un-naned disney spokesperson below, I just have one thing to say: “Suuuuure.”
But I am seriously surprised that the Jonas series wasn’t an imediate hit. My only guess as to why is that the girls are watching, but the guys aren’t.
Just weeks into its run with the new show “Jonas,” the Disney Channel has moved original episodes from Saturday to Sunday.
The show, while doing okay in the Nielsens against super-tough Nickelodeon fare on Saturdays, hasn’t set the ratings on fire nor even come close to matching the excitement the Jonas Brothers – Nick, Joe and Kevin – have gained before.
Until late last week, Disney had “Jonas” scheduled for Saturday, but viewers instead found the film “Cars.”
A Disney spokeswoman said the network usually airs a summer schedule from Memorial weekend through August, and the “Jonas” move was part of that plan. Starting this weekend, films will fill Saturdays, and comedy series Fridays and Sunday.
“In addition to its Sunday airing, ‘Jonas’ will be seen in other time slots throughout the summer to provide viewers an opportunity to sample the series,” she said.
“Jonas” stars the Jonas Brothers as the Lucas Brothers, a group of school kids who also have a rock band called Jonas.
It looks like the Disney Cruise Line has decided to leverage the popularity of The Suite Life on Deck and the Disney channel in general to drum up some extra business this summer.
Press release from Disney Cruise Line:
In a Disney exclusive, numerous Disney Channel stars will set sail this summer, joining thousands of Disney Cruise Line guests aboard the Disney Wonder for eight special sailings during the first-ever “Disney Channel Summer at Sea,” presented by Kodak.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Disney Channel and offer guests on our ship a unique opportunity to sail with Disney Channel stars,” said Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz. “A cruise vacation with Disney Cruise Line is always a family-favorite and ‘Disney Channel Summer at Sea’ provides families another reason to set sail and experience the Disney difference.”
Popular stars from Disney Channel shows like “Hannah Montana,” “Sonny With A Chance,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” “The Suite Life on Deck,” “JONAS,” “Camp Rock,” “High School Musical” and “Hatching Pete” will sail with guests on three- and four-night Bahamian cruises taking place July 9 through August 2. During these themed sailings, Disney Channel stars will help pump up the volume during onboard deck parties and will join guests for Q & A and autograph sessions along with preview screenings of Disney Channel programming. The onboard fun culminates with a “Party with the Stars” event, an evening where guests can join the stars for a special live musical performance. As an added treat, Radio Disney will broadcast live from the ship during two of the cruises.
Aligning with Kodak’s “It’s Time to Smile” campaign, all Disney fans will be able to share in the ship-to-shore fun online. Select video-blog reporters onboard the ship will capture their magical vacation memories on a ‘KODAK Zi6 Pocket Video Camera’ and post video from their voyages at www.disneycruise.com/summeratsea.
“At Kodak, we’re all about relationships. We bring people together through images and are thrilled to work with the Disney Channel to help Disney fans share their magical vacation memories,” said Kodak Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President Jeffrey Hayzlett.
Each cruise during “Disney Channel Summer at Sea” will include multiple Disney Channel stars. Among those scheduled to sail include Tiffany Thornton from “Sonny With A Chance” (July 9 & 12), Nicole Anderson “JONAS”, Jason Earles from “Hannah Montana” (July 16 & 19), Mitchel Musso from “Hannah Montana” (July 19), Jason Dolley from “Hatching Pete” (July 23 & 26), Debby Ryan from “The Suite Life on Deck” (July 30) and Alyson Stoner from “Camp Rock” (Aug. 2). More stars will be announced shortly, guests can visit www.disneycruise.com/summeratsea frequently for up-to-date information on the line-up of stars sailing. (Talent is subject to change without notice.)
“Disney Channel Summer at Sea” adds to the family-friendly fun found onboard a Disney ship. Disney Cruise Line provides a vacation experience that every member of the family feels was created just for them. Families enjoy award-winning Broadway-style entertainment at the Walt Disney Theatre, play together at high-energy deck parties featuring the only fireworks display at sea and dine in three uniquely themed restaurants. Kids delight in their own dedicated spaces and become immersed in Disney stories with their favorite characters and hosted by specially trained youth counselors. While the kids are at play, parents can slip away and relax at the spa, soak up rays at the adult-only pool, dance the night away in the clubs, or enjoy an exquisite Northern Italian meal at Palo.
Well, the time has come. We have the first official trailer for The Princess and the Frog. Originally called The Frog Princess, this film is the first Disney 2DÂ animated feature film since Michael Eisner announced the art form dead back in 2004. That move was a slap in the face to the then soon to retire Roy Disney. Fortunately, Robert Iger reversed Eisner’s decision when he became CEO, and this December The Princess and the Frog returns the company to it’s roots.
The Disney Channel is grooming “Wizards of Waverly Place” as its next blockbuster tween franchise in the mold of “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana.”
The cable channel has picked up a third season of the hit comedy series starring Selena Gomez and has unveiled an original telefilm, “Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie,” to premiere in August.
Since the cable channel discovered Gomez during an open casting call in Dallas five years ago, it placed her in three pilots before getting her on the air with “Wizards.”
“We knew we wanted her as a star in the Disney Channel universe,” said Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channels Worldwide.
“Wizards,” which co-stars David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, Jennifer Stone, Maria Canals-Barrera and David DeLuise and centers on the three Russo siblings who have wizard powers, ranked in April as the No. 2 scripted series across all cable and broadcast TV among tweens 9-14.
And now, the show is getting exposure in Disney Channel’s ultimate showcase, its original movie franchise that launched “HSM.”
“This is a great example of how we can groom our stars across different genres on different platforms,” Marsh said.
Set to premiere in August, the “Wizards” movie follows the Russo kids as they embark on a vacation to the Caribbean resort where their parents met.
It is shaping up to be a summer of Selena Gomez on Disney; the channel on June 26 will premiere another original movie toplined by the actress, “Princess Protection Program.” Gomez stars alongside Demi Lovato in that one.
As for “Montana,” which recently jumped to the big screen, talks are going on for a fourth season.
Walt Disney Co.’s (DIS) deal to put ABC TV shows on Internet video site Hulu suggests Google Inc.’s (GOOG) YouTube may have to rethink its revenue-sharing business model.
Google is under increasing pressure to add more premium content to YouTube in order to attract advertisers – and revenue – from the site. But on Thursday, rival Hulu scored a big victory when Disney agreed to take a nearly 30% stake in Hulu and put full episodes of its ABC TV shows on the site.
With the deal, Hulu will be able to distribute content from three of the top four U.S. television broadcasters, giving it a commanding lead in the online premium content market. Hulu is a joint venture of General Electric Co.’s (GE) NBC Universal and News Corp. (NWS). News Corp. owns Fox Broadcasting, The Wall Street Journal and this newswire.
Neither video site provides financial details. Some analysts have estimated Hulu could have revenues of about $120 million this year, while YouTube may top $200 million. But CreditSuisse analyst Spencer Wang sparked controversy earlier this month when he said he expects YouTube to incur a $470 million loss this year.
The structure of Disney’s deal with Hulu, particularly the equity stake, suggests content creators want more involvement in online distribution businesses than Google has offered them with YouTube. Some observers say the Internet giant may be forced to offer more than just a share of the advertising revenue to attract more premium content, like television programs, to YouTube.
“Content providers don’t want to give (YouTube) content because the advertisers aren’t there yet,” said Edward Jones analyst Andy Miedler. “To get someone to jump, it may take some payments from Google.”
Forrester Research analyst Bobby Tulsiani noted that online video rental service Netflix Inc. (NFLX) recently made an undisclosed cash payment in exchange for the rights to stream Viacom Inc.’s (VIA) irreverent “South Park.” He said the recent deals suggest Google might have to tweak its business model in order to get the content it needs to monetize YouTube.
“I don’t think (YouTube) can get into the premium space with revenue-share only,” said Tulsiani. “They are going to have to make upfront payments or equity deals.”
YouTube, which Google bought for $1.6 billion in 2006, has recently added content from Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE), MGM Studios Inc. and others. It also struck a less-comprehensive pact with ABC for clips of sports highlights and other content, and a person familiar with the situation said Google and Disney had also been in talks to put long-form content on YouTube.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Disney opted for Hulu, but the person noted Google would not be willing to offer any content provider an equity stake in YouTube.
Google said Disney’s deal with Hulu brings more content online in more places, which is a win for consumers and provides further validation of the growth of the online video market.
“The average YouTube viewer spends nearly 150 minutes a month watching videos on YouTube. We expect numbers like this to grow on our site and across the Web as more niche and mainstream video content continues to be uploaded and enjoyed,” Google said in a statement.
YouTube attracted more than 100 million viewers in March, but advertisers have remained wary about putting up their ads next to YouTube’s unpredictable user-generated videos.
Hulu had only 41 million unique viewers in March, but its library of premium content is particularly attractive to advertisers, and the site can thus charge much higher ad rates than YouTube.
