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 2D 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.
Home to the month’s No. 1 TV telecast with HANNAH MONTANA and the No. 1 TV movie with the debut of 75th original movie, HATCHING PETE, Disney Channel ranked as TV’s No. 1 network in Total Day in Tweens 9-14 (478,000/2.0 rating), a position held each week throughout the month in the key demo.
In addition, Disney Channel generated its largest audience in the daypart in 8 months (since August 08) in Total Viewers (1.5 million), Kids 6-11 (564,000) and Tweens 9-14 (478,000), making this month the network’s most-watched April ever in the key targets. Year to year, the net improved by hefty double-digit percentages: +15% in Total Viewers (vs. 1.3 million), +21% in Kids 6-11 (vs. 465,000) and +25% in Tweens 9-14 (vs. 381,000).
Disney Channel delivered the month’s No. 1 TV telecast in Tweens 9-14 with HANNAH MONTANA, as its original outing on Sunday, April 19 (2.1 million/8.4 rating) overshadowed both first run airings of Nickelodeon’s ICARLY for the month (4/11/09 – 1.9 million/7.9 rating; 4/22/09 – 1.7 million/6.9 rating) and all 8 AMERICAN IDOL telecasts on Fox. In Kids 6-11, HANNAH MONTANA was the month’s No. 2 live-action telecast on all of TV (2.0 million/8.0 rating), also surpassing every telecast of American Idol during the month.
In Prime, April 09 wrapped as Disney Channel’s most-watched month in target kid demos in 6 months (since October 08), ranking No. 1 for the 50th consecutive month in Kids 6-11 (953,000/3.9 rating) and for the 49th in Tweens 9-14 (804,000/3.3 rating).
Also impressive, driven by hit series MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE and newest entry SPECIAL AGENT OSO, the net’s preschool targeted Playhouse Disney block recorded the largest Total Viewer (1.3 million) and Kid 2-5 (504,000) audiences for an April ever in the daypart, climbing by a considerable 24% over year-ago levels in both categories.
Program Highlights
– The premiere of the net’s 75th original movie, HATCHING PETE (4/24/09, 8:00-9:40 p.m.) stood as the month’s No. 1 TV movie in Kids 6-11 (1.7 million/7.0 rating) and Tweens 9-14 (1.6 million/6.4 rating), and cable’s most-watched movie in Total Viewers (4.1 million).
– In Tweens 9-14, on an all-play basis, Disney Channel was home to the months’ Top 2 scripted TV shows with SONNY WITH A CHANCE (1.2 million/4.8 rating) and Wizards of Waverly Place (898,000/3.7 rating), and 4 of the Top 5 with HANNAH MONTANA (No. 4 — 822,000/3.4 rating) and THE SUITE LIFE ON DECK (No. 5 – 810,000/3.3 rating) added to the mix.
– In Kids 6-11, among all regularly scheduled series, Disney Channel delivered TV’s No. 1 scripted TV series for the month with SONNY WITH A CHANCE (1.2 million/5.0 rating), 3 of the Top 4 when including WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE (No. 3 — 982,000/4.0 rating) and HANNAH MONTANA (No. 4 — 968,000/4.0 rating).
– A consistent Top 10 player each week, in April 09 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE ranked among TV’s Top 10 programs in core Kids 2-5 demo (No. 8 — 711,000/4.4 rating).
– Launched at the top of the month, SPECIAL AGENT OSO ranked No. 1 versus all TV in its time slot in Kids 2-5 (619,000/3.8 rating, M-Su, 8:00-8:30 a.m.), towering over runner-up Nickelodeon by 31% (454,000/2.8 rating — PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, SPONGEBOB and FAIRLY ODDPARENTS).
Source: Nielsen Media Research, April 09: 3/30/09-4/26/09 — Live+7 blended with Live+SD unless otherwise noted. Telecast rankings based on Live + Same Day. Ratings based on national rating unless otherwise noted. All rankings sorted on 000s, then rating.
Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Savannah will be the filming location for the upcoming Disney film, The Last Song. The movie is expected to bring approximately 250 jobs to the state.
“I signed the 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act in support of our efforts to recruit film, music and digital entertainment projects to Georgia,” said Governor Perdue. “These industries are thriving and growing, boosting the state’s economy and employing thousands of Georgians.”
The script was written by noted author Nicholas Sparks. The production of the film will take place in Savannah and other nearby coastal locales. Julie Anne Robinson will direct The Last Song which is expected to start production in Georgia in mid-June and be completed by mid-August, 2009. Producer Dara Weintraub also produced another film in Savannah called The Clearing, which starred Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe and Helen Mirren.
Georgia’s new, more competitive incentives offer a 20 percent tax credit for qualified productions, which are then eligible for an additional 10 percent tax credit if they include an animated Georgia promotional logo within the finished product. The incentive covers more than just the film and television industries. The program also offers credits for commercials and music videos, as well as the first incentive in the nation to cover other areas of development including animation, interactive entertainment and video game development.
Nine feature films, two television series and one television pilot were produced in Georgia in the first quarter of 2009. A Sony Pictures produced television series began production in Georgia in April and three feature films are currently in production. Seven more feature films are slated for the state in the coming months.
The Film, Music and Digital Entertainment office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, assists local, national and international entertainment industries with expertise and resources. The staff points movie production companies to Georgia’s highly-trained crews, state-of-the-art facilities, and diverse locations. Georgia’s temperate climate and easy access afforded by Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, are also factors that attract the industry’s interest.
Since the inception of the office in 1973, more than 600 major motion pictures, independent films, television series and pilots, and TV movies have filmed on location in the state. As a result, over $5 billion dollars has been generated for the state’s economy.
Well, I think I’ll see how Miley’s HM movie does first, then I’ll coment on the new project.
Production has begun on the new sci-fi adventure feature Skyrunners, the first original movie for the newly branded platform Disney XD.
Skyrunners features Kelly Blatz, who can also be seen in the title role of the network’s flagship series Aaron Stone. The film follows as teenage brothers Tyler (Joey Pollari) and Nick Burns (Blatz) commandeer a small UFO that crashes near their town. They soon realize that the spacecraft is “alive” and Tyler begins to develop superhuman abilities. When the brothers uncover an ominous alien plot to take over Earth, Tyler is captured by the extraterrestrials, and it’s up to Nick to rescue his brother.
“Through a variety of storytelling genres, including original movies, our goal is to become the top destination for boys on television, online and everywhere they interact with media,” said Gary Marsh, the president of entertainment for Disney Channels Worldwide. “Girls are certainly welcome at Disney XD, but what we’re trying to do is super-serve the 6- to 14-year-old boy audience in a way that nobody else has with stories that are decidedly Disney, with themes of adventure, accomplishment, gaming, music and sports.”
This sounds kinda cool, actually. But we’ll see how it turns out.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs are forecasting attendance at Disney’s U.S. parks will fall as much as 10 percent this year.
The firm, which downgraded shares in the Walt Disney Co. from “buy” to “neutral” last week, expects attendance declines at Walt Disney World and Disneyland to accelerate later this year. Goldman estimates that year-over-year attendance fell 4 percent during Disney’s second fiscal quarter, which ended Saturday, and that it will fall 5 percent in the third quarter and then 10 percent in the fourth, which runs from July through September.
Attendance at Disney World and Disneyland fell about 5 percent during the company’s first quarter, which ended Dec. 27.
Goldman says the attendance declines would be stepper were it not for Disney’s buy four nights, get three free hotel promotion. But that comes with its own costs – the firm projects that Disney’s hotel-room revenue will sink as much as 30 percent from a year ago.
I think this sounds like a cool idea, but I don’t know if I’d be up to four hours of 3D. I think the Hannah 3D movie benefited from having those little 2D brakes scattered between the songs.
LAS VEGAS, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Moviegoers are in for twice the fun and triple the thrills as The Walt Disney Studios prepares to debut the Disney Digital 3D(TM) versions of Disney-Pixar’s beloved animated features – “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2″ – during a special limited engagement starting on October 2, 2009, it was announced today by Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group.
This extraordinary double feature, taking the latest advances in digital 3D technology “to infinity and beyond,” will play exclusively in 3D. “Toy Story,” the industry’s first ever computer-animated feature and the first feature released by Pixar Animation Studios in 1995, and “Toy Story 2,” the critically acclaimed sequel that debuted in 1999, were both directed by Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker John Lasseter. Both films have been meticulously re-rendered in 3D from the original digital files using the latest state-of-the-art technology.
Commenting on the announcement, Zoradi said, “This fantastic double feature will let moviegoers see two of their all-time favorite films from Pixar Animation Studios in a way that they’ve never seen them before, and all for the price of one movie ticket. John Lasseter and the animation team have truly created a spectacular 3D experience with Buzz, Woody, and all the toy characters in a whole new eye-popping dimension. We’re also excited that audiences will soon see a whole new chapter when Toy Story 3 in 3D, directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2) comes to theaters on June 18, 2010.”
Lasseter added, “The ‘Toy Story’ films and characters will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we’re so excited to be bringing these first two films back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3D technology. Disney Digital 3D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to push the boundaries in telling our stories. With ‘Toy Story 3′ shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought this would be the perfect way to let audiences experience the first two films all over again. To see the movies back to back will be an amazing treat as well. This is certainly nostalgic for me and reminiscent of my youth when double features were the norm.”
Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, “Toy Story” went on to receive Oscar(R) nominations for Original Screenplay, Original Score, and Original Song earning Lasseter a Special Achievement Award “for his inspired leadership of the Pixar ‘Toy Story’ Team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.” ‘Toy Story 2′ was released in 1999, and reunited voice talents Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, in their roles as Woody and Buzz. The film became one of the most popular animated features of all time, and received an Academy Award(R) nomination for Original Song.
