Today, Disney has named Carolina Lightcap as the new president of Disney Channel Worldwide. As such, she becomes the most important person that SDS members contact going forward. We don’t know that much about her yet, but it’s important our supporters make a good, strong, and untited impression on her.

We’re working on putting together a special “Welcome to DC” event for her. Please check back for more on that as we work out the details.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) named Carolina Lightcap as the new president of Disney Channels Worldwide, according to an AP report. She is replacing Rich Ross, who will now be the movie studios chairman. Lightcap joined Disney in 2000 and was most recently vice president of programming and creative affairs and CMO of the Latin American operations. According to the company, Lightcap spearheaded the Latin American launch of “High School Musical” and led the creative transition of the Disney Channel from a premium service to a basic service in the region and she will relocate to Burbank, California.

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We need to raise $150 over the next six weeks in order to renew the following domain names:

SAVEWITCH.COM
MISSIONKIMPOSSIBLE.COM
KIM-POSSIBLE.ORG
SDSFORUM.ORG
SAVEKP.COM
SAVEKP.ORG
SAVELILOANDSTITCH.ORG
SAVEOURSTITCH.ORG
S-D-S.US
SAVEDISNEYSHO.WS
LEROYANDSTITCH.COM
SAVELS.COM
FIXDISNEY.ORG
ROBERTIGER.ORG
SAVELS.ORG

One of the members of the PotF Island forum one suggested: “For kids it might be easier just to send in small amounts of cash to you, then you could report how much money you’re getting. Then you could use the money for ad space, the website or anything else that would help the movement.”And that’s exactly what we plan to do.

If you’re old enough to have a PayPal account, you can make a donation directly to paypal@savedisneyshows.org. If you want to ensure that your donation helps a specific show, you can add a comment like “donation for KP ” so we know your intent. (You can use the paypal donate button on SDS Main to donate from a Credit Card without a paypal account.)

Or, you can mail a check, money order, or cash to me at this address:

SDS Fundraising
C/O Gregory Isaac
PO Box 893211
Temecula, CA 92589-3211

If you also include your email address in your letter, I’ll let you know when I’ve received it.

We know times are tough, but please give what you can, we can’t make this work without all of you.

The name “D23″ pays homage to the wonder and excitement that began in 1923 when Walt Disney opened his fledgling studio in Hollywood. D23 is the first official community for fans in Disney’s 85-year history. D23 gives its members a greater connection to the entire world of Disney by placing them in the middle of the magic through its quarterly publication Disney twenty-three; a rich website at www.disney.com/D23; a new collectibles line, The Walt Disney Archives Collection; and special events for D23 members throughout the year, highlighted by the D23 EXPO in Anaheim, California, September 10-13, 2009.

The D23 EXPO will give Disney fan unprecedented access to never-before-seen movies, TV shows, park experiences, collectibles and more from Sept. 10 to Sept. 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Tickets to the Expo are now available at http://www.D23Expo.com. Admission includes access to all experiences and entertainment at the D23 EXPO and can be purchased for single days or for the full four days of festivities. Admission is discounted for members of D23.

The D23 EXPO spotlight will also shine on Disney Channel’s brightest stars in a can’t miss-special event.

If you are a D23 member, or are planning to attend the expo, please let us know by completing this form.

SDS Webmaster Greg will be in Anaheim and will be coordinating possible meetings for those involved in our movements!

Source: Reuters

Disney Channel executives will make their first-ever full programing presentation to retailers on Monday at the International Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, in a nod of the cable network’s growing earnings power within the Walt Disney Co.

Disney Channel shows produced a greater share of global merchandise sales for the company in 2008 than any single franchise produced by its movie studios, which also presents its slate at the annual licensing show.

Merchandise inspired by Disney Channel TV programs, led by ‘tween phenoms “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” and preschooler hits “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Handy Manny,” reached $3.6 billion in merchandise retail sales in 2008.

“Cars,” the best-selling line inspired by the Disney-Pixar film, peaked at annual sales of $2.5 billion last year and is expected to decline this year, Disney officials said.

Global sales of “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” merchandise grew faster in 2008 than any other Disney franchise and outstripped growth for the super-popular Disney Princess line, Disney Consumer Products spokesman Gary Foster said.

The cable network also has promising new franchises in “Sonny With a Chance” and “Wizards of Waverly Place”, which is why the company chose to showcase them “in a greater way”, Foster said.

Growth at the 94 Disney channels worldwide last quarter helped Disney’s cable business to 5 percent growth in operating income in the depths of the global recession.

At the same time, Studio Entertainment, whose upcoming slate of family movies usually dominates Disney’s presentation to the show’s 25,000 international retailers, will take a supporting role this year.

Disney’s studios have performed poorly in recent quarters as hits like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Cars” gave way to duds like “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” “Prince Caspian” and “Bedtime Stories.” The studios’ operating profit plunged 97 percent last quarter.

Disney Channel’s presentation on Monday night focuses plans to support established hits, build up-and-comers and launch new properties, Disney Channel Worldwide President Rich Ross said.

“Our job is …to show people what we are excited about and … the commitment the company has … to tell stories that are popular,” Ross said. “TV has never done what TV is doing.”

Disney Channel plans to announce a fourth season for “Hannah Montana” and to report on the progress of casting for a fourth film in the “High School Musical” franchise, company officials said.

“Sonny With A Chance”, the top TV series among kids 6-11 and tweens, has been picked up for a second season, Disney said.

I hope you all listen in!

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In 2008, Disney Channels Worldwide continued the momentum of the previous two years, building on the success of existing franchises High School Musical and Hannah Montana while introducing new animated and live-action series and original movies that captured the attention and imagination of kids around the world.

The Hannah Montana franchise was an important part of Disney Channels’ success in 2008. In the U.S. alone, the sophomore season of the hit series achieved an increase of 16 percent in total viewers over the previous year, while kids and their parents flocked to Hannah Montana concerts and fans around the world purchased soundtracks, DVDs and other merchandise to make the show a part of their daily lives.

In June, the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock, starring teen sensations Jonas Brothers and rising star Demi Lovato, debuted in the United States as one of Disney Channel’s highest-rated original movies of all time, second only to High School Musical 2. The Camp Rock premiere was supported by a coordinated strategy of featuring content and marketing on air, online and on mobile phones. Camp Rock delivered the No. 1 entertainment telecast among cable networks for the 2007-08 season and was the No. 1 cable telecast of the year among Tweens (ages 9-14). Since its U.S. debut, Camp Rock has been introduced to enthusiastic audiences around the world.

Disney Channel continued to build on the popularity of the Jonas Brothers with the launch of the series Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream. The original short-form reality series not only gave the band’s fans a new way to watch them in action, it also created new opportunities for advertisers with premium online sponsorships.

Disney Channel scored additional success with the launch of the new animated hit series Phineas and Ferb and the live-action series Wizards of Waverly Place. Phineas and Ferb emerged as the year’s No. 1 animated series among both Kids (ages 6-11) and tweens, while Wizards took top honors as the summer’s No. 1 series among tween viewers.

Animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny continued to be hits among the preschool set. Each show delivered solid year-over-year increases in their young target audience (ages 2-5) as well as in total viewers.

The global success of burgeoning franchises like Hannah Montana and newer hits such as Camp Rock, Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas and Ferb and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse drives revenue across the Company’s businesses, including Disney Media Networks, Disney Consumer Products, The Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Music Publishing Worldwide, Walt Disney Records, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Disney Theatrical Productions and the Company’s international distribution businesses.

Music from Disney Channel content is also featured in heavy rotation on Radio Disney, the only 24-hour kids and family radio network, now available nationwide in the U.S. on broadcast, satellite and cable platforms via live streaming feed from RadioDisney.com and on the iTunes Radio Tuner.

But we need you all to help!

Download and print out the new flyer and post one one your front door, gate, where ever people can read it. If you’re trick-or-treating leave a few flyers with you parents and take a few with you. Give them to anyone who seems interested. If you’re too old for trick-or-treating, you can still give flyers to anyone interested who comes begging for candy.

Download the new flyer here

You can also find many more flyers and handouts here. Or feel free to make your own!

And if you happen to dress up like a DC star or chracter this year, we’d love to see it! And we’d love to see how you make use of our flyers. Send us any photos you’d like to share at webmaster@savedisneyshows.org.

Hannah Montana’s ratings are down ever sense Miley’s Vanity Fair photos. The original Suite Life series is ending. KP and ADJL are over. And the only new show getting any decent promotion is Phineas and Ferb. And I doubt few would disagree with the statement that Camp Rock was no High School Musical.

My hope is that now Disney realizes that they cannot endlessly manufacture hits. At some point the fans really will begin to walk away in noticeable amounts.

Article Source: Animation Insider

Disney Channel lacked stability in Second Quarter of this year, with an uneven stream of weekly performances throughout much of the Quarter. Although select growth could be found following the launch of key episode premieres or following various television specials, Disney Channel saw a plethora of audience losses, with demographic losses in each month of analysis. April saw a decline with Kids 6-11 of roughly -08%, recorded through the Total Program Day, which although much, was the children’s channel’s smallest decline of the Quarter.

The Tweens 9-14 audience showed a consistent decline (Total Program Day), throughout April 2008 for the Disney Channel. Although the cartoon and live-action kid sitcom network has previously helped guide the tween audience, in a year-to-year comparison, the Tweens 9-14 demographic dropped -11% (down to 375,000) on average for this month.

Moving on to the month of May, Disney Channel, with Kids 6-11, similarly declined another -08% (Total Program Day). May 2008 was a difficult month on some level for almost all kids cable networks, but Disney Channel, for its loss, showed modest growth in Total Program Day with Kids 2-11 as the weeks continued; and likewise, in Primetime, Kids 6-11 viewers grew from week to week, if not every so slightly, while other kid networks showed a decline viewers at least one week in said month.

Disney Channel’s June saw double-digit declines in every notable kids demographic. The network saw a decline with the Kids 2-11 audience, when compared to the previous year, of -10% (TPD) and -14% (Primetime), and a similar drop in viewer delivery of -11% (TPD) and -15% (Primetime) with Kids 6-11. From a larger perspective, Disney Channel lost more viewers in Primetime than throughout the entire day of programming, in each demographic. The largest of such losses, in June 2008, were with Tweens. Tweens 9-14 viewership decreased -16% (TPD) and down another -21% (Primetime).

Regardless of Disney Channel’s multi-media dominance among all kid’s entertainment channels due to household reach — Disney Channel averaged a 1.55 Primetime rating in June as based on total U.S. household projection — Second Quarter 2008 saw a decrease of -09% (K6-11, TPD) overall. One key highlight though, specific to the network’s animated programming, was an episode of Phineas and Ferb in Q2 2008, which pulled in a commendable 1.29 million Kids 6-11.

In the quarter ended June 28, the media and entertainment giant reported net income of $1.28 billion, or 66 cents a share, compared with $1.18 billion, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. Unusual items added 4 cents a share to the latest quarter’s earnings.

Revenue climbed 2% to $9.24 billion.

The breakdown per division was:

Media Networks Oper Rev $4.12B Vs $3.83B
Media Networks Oper Net $1.47B Vs $1.36B
Parks And Resorts Oper Rev $3.04B Vs $2.90B
Parks And Resorts Oper Net $641M Vs $621M
Studio Entertainment Oper Rev $1.43B Vs $1.78B
Studio Entertainment Oper Net $97M Vs $190M
Consumer Pdts Oper Rev $642M Vs $537M
Consumer Pdts Oper Net $113M Vs $118M