As you no doubt remember, the outgoing president of Disney Channel Worldwide, Rich Ross, was recently promoted to Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.

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.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if they where going to renew the show or not. I expected runaway ratings when the show premiered, and instead ratings have been flat. That plus the fact that they’ve aired nearly the entire first season without announcing the renewal (until now) made me wonder if disney was second guessing themselves.

Anyway, now we know that Disney has in fact renewed JONAS for a second season. I wonder if Rich Ross leaving DC and moving over to Features had any impact on this decision.

Anyway, what follows is the official Disney Press Release. Take note of how little they actually talk about the show and instead talk about the JoBros music. they barely even mention Chelsea and Nicole.

“JONAS,” THE HIT COMEDY SERIES STARRING
THE MULTI-PLATINUM AND MULTI-PLATFORM JONAS BROTHERS,
PICKED UP FOR SEASON TWO ON DISNEY CHANNEL

– “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” a Popular Short-form Series,
Also Picked Up for Season Two, Begins Production in Europe –

Disney Channel has picked up Season Two of the hit comedy series “JONAS,” starring the multi-platinum recording artists Jonas Brothers plus popular actresses Chelsea Staub and Nicole Anderson. Two new and notable producers, Lester Lewis (“The Office,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) and Paul Hoen (director and co-producer of “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” DGA Award-winning director of “Jump In!,” and “The Cheetah Girls One World,” among others), have been named executive producers of the series. Season two of “JONAS” is scheduled to begin production in Hollywood in February for debut in mid-2010 on Disney Channel, DisneyChannel.com, mobile and VOD platforms. The announcement was made today by Gary Marsh, president, entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide.

(Click here for images from “JONAS” or visit www.disneychannelmedianet.com. Registration required.)

This month, while on the European leg of their hugely successful Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009 (produced by Live Nation), Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas also began production on Season Two of their popular short-form reality series, “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” for premiere in early 2010. It will be followed by the highly anticipated Disney Channel Original Movie “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” in summer.

Marsh said, “We couldn’t ask for a more collaborative or creative partnership than we have with the Jonas Brothers – and the success of our first season of ‘JONAS’ speaks for itself. As we build on that success in a second season, we are thrilled to add the extraordinary creative talents of Lester Lewis and Paul Hoen to the producing team.”

Regarding the appeal of a second season of “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” Marsh continued, “We can deliver something to our viewers that no one else can – exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the real life adventures of one of the superstar bands of our time. That’s exactly the kind of unique experience our viewers have come to expect from Disney Channel.”

Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation, the band’s global touring partner, said, “Two years ago we joined forces with the Jonas Brothers’ team when the band was performing small concerts in our House of Blues clubs. Over the last two years they have developed into the superstars they are today, playing in sold out arenas and stadiums throughout the world.” He continued, “Today they are a true global touring powerhouse, just won Billboard Magazine’s Choice Tour Award for 2009, and stand among the top grossing artists of the year.”

In its primary timeslot (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.), “JONAS” ranks as TV’s #1 program among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 and cable TV’s #1 program in Total Viewers (averaging 3.4 million viewers). For all of 2009, “JONAS” is #8 among all TV series in Kids 6-11 and on cable TV among Tweens. In its first season, the series also won a Teen Choice Award in the Choice TV Breakout Series category. In 2008 “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream” reached over 85 million unique Total Viewers, and 17 million Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14.

The success of their TV ventures is among a notable list of Jonas Brothers milestones over the past year including:

• A three-continent concert tour, “Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009,” that sold 1.5 million arena tickets and ranks among the year’s top grossing tours. Last week at the Billboard Touring Awards, Jonas Brothers won the 2009 Eventful Fans’ Choice Award for the best concert tour of the year
• A #1 album debut, “Lines, Vines and Trying Times,” one of 2009’s top album debuts
• Three #1 hit singles and five Top 10 songs on Radio Disney’s listener-generated Top 30
• #3 highest-grossing 3D concert film of all time, “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience”
• The launch of a joint venture record label with Disney Music Group
• A Grammy Award nomination
• New York Times best-selling book, “Burning Up: On Tour with the Jonas Brothers”

In addition, Jonas Brothers have amassed nearly four million fans on Facebook, MySpace and Say Now and are the #1 most-subscribed music channel and the #5 channel overall on YouTube.

The new season of “JONAS” follows the three hardest working brothers in show business, Kevin, Joe and Nick Lucas, as they set out on a summer adventure they will never forget. Along with their friend and chief of security Big Rob (played by Jonas Brothers’ real-life chief of security Rob Feggans, a familiar face to Jonas Brothers fans) the brothers pack up from their converted New Jersey firehouse home and head to Los Angeles. What starts out as a relaxing vacation turns into three life-changing opportunities for the boys: Joe pursues a prized role in a big Hollywood film, Kevin gets to indulge his newfound passion for the movie business by shadowing a famous director, and Nick partners with an eccentric record producer to work on the next JONAS album (when he isn’t busy with his latest passion…surfing). Their best friend, Stella Malone, is along for the ride, staying with her aunt and interning in the wardrobe department on the set of Joe’s movie. Documenting the experience is their friend and uber-Jonas fan, Macy Misa, who keeps all the fans up to date with her Jonas blog.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Once again, it’s time for us to turn to our members for help with fund raising.

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.

D23, launched earlier this year, is the Official Community for Disney Fans.

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!

It’s interesting to see the continued assent of power and influance that disney channel shows and Executives have both within and outside of the Walt Disney Company.

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.

From the Dow Jones Newswires…

BURBANK, Calif., May 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — From sold out shows to the big and small screens, the Jonas Brothers will take over the video game world as well this holiday. Disney Interactive Studios today announced the development of JONAS for Nintendo DS. The game allows players to take on the role of three superstar brothers – Nick, Joe and Kevin Lucas in outrageous adventures from the Disney Channel comedy series “JONAS.” Players help the JONAS band members juggle concerts, school, friends and fans to find the balance between their rock star world and ordinary lives.

“JONAS is the perfect complement to the hit television show, giving fans additional access to the Jonas Brothers as they portray the Lucas Brothers, their music, their fashion and their lives,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “The game delivers a unique blend of adventure, humor and music that will keep fans of the Jonas Brothers entertained and engaged this holiday season.”

Based on the Disney Channel comedy series, the game follows the Lucas brothers as they go about their everyday, but not so normal lives. It features other main characters from the show, including good friends Macy and Stella, and lets fans explore familiar locations including the brother’s firehouse and school as seen in the television show. Players can also customize the JONAS band members’ wardrobe for their daytime antics, as well as cool outfits for when they take the stage.

Featuring interactive environments, JONAS allows players to collect musical notes to power up their guitars and then strike the right guitar chords to overcome obstacles and help the JONAS band members. The game also features hit songs from the “JONAS” television show. Fans will be able to perform to the songs in concerts after each level is completed.

In addition, JONAS includes access to DGamer, the online community exclusively for Disney gamers on the Nintendo DS, allowing them to chat with other players and unlock additional items in their game.

Developed by Altron, JONAS will be available this fall for Nintendo DS.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Disney Interactive Studios
Sunny Ing
(818) 553-4027
sunny.ing@disney.com
or
Disney Interactive Studios
Dianne Baker
(818) 553-3919
dianne.i.baker@disney.com

I think the Era of Jonas may be coming to an end. But it’s hard to say with any certainty.

Source: Mickey News

The Jonas Brothers, the platinum-selling tween pin-up boys who probably sold merchandise for Disney than Mickey Mouse last year, might have a reason to be Paranoid.

Their new single isn’t faring as well as a JoBros single should, on Radio Disney world nor in the real world.

Paranoid is the first single from the brotherly band’s upcoming Lines, Vines, & Trying Times isn’t exactly Burnin’ Up the radio.

The song has yet to hit the Top 40 of pop radio in its third week in release.

Radio Disney has the song at #20 on their official countdown and is more interested in playing “Live to Party,” the theme song from their sitcom.

On iTunes, the song has been in and out of the Top 100. The song currently sits at a very un-JoBro-like #91.

The Mouse House refuses to panic, although their 3D concert film didn’t match expectations and new episodes of their “JONAS” series on Disney Channel continuously get beat out in the ratings by Nickelodeon shows.

With an upcoming tour spanning three continents and the new album hitting stores in June, the band could be feeling the pressure. “We’re all about taking those gradual steps,” Nick Jonas said to reporters. Says brother Kevin, “We definitely have no expectations.”

Could this be the end of the biggest band of brothers in teen pop history? Johnny Wright, co-manager of the band who also oversaw the giant leaps to stardom of Britney Spears and NSync, says no.

“People are wrong when they say the bubble has burst. It’s just changing,” Wright told the New York Times. “We are focused on longevity and transitioning to a slightly older audience. When you do that, you risk losing some of your core fan base.”

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.

Source: Daily News

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.