Cartoon Network brought its upfront presentation to the West Coast, touting its recent successes and promoting its diverse upcoming mix of live action and animation to ad agency reps, clients, producers, series creators and colleagues from Warner Bros.
John O’Hara, executive VP and general manager Cartoon Network Ad Sales and Marketing, kicked off the event at the Skirball Cultural Center by touting the network’s growing market share and success in a struggling economy. The network first announced its slate of programs in late March in New York. (Read our report and rundown of the shows at http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/9783.)
John O’Hara
‘Economic conditions mean the stakes are higher than ever this year,’ he said.
He was followed by Stuart Snyder, president and COO of Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media division, who said the network planned to build on the success of its themed content nights.
Last year, the network focused on comedy on Thursdays, action on Fridays and films on Sunday night, launching breakout hits such as Total Drama Island and Star Wars: The Clone Wars and yielding top ratings, giving the network a strong 4th quarter in 2008 and the strongest 1st quarter results in four years for 2009. The network now plans to expand its strategy and establish branded content nights the rest of the week.
Stuart Snyder
The success has carried over to online, Snyder said, with CN.com earning a huge number of game plays and video streams. Which plays into what Brenda Freeman, chief marketing officer, called the network’s goal of becoming a dominant youth brand that features humor, adventure, fantasy and an authentic, unsanitized experience for its viewers.
Brenda Freeman
That leads to a diverse lineup of programs, such as the sports-themed CN AMPT, which involves a partnership with sister company Turner Sports and kicks off with a recently announced alliance with the NBA. Another new brand is CN REAL, which will include unscripted shows such as The Othersiders and Destroy Build Destroy.
Rob Sorcher
Chief content officer Rob Sorcher ran through the network’s slate of new and returning shows, which featured a mix of live action and animation featuring new takes on existing franchises like Ben 10 and Scooby-Doo, as well as original properties and the network’s first hour-long scripted live-action pilots.
