WizarDru
Adventurer
In today's Wall Street Journal, the Marketplace section has an article about Warner Brothers, and discussing the landmark synergy of Teen Titans, with respect to the interaction between Cartoon Network and the WB.
As an aside to the discussion, they made mention in the course of the article that the WB is developing a new Batman Animated Series, to appear on the WB and then on Cartoon Network six months later.
Does anyone have any information on this?
I've included the article, since otherwise you'd need a WSJ subscription to read it. I've highlighted the relevant text at the end of the article.
As an aside to the discussion, they made mention in the course of the article that the WB is developing a new Batman Animated Series, to appear on the WB and then on Cartoon Network six months later.
Does anyone have any information on this?
I've included the article, since otherwise you'd need a WSJ subscription to read it. I've highlighted the relevant text at the end of the article.
Cartoon Synergy Arrives
At Time Warner Divisions
[font=times new roman,times,serif][font=times new roman,times,serif]By MARTIN PEERS
[font=times new roman,times,serif]Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL[/font]
[/font]
[/font] Last July Time Warner Inc.'s Cartoon Network premiered "Teen Titans," a new cartoon show made by the company's Warner Bros. division about a group of teenage action heroes fighting evil. What might pass as unremarkable at any other company was a ground-shaking event at Time Warner.
Owner of such iconic entertainment characters as Batman, Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo, Time Warner should dominate children's television, but it doesn't. While Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. were building huge franchises, Time Warner spent years mired in feuding between its movie studio and its TV networks.
"Teen Titans" suggests that is changing. After its launch on the Cartoon Network, the show started airing last month on the entertainment giant's WB broadcast network. It quickly became one of the top-rated shows for both networks. Warner Bros. has already started selling a new line of "Teen Titans" comic books, and a merchandising bonanza is sure to follow.
TUNING UP TIME WARNER
Richard Parsons' approach to running Time Warner is turning out to be surprisingly effective. Read more in a related article.
How these two warring divisions overcame their differences in part reflects the management style of Richard Parsons, the chairman and chief executive, but it's also a sign of the business reality facing entertainment companies. With media giants owning everything from the studio that creates the show to the network that airs it, a business like Warner Bros. has fewer buyers of its shows.
Becoming a bigger player in children's television was a longtime goal for Time Warner even before it bought Cartoon Network's parent, Turner Broadcasting, in 1996. Through its ownership of Warner Bros., the cable channel and the WB network, Time Warner had the opportunity to mine its libraries of old shows and comic books, making new children's shows that could air on both cable and broadcast television. That, in turn, would allow Time Warner to tap the lucrative merchandise and video markets that make children's television so appealing.
But those objectives were stymied by the different business philosophies of the business units. Cartoon Network's founder, Ted Turner, believed in supplying his cable channels with films and TV shows from the rest of his empire at discounted prices. Warner Bros. doesn't believe in selling shows to anyone, including sibling divisions, at discount. After the merger, the two endured prolonged negotiations over the price Warner Bros. wanted to charge Cartoon Network for old shows.
'Teen Titans,' made by Warner Bros., is shown on both Cartoon Network and the WB.
The businesses also couldn't agree on making new shows. A Warner Bros. proposal to make a new TV show of "Scooby Doo" stalled in a standoff between Cartoon Network and the WB network over where the show would air.
Not until 2001 did things begin to change. WB founder Jamie Kellner was given oversight of the Turner networks, even as he retained his WB role, and the chiefs of both Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. animation unit quit. With new management in place across the board, the logjam began to break. Cartoon Network's new chief, Jim Samples, agreed to let the WB air the old "Scooby Doo" and gave the go-ahead for production of a new series. At the same time, the WB agreed to let some of its popular series, such as "Pokemon," also air on the Cartoon Network. Mr. Kellner put ad sales teams from the two channels together.
The units have faced bigger challenges getting into the preschool market. Cartoon Network had long balked at airing shows aimed at preschoolers, having found it difficult to sell many ads to such a young audience. Warner Bros., on the other hand, saw preschoolers as a big market for videos and toys. Early last year, Cartoon Network began negotiating to give the studio a weekday morning time slot for a preschool show called "Baby Looney Tunes." The channel wouldn't have to pay a fee for the show, a sign that Warner Bros. saw the show as strategically valuable.
But the deal almost fell apart in an argument over how much Cartoon Network would share in some of the lucrative merchandise revenue expected to flow from the show, say people familiar with the situation. Word of the standoff reached Mr. Parsons, who at that time was CEO-elect. He made it clear to a Turner executive that Cartoon Network should air the show. In June 2002, Cartoon Network announced the show was on the fall schedule. According to the channel's chief, he made the decision himself, on the show's merits.
Within six months, "Baby Looney Tunes" had boosted the channel's audience among children aged two to 11 as much as 12%, the channel says. Retailers are also selling an array of "Baby Looney Tunes" products.
Now, Warner Bros. and the Turner network are working on ways to collaborate more closely in the preschool market, executives say. One possibility is a joint venture that would share merchandise and advertising revenue more equally to try to get around the persistent issue that ad revenue in that market is limited while merchandising and video revenues are huge.
As for "Teen Titans," it has become one of the Cartoon Network's strongest shows, the channel says. WB is also happy: Saturday morning airings of the show have boosted its ratings 15%. Next fall the WB is scheduled to launch a new 'Batman" cartoon series. It will start airing on the Cartoon Network six months later.
It'd be nice to see the old animation style back in use.
