Cynopsis: Kids!

12/04/07

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, December 4, 2007, and this is your first early morning.

DHX Media Ltd., an indie producer/distributor of TV and interactive content, acquires the outstanding shares of Studio B Productions, a privately owned producer of kid’s programming.  Under the terms of the deal an initial cash payment of about US$8 million, which is made against a total purchase price of 4.5 times the average of Studio B’s Fiscal 2007 and Fiscal 2008 (year ending October 31, 2008) up to a maximum of approximately US$20 million.  DHX Media is also the parent company of Decode Entertainment and Halifax Film

Vivendi has entered into a deal with video game publisher Activision that will see the merging of the Vivendi Games division (Crash Bandicoot, Spyro etc) with Activision (Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Spider-Man, Shrek etc) to establish a whole new company being called Activision Blizzard.  The deal, which is expected to be fully executed in the first part of 2008, is valued at US$18.9 billion.  When the deal closes Vivendi, which is contributing Vivendi Games (worth an estimated $8.1 billion, plus $1.7 billion in cash) will own approximately a 52% stake in the new third-party game publisher, Activision Blizzard.  Blizzard Entertainment  (StarCraft, World of Warcraft, Diablo etc) is a unit of Vivendi Games.  Activision Blizzard is expected to have some $.8 billion in pro forma combined calendar 2007 revenues and the highest operating margins of any of the major third party video game publishers.  Under the terms of the Vivendi and Activision deal, the new Activision Blizzard will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision.

Jennifer Davidson, Cartoon Network’s SVP/Programming and Scheduling, passed away over the weekend from a sudden illness.  Davidson, who was 38, is survived by her husband, John Davidson and their three young children, her parents, three siblings and a vast group of friends.  A viewing* is scheduled for today, December 4, from 6-9p at The Sandy Springs Funeral Home in Sandy Springs, GA. The memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5, at 1p at Buckhead Church in Atlanta.  Davidson was an early member of the Cartoon Network team, joining the network around its initial launch in 1992, and she executive produced the launch of the Boomerang channel.  In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in Jennifer’s name to one of three charitable organizations the Davidson’s have actively supported: FRAXA, the Fragile X Research Foundation (www.fraxa.org); the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society ( www.leukemia-lymphoma.org); and BrightPoint For Children ( www.brightpointforchildren.org).
*Please note, this is newly rescheduled viewing information.

MORE KIDS STUFF

The A-List, but not the one you think you know.  Animal Planet debuts its series The A-List this Friday, December 7 at 9p.  With the help of celebrity in each of the 14 half-hour episodes, the series offers a unique set of humorous classifications for the animal kingdom such as, which animals rank as the biggest loudmouths, best moms and dads, and utmost gluttons, and which turn flirting into a life-or-death sport.  Celebrity hosts for the series include Gilbert Gottfried, Danny Bonaduce, Colby Donaldson (of Survivor: Australia fame), and Gloria Gaynor, among others.  The A-List is produced by Animal Planet by Discovery Studios, with Melinda Toporoff serving as Executive Producer for Animal Planet, and David Levin as Executive Producer for Discovery Studios.

Fifi and the Flowertots, the animated preschool series, is slated to premiere on PBS Kids Sprout on January 14, 2008.  Fifi will air daily as part of Sprout’s The sunny Side Up Show morning programming block (9a-12n), with clips, games and downloadable printouts will be available at SproutOnline.com.  Fifi and the Flowertots is produced by Chapman Entertainment, with HIT Entertainment representing licensing and television distribution for the series.

Sky Angel Productions, a producer of faith-based family content, has debuted its new baby and toddler-targeted TV series, Halo Baby on KTV, Sky Angel’s kid’s network.  Additionally, Sky Angel Productions has also released a holiday concert DVD.  The first episode of Halo Baby, titled Babies Love Animals, is also available on DVD.

MARKETING/LICENSING

Wild Republic has inked a worldwide deal with National Geographic to serve as an exclusive toy partner for products based on the movie Arctic Tale.  The movie is a current National Geographic Films and Paramount Classics release, and bows on DVD today.  Wild Republic products for Artic Tale include plush versions of the movie’s co-stars, Seela the walrus and Nanu, the polar bear, including baby and adult versions of the walrus and polar bear, and the soon to be released playsets, puzzles, collectible figures and other plush related products based on the Arctic Tale DVD.

WGBH has named Joy Tashjian Marketing Group as the exclusive licensing rep for several of its brands including the kid targeted Peep and the Big Wide World, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman as well as Antiques Roadshow.  Under the agreement JTMG will work with WGBH to handle licensing and merchandising for the three brands.

STONE SOUP

If you have or know any kids and/or tweens, it won’t come as a shock to you about 35% of US Tweens 8-12 have a mobile phone, according to the Nielsen Company’s upcoming study, Kids on the Go: Mobile Usage by US Teens and Tweens, released later this month.  Well, actually it is sort of surprising to me that the percentage isn’t bigger, but I live in a big city so that might be why.  Of those Tweens with mobile phones 20% have used text messaging and 21% have used ring and answer tones, per the study.  Nielsen also found that 5% of tweens access the web via their phone each month, with 41% of tweens say they do so while commuting or traveling (e.g. on their way to school), while 56% report doing so on their phones from home.  Of course mobile phones and the various content has become a significant part of the tween social experience with Nielsen reporting that 26% of Tweens hit the internet on their mobile phones when at a friend’s home and 17% when they are at social events.  Additionally, tweens are downloading and watching TV on their phones at home (58%) as well as downloading and playing music on their devices as well (64%).  On analysis, Nielsen reports that tweens spend less time surfing the net than their teen counterparts. In this report, 48% of US tweens said they spend less than one hour per day online.  When they are online, 70% of tweens use the Internet for gaming. Comparatively, 81% of US teens report spending one hour or more each day online, with e-mail being their primary online activity.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

BrainPop upps Nadav Kadar to SVP; he had been VP/New Products and International Markets.  In his new position Kadar will oversee administration for the company, as well as continuing to supervise new product development and expansion of current products into new market and languages.

The management structure for Activision Blizzard following the completion of the transaction will go like this:

• Robert Kotick will be President and CEO of Activision Blizzard
• Bruce Hack, currently CEO of Vivendi Games, will serve as Vice-Chairman and COO of Activision Blizzard, accountable for leading the merger integration and the finance, human resources and legal functions
• Mike Griffith will become as President and CEO/Activision Publishing, which after closing will be comprised of the Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions in addition to the Activision business
• Mike Morhaime will continue to serve as President and CEO/Blizzard Entertainment
• Thomas Tippl, currently CFO, Activision, will be appointed CFO of Activision Blizzard
• Jean-Francois Grollemund, will be appointed Chief Accounting Officer of Activision Blizzard; he is currently CFO, Vivendi Games
• Additionally, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors will be comprised of 11 members: six directors designated by Vivendi, two Activision management directors and three independent directors who currently serve on Activision’s board of directors:

RATINGS

Live + Same Day Ratings Kids Cable Network Averages (000) for Friday, November 30, 2007, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON:          K2-11 1054; K6-11 495; TWEENS 9-14 389
DISNEY CHANNEL:     K2-11   942; K6-11 638; TWEENS 9-14 509
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11   498; K6-11 313; TWEENS 9-14 215
TOON DISNEY:           K2-11   139; K6-11   73; TWEENS 9-14   51
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: In the 1985 movie Goonies, when the kids discover Chester Copperpot’s skeleton they look in a book that is laying next to him. What baseball card do they find? LOU GHERIG   Kudos to:  Kimberly Keeley-Safety4Kids / Stamford, CT; Michael Portney-SMART-4-Kidz/NY; Tamera Bogusky-PBS/Arlington, VA; Jodi Harris-HarperCollins Children’s Books/NY; Al Ovadia-Al Ovadia & Associates, Inc./Hidden Hills, CA

Today’s Trivia Question: In the 80’s, this popular “gift” item (last year was its 25^th Anniversary!) was advertised as “the pottery that grows”. What is it?  ( Click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)
 
Later — Gwen
Gwen Billings for Cynopsis: Kids!
12.04.07

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JOB OPENING: INVENTORY ANALYST /BET, NY: 1-2years experience in sales or traffic; strong analytical skills;Dealmaker,VCI, Excel experience preferred. Email resume to: [email protected] (12/11)

JOB OPENING: PROJECT MGR/HBO.com/NYC: Manage planning and execution of online projects/scope, budget & time tracking, and stakeholder mgt/3 yrs interactive exp as PM. Apply: http://www.timewarner.com/corp/careers , Req: 86605. (12/11)

JOB OPENING: AFFIL MKTG MANAGER/qubo/NYC: Manage/execute mktg efforts for affiliate launches, campaigns and trade shows. Prefer 3+ yrs exp, some travel. Send resumes to [email protected]  (12/11)

JOB OPENING: ON AIR MKTG COORD/USA NETWORK/NY: PLAN’G/SCHED’G SECONDARY EVENTS, NBCU BARTER COORDINATION. 1+ yrs exp mktg, adv, or related field. Strong database skills for content mngmnt/scheduling. Res: [email protected] (12/11)

JOB OPENING: NAT’L TV REP – PROG DEPT NYC: High visibility. Deal w/TV nets & syndicators. Good analytical, problem solving & comm. skills. Multi-tasker w/strong writing & math. 1 Yr related exp or recent media grad. [email protected] (12/8)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH SALES MGR/NY (tivo651): 5 yrs research sales exp /Aggressively pursue & close bus. to meet/exceed quarterly revenue goals. Visit http://www.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Job.aspx?j=o7K9VfwF&s=Cynopsis for job desc (12/8)

JOB OPENING: DIR AD SALES RESEARCH/Vh1/NY: Detail-oriented, proactive; provide sales research, materials, create estimates, analyze rtg data. Expert w/Nielsen,  MRI, etc. 8+  yrs Na tl’ TV Rsch. EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply mtvncareers.com (12/8)

JOB OPENING: NETWORK BUYER/ NATIONAL TV & SYNDICATION/Initiative/NY: 2-3 yrs. Network TV buying experience. Supervise 3 assts. Knowledge of Donovan (DDS) or similar. Resume to [email protected], subject “Network Buyer” (12/8)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASST/CABLEVISION/Woodbury, NY:  2+ yrs exp in mrkt, adv or bus related field.  Assist VP and Sales team. Strong Excel and Powerpoint skills. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 4906BR (12/8)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES OPERATIONS COORD/National Football League/Culver City, CA: Resolve client issues & work w/ Technology and Product teams to insure that all advertising meets pre-defined guidelines. Submit res to:  [email protected]  (12/7)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT DIR AFF SALES/A&E TV/NY: Manage distribution & revenue growth for all AETN products. Lead person in NY Office. BA/BS, 5 + yrs affiliate sales exp at cable or broadcast net. Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (12/7)

JOB OPENING: MGR, TECH SVCS/HBO/NYC: Involved in tech aspects of content acquisition, troubleshooting, fixing content issues. Req: TV, post-prod or pre-production bkgrd, knows film elements, min 3-5 years exp. Res to: [email protected] (12/7)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH ANALYST/Rainbow Media/AMC/NY: 2+ yrs cable res exp. Support Corp, Sales, Affil, Prog& Mktg team w/data collection & analysis. Nielsen, MRI a +. Rez www.cablevision.jobs ref #4809BR (12/7)

JOB OPENING: COORDINATOR, PRICING & PLANNING/G4-Comcast Networks/NY: 1+ yr industry exp; Resp for tracking inventory, assist in training, process MSA posting & supporting sales staff. Contact [email protected]   (12/7)

JOB OPENING: COORDINATOR, PROGRAM PLANNING & ACQUISITIONS/E! Entertainment: See full job description and apply online http://tbe.taleo.net/NA6/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=ENETWORKS&cws=1&rid=171 (12/6)

JOB OPENING:  DIGITAL PLANNER/History/A&E Chicago: Create digital sales proposals, steward accts, service orders & client needs, acct maintenance, assist in presentations. 2 yrs digital plnng exp. Apply: www.aetn.com/careers.html (12/6)

JOB OPENING: MGR, SALES RESEARCH/Disney/N. Hollywood: 5 yrs + Media/Online research supporting online ad sales. Exp working w/ mult 3rd party rsrch tools. APPLY: www.disneycareers.com search for JOB ID: 132016 (12/6)

JOB OPENING:  MARKETING COORD/Int’l Networks, CA: Collaborate/execute ad efforts for affiliate launches, campaigns and trade shows. Prefer 2+ yrs exp. Strong communication skills; Foreign language pref. www.comcast.com # 57147BR (12/6)

JOB OPENING: FOX NEWS/BUSINESS SALES PLANNER/DFW location:  Generate upfront/scatter plans. Handle all aspects of ongoing deal maintenance/stewardship, multi-tasker, detail oriented. Power Point a +. Email [email protected] (12/6)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, MARKETING/Redwood City, CA: Seasoned marketing exec (7-10 yrs), strong background in media, pref cable TV. Comfortable with new technology. Reports to VP Brand  Solutions. Resume to: [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING: PROD/DIR/Cablevision/Oakland, NJ: 2 + yrs prod exp. Copywriting skills.  Knowledge of non-linear systems incl AVID/Final Cut Pro. Know. of adobe software. See full posting and apply to www.cablevsion.jobs req 4902BR (12/5)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/Cablevision/Brooklyn NY:  Seeks AE for local ad sales.2+ yrs ad sales exp. pref cable tv, radio, internet adv.  Valid NY DL.  See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 4802BR (12/5)

JOB OPENING: PRESS MANAGER, COMM/NY/Bravo: Min 3-5 yrs exp/Communications support for Bravo programming and mktg initiatives. Must have consumer & trade PR exp. Strong press contacts. Apply to nbcunicareers .com job#759945. (12/5)

JOB OPENING: SR RESEARCH ANALYST TNT/TBS/COURT TV Ad Sales/NY: Research support/create sales positioning/presentations. Strong analytical/data interpretation/writing skills. 3+ yrs exp. Apply: [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING: SUPERVISING PRODUCER/NYC: Oversee prod of a children’s animated series, inc. mngng day-to-day operations, guiding creative dir, & ensuring that project adheres to sched/budget. Apply:  [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC COORD/SPT/NY: Responsible for commercial integration across all assigned syndicated properties. Must possess meticulous attention-to-detail to ensure proper scheduling of units. Res:  [email protected]  (12/5)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MNGR/ABC /Burbank: 3+ yrs exp. Syndicated research. Wrap Overnights/Sweeps/Galaxy Explr. Provide local sales pitches, ratings projections, and wide range of data/info. Apply at disneycareers.com REQ ID 118404 (12/5)

JOB OPENING:  ACCOUNT EXEC/ Ovation TV/New York: Immediate opening for 5+yrs exp professional. Heavy client/planning selling; seek new business/create marketing platforms tailored for client’s needs Apply: [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING:  SALES EXEC/CableU/CT: Immed great opportunity for aggressive self-starter w/ knwldg of US cbl ntwrks, ind orgnzations & ad agencies. Prospect/close new accts. Online sales exp pref’d. Rewarding Comm. [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING: ADMIN ASST/WE tv/NYC: Support programming execs & mgmt team with all admin needs. Handle phones, schedules,  travel, budgets, tape library, etc. Degree & Ent exp pref. res to www.cablevision.jobs ref #4860BR  (12/5)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH DIR/Screenvision Cinema, NY: 8-10 yrs; Run sales research, strong know of resch resources, Nielsen exp req, prim resch exp plus, TV bkgnd pref, Mgmt Exp req. Submit resumes:  [email protected] (12/5)

JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER/TV10s/NYC: For Closed Captioning & 10-second commercial sales: Create proposals, mkgds, manage adu, detail oriented. Power Point a +. Resume: [email protected] (12/5)

WINTER AND SPRING INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. They are posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at  [email protected] .

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED …

SITUATION WANTED: Dread networking? Not sure what to say? Hate going alone? You’re missing career opportunities!  For professional networking help – [email protected] (12/8)

SITUATION WANTED:  RENT $$$: Experienced reality producer w/tons of show ideas & NO time to develop them as I’m always working, needs a housing deal & time to develop/sell them. Your company wants ’em: [email protected] (12/8)

E-mail Trish Pihonak for rates and specs for Job Openings.  

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