WORLD / Wall Street Journal Exclusive
It's SpongeBob vs SpongeBob on German TV
By AARON O. PATRICK (WSJ)
Updated: 2006-10-30 15:24
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116217471337307455-zO09wEb6WX8H1E060
1FWylBHSV0_20061106.html?mod=regionallinks
"SpongeBob SquarePants" is saturating the airwaves in Germany -- but not
just because the yellow sea sponge and his sidekicks have captured the
hearts of German children.
"SpongeBob Schwammkopf," ("SpongeBob Spongehead") as the cartoon is
called in German, is the main weapon in a pitched battle between Viacom
Inc., which is trying to establish its Nickelodeon channel in Germany,
and a tough local competitor, Super RTL. Nickelodeon is running 18 hours
of "SpongeBob" a week. Super RTL is showing about 10 hours.
Viacom has no one but itself to blame for the competition. After pulling
the plug on a previous attempt to launch Nickelodeon in Germany in 1998,
it sought to squeeze some revenue out of Europe's largest TV-viewer
market by selling Super RTL the rights to some top Nickelodeon shows.
Today, that decision appears short-sighted as Nick -- the most successful
kids channel in the U.S. -- and its German rival fight anthropomorphic
sea sponge with anthropomorphic sea sponge.
When Viacom returned to Germany, it offered to buy back the rights to
"SpongeBob," but RTL, which is co-owned by Walt Disney Co. and RTL Group,
part of Germany's Bertelsmann AG, wouldn't sell. "As far as parents are
concerned, we believe Nickelodeon is an unknown brand," says Claude
Schmit, managing director of Super RTL. "Children are used to watching
SpongeBob on Super RTL."
Marcus Andorfer, general manager of Nickelodeon Germany, counters that
Super RTL's strategy shows that "they are frightened" and that
independent surveys show German children like the Nick brand more than
Super RTL. But without exclusive use of its own shows, it won't be easy
for Nickelodeon to overcome Super RTL's lead soon. About five times as
many people, including 370,000 children, watch "SpongeBob" on Super RTL
as watch it on Nickelodeon, according to Viacom figures.
In the year since its launch in September 2005, Nick Germany has
attracted about 7.5% of three- to 13-year-old viewers during the day.
Super RTL's ratings have slipped to about a 27% share of that audience
from about 30% to 32% before Nickelodeon arrived, according to figures
from both channels. The other children's channel, Kinderkanal, a joint
venture of two public broadcasters, has been relatively stable at about
15%.
Germany is a notoriously tough market for children's television because
many parents believe TV should promote learning instead of entertainment,
people in the industry say. A survey of German parents by Disney found
just 5% said they would let their children watch TV just for fun, a
Disney spokeswoman says.
Viacom is trying different tactics this time to make Nickelodeon a
success. It has several new shows that aren't available on Super RTL.
Unusual for Germany, Nickelodeon is also showing TV programs with actors,
not just cartoons, including one starring the niece of actress Julia
Roberts, Emma Roberts. About 10% of its schedule is local German
programs. The deal with RTL expires in 2011 so if German children haven't
tired of SpongeBob by then, Nickelodeon will be able to show it
exclusively.
The German launch is part of a Viacom strategy to get more growth from
its international cable networks. As one of the world's largest
television markets, with a taste for Nickelodeon shows, Germany was a
clear choice for expansion, company executives say.
To re-enter Germany, Viacom bought a small Cologne-based television
network in 2004 for $379.5 million, put German voices and titles on many
of its U.S. shows, including "The Angry Beavers" ("Die Biber Br��der"),
and began broadcasting in September 2005. It plans to add a comedy
channel next year.
But Nickelodeon's launch provoked Super RTL, which had been largely
unchallenged in Germany's kids TV. In the months ahead of Nickelodeon's
launch, Super RTL started showing two additional "SpongeBob" episodes in
the morning. Super RTL still shows three episodes a day during its 14
hours of daily broadcasting. Nick, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, shows
eight episodes most days.
Super RTL also spent $2.5 million on what its managing director, Mr.
Schmit, calls an "anti-Nick" advertising campaign. To play off the
elections for a new German chancellor, Super RTL asked children to vote
for their own children's chancellor from a list of Super RTL characters,
including SpongeBob. It plugged the vote in newspaper, television and
billboard ads, as well as on the Internet. Andy Larkin of the Canadian
cartoon "What's With Andy?" won.
Viacom countered with its own marketing campaign, which it says cost
several million euros. Over the summer, Nickelodeon hired a barge on the
Rhine with actors dressed as Nickelodeon characters, including one in a
SpongeBob suit. It visited eight cities, and about 18,000 children went
on board.
So far, media buyers say, Nickelodeon has a long way to go to achieve its
goal of unseating Super RTL as the top children's channel. "But we have
seen a movement to the better in recent months," says Andreas Schmitt, a
board director at WPP Group PLC's MindShare agency. Mr. Schmitt has
booked advertising time on Nickelodeon for toy-maker Mattel Inc.
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Today's Top News
� Nigerian plane crash kills 99, Muslim leader dies
� 'China needs to play bigger WTO role'
� ASEAN, Chinese leaders fete relations
� US army monitors soldiers' blogs
� 98 feared dead in Nigerian plane crash
Top World News
� Nigerian plane crash kills 99, Muslim leader dies
� Pakistan destroys al-Qaida-linked site
� Saddam's lawyer warns against execution
� Iran stepping up uranium enrichment
� Insurgent ambush kills 24 Iraqi police
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.
Learn Chinese, Learning Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet
No comments:
Post a Comment