Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids and families, will soon be offered online without the need for a cable subscription, Viacom President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Philippe Dauman announced during a conference call with analysts on Thursday 29th January 2015 to discuss the company's fourth-quarter earnings report.
Nickelodeon is part of a growing trend of networks -- cable and broadcast -- offering digital services along with traditional TV.
Dauman said "We believe this innovative service, which will have a distinct brand and will target the fast-growing mobile market, will be very attractive for parents and children."
The move makes Nickelodeon among the first pure cable channels to move into the "over-the-top" (OTT) space, in which content is streamed online for a subscription fee outside of top streaming players like Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. Premium channels like HBO and Showtime are already working on similar services, with the former announcing that it would begin selling subscriptions via the Internet sometime in 2015, and CBS also offers a streaming service. Companies like ESPN, TNT and TBS are currently available through Dish Network's Sling service, but not as standalone options. These offerings make it easier for households to drop their traditional pay-TV service and piece together their own package of video services.
The new direct-to-consumer subscription service will be introduced in March 2015, Dauman said, adding that the name of the service will also be announced then. He said more information will be released when Nickelodeon makes presentations to advertisers in February/March 2015 during Nickelodeon Upfront 2015, where Nickelodeon will also preview the networks 2015-2016 programming slate. "They would not want me to take away their thunder."
"The media business is evolving faster than ever, but our mission remains unchanged: to continually develop more and better entertainment programming," Dauman said in a letter to investors. "Viacom is financially strong and extremely well positioned for the future."
During Viacom's fourth-quarter earnings report conference call, Dauman touted how the company has been leading on the TV Everywhere front and how the company's children-friendly fare in particular have been doing well on digital channels. He said the Nick Jr. app has topped iTunes charts since launching last year.
The new service will be "geared to young viewers, quite young viewers, and their parents will very much welcome the availability of this premium subscription service," Dauman told investors. He also hints that cable and satellite distributors won't mind: Viacom is "working with our distributors very closely." But it is "premised on people spending more and more time consuming entertainment, and we're going to be a big part of their lives wherever they are viewing the content."
The service will not be branded as "Nickelodeon", the company said, but will target young viewers with its own unique brand. The company didn't detail what content the service would include, how much it will cost, and whether the new service will include advertising.
"We want to satisfy the demand that is coming from the viewers out there," he said, noting also that the service would be aimed at consumers who use mobile devices. "They want more programming. They have an insatiable appetite for great content. They want to view that content on every device that they own."
"We are seeing good demand," Dauman said. "There is no better way to reach engaged audiences for toys, for movies, for electronics, for financial services aimed at young people, there’s no better way to reach them than on our network."
Sources: Mashable, CNN Money, AP via Yahoo! News, Deadline, THR, TechCrunch, International Business Times, New York Post, Reuters via Yahoo! Celebrity.
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