MGA Entertainment Appoints Former Viacom Consumer Products And Paramount Pictures Staff Member Lauren Whitehead As Vice President Of Domestic Licensing

From Kidscreen:

Lauren Whitehead exits JAKKS, joins MGA

California-based toymaker MGA Entertainment has appointed licensing veteran Lauren Whitehead as its VP of domestic licensing.

Whitehead moves to MGA after a nine-year career at JAKKS Pacific, where she was most recently its VP of licensing.

In her new role at MGA, she will be responsible for developing and strengthening domestic licensing programs and partnerships for MGA brand initiatives, and growing all MGA and Little Tikes product categories.

Prior to her time at JAKKS, where she helped maintain licensing relationships with companies including Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers and Sony, Whitehead held stints with Paramount Pictures and Viacom Consumer Products.

Tags: Lauren Whitehead, Licensing, Little Tikes, MGA Entertainment

Nickelodeon UK Unveils New "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Telephone Box Marketing Campaign To Advertise Nick UK Premiering Nickelodeon's Brand New "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Series From Monday 1st October 2012

To celebrate and promote that Nickelodeon will launch and premiere Nickelodeon's brand new CGI-animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series on Nickelodeon's worldwide channels and markets (Nickelodeon International) from Autumn 2012 (Fall 2012), including on Nickelodeon UK on Monday 1st October 2012 at 5.00pm (BST (GMT+1)) and on Nickelodeon USA on Saturday 29th September 2012 at 11:00 am (ET/PT), Nickelodeon UK has unveiled a brand new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" telephone box advertising campaign which features characters from the cast of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in a stance pose on the windows of telephone boxes! Nickelodeon UK's latest TMNT advertising campaign also includes a special QR code. Tina McCann, the Managing Director of Nickelodeon UK and Ireland, has Tweeted (posted) a photograph featuring one of the phone boxes which features "Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" advertising featuring Leonardo and Nickelodeon UK's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" marketing team on her official Twitter profile page (@TinaMcCannTV):

The Turtles are coming! Flanked by Nick UK's Turtle-tastic marketing team! pic.twitter.com/Ai14im2f

It is currently unknown whether Nickelodeon UK's latest "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" marketing campaign is exclusive to telephone boxes around London, UK, or involve telephone boxes around the UK and Ireland as well, and which telephone operator is carrying Nick UK's new TMNT advertising campaign.

Nickelodeon UK's Central London Studios And Offices Start To Move To Camden Lock In North London

Tina McCann, the Managing Director of Nickelodeon UK and Ireland, has announced on her official Twitter profile page (@TinaMcCannTV) that Nickelodeon UK and Ireland has started to pack up and move Nickelodeon UK's studios and offices from it's current address in Central London at 15-18 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HU, where Nickelodeon UK's HQ has been situated since the early 1990s, to MTV Networks Europe's office building (and MTV's UK studios) which is located at 17-29 Hawley Crescent, Camden Lock, London, NW1 8TT, which is next to Regent's Canal, and which was the same building and television studios (then called "Breakfast Television Centre") that former UK breakfast television station "TV-am" used to broadcast from:

Goodbye Rathbone Place! Nick UK on the move - Camden here we come... pic.twitter.com/DT8RyNoy - - Wednesday 19th September 2012

And:

Team shot Nick UK leaving Noho! Sad but exciting.... pic.twitter.com/Lgfty31E - Wednesday 19th September 2012

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman Confident About Nickelodeon's New Direction; Nickelodeon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Merchandise Already Flying Off The Shelf And Selling Out

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman Confident About Nickelodeon's New Direction

Dauman told audience at New York conference to tune into Nickelodeon in the next couple of weeks. "I feel really good what they are doing," he said.

Count Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman as a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Dauman used the opportunity at Goldman Sachs' 21st annual Communacopia Conference in New York to plug the latest incarnation of the franchise, telling the audience that the new series premiering Sept. 29 on Nickelodeon is "tremendous, a well-executed show," that he's "excited" for it and that the company already is selling out TMNT merchandise.

The investment types attending the conference are unlikely to watch, of course, but the premiere of TMNT matters to Viacom. Earlier this year, the company fended off analysts who grew noisy with speculation about why its Nickelodeon network was languishing in the ratings. Various explanations were given, from more competition in kids television to the growth of Netflix.

Dauman said he prefers to look forward rather than back at the rough patch.
Nickelodeon spent much of the year rethinking what it is doing, said Dauman. As a result, Viacom has focused more resources on the network, beefing up production and handling a reorganization. "We have over 70 percent more original shows [on Nick] than the comparable period last year," he said. "That shows the extent of production and development we've done."

Then, ticking off a list of new shows premiering soon, Dauman told the conference, "I feel really good what they are doing."

The ratings slide -- which has stabilized in recent months -- also has been speculated as being partly the cause of carriage disputes, such as Viacom's highly publicized standoff with DirecTV earlier this summer that caused a nearly 10-day blackout of Viacom channels including MTV and Comedy Central for the satellite service's subscribers.

STORY: Nickelodeon Chief Creative Officer Named Development, Production Chief

Dauman said the company has emerged from the ordeal in good shape. He is sticking to his guidance that affiliate revenue growth will be in the high-single-digit to low-double-digit range -- "probably at the upper end," he said.

Viacom still believes it has the stronger point when it comes to negotiations with cable and satellite companies. Dauman said distributors' profits have "far exceeded" the programming costs and that Viacom has benefited these companies in more low-key ways, including helping them upsell their broadband services.

As for those same cable and satellite companies that continue to maintain that programming costs need to be curtailed, Dauman noted that some of the biggest drivers of cost increases "have come from networks operating in sports, ironically owned by the distributors themselves."

Nickelodeon Needs To Improve Their Programming, According To New Report By Pivotal Research Group Analyst

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Analyst: Nickelodeon Isn't Pulling Its Weight at Viacom

The children's network needs to improve its programming, a Wall Street analyst said Monday.

The Nickelodeon cable network is dragging Viacom down, according to a 12-page report Monday from Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

Wieser told clients that his team analyzed Rentrak set-top box data from 8.5 million homes, compared it to Nielsen ratings and determined that TV viewership among children is up in the past 10 months, just not at Nickelodeon.

Wieser said that attempting to place the blame for Nickelodeon's lackluster performance of late on new technology is a nonstarter.

“Online video and Netflix equate to only 5 percent of the more than 40 billion person-hours of traditional linear television that is consumed in the course of a month in the United States. Among kids, the data is similar,” he writes.

Nielsen data, says Wieser, shows that “traditional television viewing among kids 2-11 has been on an upswing in recent years, year, “it is clear that Nickelodeon lost a substantial number of viewers over the past year.”

“Kids have not abandoned TV for new video platforms," the analyst writes. "There is no credible evidence that online video or Netflix impacts traditional TV viewing ... drops at Nickelodeon are still real."

Wieser said Nickelodeon’s domestic programming generated about $900 million in advertising revenue last year out of nearly $5 billion in total advertising for Viacom’s networks around the world, but he doesn’t expect growth until the second half of next year.

“This return to growth is highly dependent upon Nickelodeon improving its programming, including its content procurement, scheduling and marketing efforts,” the analyst wrote.

Wieser’s report includes a line graph comparing ratings for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Disney XD, Nick Jr., TeenNick, NickToons and The Hub going back to November, 2010.

Despite his down assessment of Nickelodeon, Wieser is bullish on Viacaom stock, with a target price of $73 and a “buy” recommendation. The shares closed a dime lower on Monday to $50.76.