• by Ken Liebeskind , June 7, 2002

This year's upbeat upfront market has undoubtedly been helped by the Family Friendly Programming Forum, a group of over 40 television advertisers, including 18 who contributed money to a script development fund that led to three new shows for the upcoming season.

Family Affair (The WB), American Dreams (NBC) and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teen Age Daughter (ABC) were all developed through FFPF, an organization that was launched three years ago with support from The WB, but now involves four major networks, including CBS. The forum contributes money from the advertisers for script development, then reviews the scripts and supports its favorites, although it has no creative control over the shows. Over 40 scripts were reviewed by the FFPF this year, the most ever.

"We are pleased with the decisions reached this year by The WB, NBC and ABC to air programs developed through the Forum's Script Development Initiative, and will be supportive of those shows," says Marc Monseau, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson, a FFPF member. But he declined to say how much advertising the company will do on the shows, saying, "As a matter of policy, we prefer not to comment on our buying strategies."

A spokesman for NBC, who requested anonymity, says there are two reasons Family Friendly shows sell well: because they appeal to a family audience and because FFPF companies get first crack at the buys. "The benefit to the companies is they get a leg up into getting into the programs," he says. "If 20 advertisers want 10 slots, the first preference goes to members of the FFPF. They get the advantage of being able to buy the show. They're charged the same rates, but it presents an opportunity for them."

The FFPF members who will get a leg up on this season's buys include The Anschutz Corp., FedEx, Ford, The J.M. Smucker Co., Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, The Lowe's Companies, Merck & Co., PepsiCo, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Sears, Roebuck, Sprint, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Verizon and Wendy's.

The WB's Gilmore Girls was the first Family Friendly show. Its success led to the creation of more family friendly scripts and the participation of the other networks. Advertisers are supportive because they are always looking for opportunities to present their products in a family friendly environment. The shows are the industry's answer to other prime time shows that are deemed to violent for family viewing. While advertisers have shied away from those shows, they support the new family friendly ones.

While most FFPF shows are comedies, American Dreams is a drama about a Philadelphia family in the 1960s with four children, one of them a dancer on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.