Not Kid's Play: Cartoon Net Grabs Adult Ads

The $850 million kids' TV ad dance is about to start up again. But if one kids' programmer has its way, it will be more of an adult tango.

One major player--Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network--sees big growth among nontraditional kids' advertisers. That will help it and other networks, if the kids' market results in another soft marketplace.

"This year, we will be aggressive going after nontraditional kids advertisers," says David Levy, president of Turner Entertainment Ad Sales and Marketing.

"There are many parents watching with their kids," he adds. "If you look at the Cartoon Network, we were among the top 15 networks in 18-34 and 18-49 ratings. We will target companies like Honda, Kimberly-Clark, financial service and insurance companies. In 2006, we had Honda, Geico, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart. Right now, we are negotiating with two or three automotives."

Although some of the past few kids' ad markets were flat, "there are still going to be high demand for key time periods," says Levy. That includes the so-called "hard 8" or "hard 10" weeks before Christmas; the Easter time period in the spring; and the back-to-school period in late August.

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"There is only a limited amount of inventory there," he says. "Clients still need to get down their GRPS [gross ratings points]."

While Levy believes the traditional kids' categories will be flat to slightly up in overall volume, "I think we'll do better with nontraditional advertisers."

Last year, there was softness among the recently fast-growing kids' categories--movies and video games--says Levy. For instance, there was uncertainly about the debut of Sony's PlayStation 3, which kept a lot of video game manufacturers on the sidelines.

"This year, the gaming category is going to come flying back," he says. "Movies will be coming back. There are many more squeals for the summer.

The issue is the controversy surrounding the much-reported food industry. Some companies said they will pull back on advertising on TV kids' programming. "There are definitely challenges this year among food advertisers over the kids obesity issue," says Levy.

Overall, he says, "the kids upfront will be flat-to-slightly up. It's too early to talk about CPMs. The toy business will be slightly up. They already had a good Christmas."

Digital efforts at Cartoon will continue to grow. "More than ever before, one of our biggest strengths has been our digital platforms," says Levy. "Our gaming areas are probably among the stickiness places. Our "Toonami Jetstream area, we average 4 million streams a week."

Levy believes about 10% of all Cartoon Network ad revenues will come from digital platforms.

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