• by Wayne Friedman , David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 9, 2007

Despite an upfront market that seems to be dissipated into more of a spot marketplace, Nickelodeon senior advertising sales executives predict a healthy climb for network revenues.

"The reality is that there is slightly less money in the upfront," says Jim Perry, executive vice president of advertising sales for Nickelodeon. "That's because more advertisers are doing multi-platform deals, which take more time."

That noted, Perry says there is "strong" fourth-quarter and first-quarter business because of toy companies and DVD and food marketers. He expects, with the addition of better theatrical movies and DVD spending, this means a good upcoming ad season.

Estimates are that the kids' upfront market won't move much--sitting at around $850 million, with the entire national marketplace at around $1.1 billion in ad sales, says Perry. He anticipates that upfront deal making will start in earnest in mid-April.

Various estimates put Nickelodeon's full-year ad revenues at around $700 million and Nick at Nite at around $300 million plus.

As Nick held its upfront presentation to advertisers, Perry echoed a common theme throughout the TV business; he characterized the condition of the kids' upfront as stable, but a 52-week-a-year buying cycle as more robust.

Some advertisers need to lock up inventory in the pre-Christmas or back-to-school periods and will continue to make deals months in advance, he said. But otherwise, there is a tendency toward complex, multi-platform deals and "partnerships" that are driving the anytime business.

"There is a limited supply, and there are people who need to be [in the upfront], so I don't think it's going away anytime soon." Perry said Nick would continue to expand beyond its endemic roster of clients, where it has landed deals with nine automakers, travel marketers and others looking to target parents via kids' programming.

"The non-endemics are becoming a factor in the marketplace," he adds. "It's driving a lot of money." Nick has just brokered a deal with State Farm, as well as adult-directed packaged-goods on Nick Jr. Consumer electronics and wireless phone advertisers are a growing part of the mix, too.

Perry is also optimistic about the food category, as consumer-interest groups have lambasted Nick, other networks and marketers as contributing to the rise of childhood obesity. He says Nick "feels good about partnerships we've developed" in which marketers emphasize healthy diets. "The worst is behind us."

As with all MTV Networks operations, Nickelodeon executives Perry (executive vice president, 360 brand sales, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group) and Cyma Zarghami, the group's president, emphasize the importance of both programming and selling in the digital arena, be it Nick.com, virtual world site Nicktropolis, AddictingGames or NeoPets. (Nick said February brought a record performance for its portfolio of sites.)

"The digital generation of kids has really sort of emerged [just since last year]," Zarghami notes. Perry says he will aim for 10% of upfront revenues to come in the digital space, as most clients opt for deals that include an off-net component.

On the programming front, Nick announced the launch this fall of live-action comedy "iCarly" that will encourage viewer interactivity. During the telecast, the lead character will direct kids to a Web site to post content they have created, which could become part of a future episode on her Web cast. Says Zarghami: "We want to allow kids to connect with the brand on every level."

Nick also said it would produce 13 new episodes of hit "SpongeBob" and 20 of "The Fairly OddParents," plus 14 new episodes and three one-hour movies of "Dora the Explorer." In addition, it's announced the coming launch of three new animated series: "The Umizumiz, "Bubble Guppies" and "Making Friends."

Nick will premiere more than 700-plus new episodes of all series in the 2007-08 season.

For Nick at Nite, the user-generated content boom has led to the launch of the trailblazer in the area, "America's Funniest Home Videos." "George Lopez" joins the lineup, which includes "Home Improvement" and "Growing Pains."