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Another cable “star” is Disney Channel. This year, the
channel celebrated its 20th anniversary, and it did so in a most
appropriate way – by having its best year ever. Its ratings
were up by 47 percent among kids 6-11, raising the channel to number
one among all basic cable networks with kids 6-14. It’s close
to impossible to calculate the true value of the Disney Channel.
It is highly profitable in its own right, while it also represents
something of a goodwill ambassador of the Disney brand, coming into
the homes of millions of fans every day. And, with its creative
and appealing line-up of original programming, it strengthens and
reinforces Disney among the so-called “tweens” –
kids from ages 9-14.
Disney Channel is yet another franchise factory for our company,
thanks to popular shows like That’s So Raven, Kim Possible,
Lizzie McGuire and Stanley. To further advance the creation
of valuable franchises like these, this year we restructured our
animation unit so that Walt Disney Television Animation reports
directly to Disney Channel. This gets the creators and the distributors
to work closely together to better serve their audience. In November,
we launched an international Disney Channel in Japan, which is one
of the most enthusiastic nations in the world for all things Disney,
so we are quite confident that this newest Disney Channel will be
yet another successful one. We expect to add still more Disney Channels
in other large Asian and European markets in the years ahead.
Our other cable assets include Toon Disney, whose distribution
grew by 19 percent in 2003, SOAPnet, which increased its primetime
ratings among women 18-49 by 25 percent, and ABC Family, which was
recently integrated into our cable organization so that all of our
cable holdings can work more effectively together. In addition,
we have equity holdings in some of cable’s other premiere
services – A&E, The History Channel, Biography, Lifetime
and E!
Two other important Media Networks assets are ABC’s owned
stations and our radio group. ABC’s 10 owned stations are
located in almost every major metropolitan area within the United
States, with seven of them being number one in their markets. On
radio, we have 72 owned and operated stations and an incredible
4,800 affiliated stations, including ESPN Radio, which is the largest
sports radio network. But my favorite radio asset continues to be
Radio Disney, which weekly reaches nearly three million children
and one and a half million mothers in markets covering more than
60 percent of the country. Plus, as with Disney Channel, Radio Disney
has gone worldwide, with stations in Japan, the United Kingdom,
Argentina and Paraguay, and discussions underway to expand further,
providing yet more evidence of the international growth potential
of the Disney brand.
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