Posted by Savant on November 13, 1998 at 17:28:14: In Reply to: Re: write to me! i can get ocean girl back on TV posted by Ghostwriter on October 07, 1998 at 14:03:27:
: I will e-mail you about the information. Have you considered the
: Fox Family Channel in the States? They are showing Spellbinder 2:Land of the
: Dragonlord now. I would also like to see OG in that too.
Well Fox is going to be doing more... Here is the press release:
Fox Family Adds Boyz, Girlz Digital Fare
By Mike Reynolds
A little more than two months after it was relaunched from what was the Family Channel, Fox Family Channel is in
the gestation period for two new digitial networks that split things specifically along gender lines: Boyz Channel and
Girlz Channel.
Accompanied by children from a local public school (for what it's worth, the girls shrieked louder), Rich Cronin,
CEO/president of Fox Family Channels and Fox Kids Network, announced at a press conference in New York last
week that Fox Family would spawn the two networks, specifically targeting 2-14-year-olds of each sex.
Launching some time next year, The Boyz Channel and The Girlz Channel, ad-supported entries that are also
available for analog carriage, will initially draw programming from the Fox Family Worldwide library, acquisitions
and some original shows. The channels will also have companion Web sites at www.boyzchannel.com and
www.girlzchannel.com, respectively, featuring games, live events, homework help, advice for kids dealing with
parents and siblings-and vice versa-as well as activities catering to gender-specific interests. These sites are slates to
debut early in 1999.
Cronin said Fox Family research has indicated that kids want their own channels and that Fox would air
programming based on their interests, and input from national advisory boards comprising a wide range of
professional disciplines centered around kids.
"From sports fans to foodies, cable has super-served various niches, but no one has super-served boys and girls,"
said Cronin, adding that Fox Family affiliates have also expressed interest in well-defined and targeted digital
networks.
At 9 p.m., the channels will offer up programs based around "parenting issues" that grown-ups can access in helping
to raise their progeny. Cronin said there was a dearth of programming in this area, and Fox Family's research
indicates parents are interested in this kind of fare.
Cronin noted that specific pitching for the networks will begin shortly and he anticipates that there will be
"wall-to-wall discussions at the Western Show" in Anaheim. He declined to estimate the number of homes in which
the channels will launch, but he expects interested affiliates to pick up both channels. Rate cards and launch
incentives had not yet been finalized.
When Boyz and Girlz Channels enter the fray, they will join an increasingly crowded kids arena where they will vie
for viewers against Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, PBS, Fox Kids and children's-oriented shows
on the broadcast networks on Saturday mornings. In addition, Noggin, Nick's educational collaboration with PBS,
Nickelodeon Games & Sports, and Nick Too will launch in the first quarter, while Toon Disney, which was
originally slated to be a digital gambit, continues to pick up subscribers in the analog and satellite worlds.
Responding to questions about whether such a division of networks and programming would exacerbate age-old
gender generalizations, Cronin, citing his own parental experience as the father of two boys and two girls, maintained
that there is a difference between the genders and what they want to watch. "It's not stereotyping," said Cronin.
"You have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, boys' clubs and girls' clubs, camps for boys and camps for girls, magazines
for boys and magazines for girls, schools for boys and schools for girls."
All the same, MSO executives, while acknowledging the inherent differences between boys and girls and their
interests, view the channels as cutting across old gender grounds. "By directing programming specifically to boys and
specifically to girls, (Fox Family) is in effect exaggerating the stereotypes that have been in place over the years,"
said one programming executive at a Midwest MSO. "Nickelodeon, on the other hand, aims most of its shows at
both girls and boys."
"From a strategic standpoint, line extensions are important for companies moving into digital because it presumably
will give viewers a reason to stop and look at the new entries if they perceive the flagship channel as having value,"
said one MSO programming executive. "With Fox Family, it's still a little early to discuss that value quotient."
Fox Family premiered Aug. 15 and continues to fine tune its programming lineup.
(November 2, 1998)
Keep in mind that they will need PROGRAMMING, so you may want to start lobbying them now!
Regards,
Savant.