Family Channel

COUNTRY: Canada

LAUNCH DATE: September 1, 1988

OWNERSHIP: Astral Media 

DISTRIBUTION: 6 million homes across Canada

DESCRIPTION: A Canadian destination offering up a mix of exclusive premieres, series, movies and specials relevant to kids and families.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:
President, Astral Television Networks: John Riley
VP & General Manager, Family Channel & Playhouse Disney, Astral Television Networks: Joe Tedesco
Senior VP, Programming, Astral Television Networks: Kevin Wright
Senior VP, Marketing & Sales, Astral Television Networks: Domenic Vivolo

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Family Channel builds its schedule to reflect the lives of kids on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. Younger-skewing programs dominate the daytime grid, when it’s the 2-to-7 set who are likely to be at home. The schedule then shifts gears to live-action series in the afternoon and early evening, when older kids, namely 8- to 14-year-olds, are back from school. Looking at the weekly schedule, co-viewing blocks and movies are slated on evenings when families are more likely to be around the TV together. And throughout the year, Family Channel launches series and movie premieres, stunts and specials around the significant events in kids’ lives—summer vacation, back to school, spring break, Halloween and winter holidays.

"Family Channel recognizes that a year in a kid’s life is different from that of an adult and we celebrate big occasions and holidays with our viewers," says Joe Tedesco, the VP and general manager of Family Channel. "We also ensure that there’s always something new on the network by embracing a staggered-launch approach to all of our premieres."

Homegrown series are a key component of Family Channel’s programming strategy. Original Canadian series on the roster include Life With Derek and The Latest Buzz and the upcoming live-action commissions Overruled!, premiering in September, and Connor Undercover. 

A long-standing relationship with Disney accounts for 60 percent of the programming schedule, adding live-action and animated series such as Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny With a Chance and Phineas and Ferb, as well as blockbuster movies like High School Musical and Camp Rock. "We also work with other acquisition partners, including Dolphin Entertainment, who has brought us such hits as Zoey 101, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and the Roxy Hunter movie franchise," Tedesco adds. 

Disney Channel original movies are traditionally top performers for the network. Record audiences tuned into Family Channel for the 2007 premiere of High School Musical 2, making it the highest-rated non-sports broadcast in Canadian specialty television, followed closely by Camp Rock, which premiered on the network in June 2008. The recent premiere of Princess Protection Program further validated the success of Disney Channel original movies on the channel. Live-action series are also strong in the lineup. In October 2008, the debut of the Disney Channel original series The Suite Life on Deck was the biggest series premiere in Family Channel’s history, followed by the March 2008 premiere of the Canadian original The Latest Buzz. The Canadian series Life With Derek is also a regular in the network’s top 20 programs. 

As for the channel’s overall performance in the Canadian landscape, Tedesco explains, Family Channel has managed to stay on top despite facing competition from a broad range of specialty, conventional and kid-specific offerings. "For the last few years, Family Channel has been the number one network with kids 8 to 14 and with teens 12 to 17. We are also neck-and-neck for the first-place spot among all pay and specialty networks in Canada with 2-plus audiences, which speaks to the importance of kids’ programming in Canada." 

He continues: "Staying number one means staying ahead of the competition—all competition—be it other television networks or other entertainment platforms. In the latter case, we are working with alternative platforms, such as the online environment and the on-demand offering, to bolster our on-air performance by providing viewers with complementary content, sneak previews of marquee television events, and exclusive premieres to provide for an immersive and engaging multiplatform experience."

Central to the channel’s multiplatform approach, Family.ca is an online entertainment portal that includes games, a broadband player for movies and full-length episodes, contests, video podcasts and program mini-sites. Furthering the engagement between kids and their favorite Family Channel series, Family.ca hosts the online service FamClub. The connected community allows kids to create their own space and connect and interact with the channel’s online and on-air properties. Family.ca is also home to Family Kicks, an online activity destination where kids can join teams, compete in challenges and connect with other Family Channel fans from all across Canada.

WHAT’S NEW: The diverse fall lineup of Family Channel features Disney’s new series Aaron Stone and Zeke and Luther and returning hits The Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place. Also launching are the new Canadian original series Overruled! and Connor Undercover, alongside a third season of The Latest Buzz.

TRAILERS: Click to view clips of Overruled! and Life With Derek.

WEBSITE: www.family.ca