Nickelodeon’s Cyma Zarghami

October 2006

By Anna Carugati

Nickelodeon has
grown from a single channel since its launch in 1979 to a portfolio of digital
channels in the U.S. and 29 channels around the world. As the president of
Nickelodeon and head of the MTV Networks Kids and Family Group—which
encompasses the magazine and digital divisions, Nick at Nite, Noggin/The N and
Nicktoons Network, among others—Cyma Zarghami oversees all program
production and development as well as marketing and programming. Under her leadership,
Nick has produced such mega hits as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the
Explorer. Zarghami talks about new programming that will appeal to today’s
media-savvy children.

TV
KIDS: How
does Nickelodeon remain relevant to children who have so many entertainment
options?

ZARGHAMI: We can’t forget how discerning the
audience is. There are a lot of choices but I think they know where the good
stuff is. They weed the good from the bad. But I think one of the ways that we
stay relevant is by doing a lot of research. We do a ton of focus groups not
just to understand how our stuff might perform with kids, but just to
understand more about them as a demographic. And we have to really listen to
what we hear, and then figure out how to put it to use. That’s something we’ve
been doing for 26 years, and I don’t think it will ever change.

TV
KIDS: What
does Nick offer online?

ZARGHAMI: We have recently done a lot of
redevelopment on our website, which serves a bunch of different purposes.
First, it’s a place where kids can go to play games. Secondly, they can check
out stuff that they love and are able to get more of it. So if they love Zoey
101, they can go
get Zoey
behind the scenes. And the other purpose of the website is that it serves as a
real incubator for new talent and new ideas. Mr. Meaty, for example, consisted of shorts
and we put them on [the broadband service] TurboNick. We got a great response
to them and then we went into development with them as a series. And we did
some fun stuff online before the show premiered. We put job applications for Mr.
Meaty on nick.com
and we got some great responses. We’re doing a lot of podcasting and we’re
getting a lot of feedback. So the website is a breeding ground for new
creatives. It’s a marketing tool and it is a great place for kids to play
games, which we know is what they love about the Internet.

TV
KIDS:
Nickelodeon has been very active in the pro-social arena. One of your more
recent initiatives has been the Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge to help kids eat better and stay
active. Are you getting a lot of response from kids?

ZARGHAMI: I thought it would be successful,
but I’m surprised by how successful it actually is. We have found a way to go
at something that’s really important to kids in a way that is not preachy, and
I’m really excited about it. More than 132,000 kids have registered for the Go
Healthy Challenge.
A lot of them are girls, which is not unexpected, and that’s something we think
we can address in the next round. There’s a lot of talk about this [obesity] epidemic among kids and I think the idea that we try to put control in kids’
hands is going to be very important going forward. We have found year in and
year out that if we put the task to kids and make them own it, they really move
mountains for themselves.

TV
KIDS: Do
the international channels have their own autonomy in following whatever
pro-social issues are important in their territories, or are some things done
across all networks?

ZARGHAMI: Our philosophy at MTV Networks is
to act local and think global. And the localization of the channels is
critically important to their success. They have to have a unique point of
view, a sense of humor that is specific to their markets. They have to have a
management team that understands their audience. But there are certainly times
when a hit is a hit no matter what country you are in, which is being proven by
SpongeBob and Dora around the world. And there are
initiatives that are going to work around the world. We think that Let’s Just
Play is one that is absolutely pertinent to almost every single country. We are
trying our best to see if we can make that a global initiative. And there are
often times when the channels have to do their own local initiatives. A local
disaster requires a local response, but there are times when you can do both.

TV
KIDS: How
important are the Nick News specials hosted by Linda Ellerbee?

ZARGHAMI: The thing about Linda Ellerbee
that I say over and over again is, if we didn’t have Nick News, where would
kids go who want to know? There is absolutely no place else. And it is a really
unique and valuable part of our brand DNA and something that we are proud of
and something that kids know is there. It’s almost like a security blanket in a
way. It’s something that parents value. And it really does allow us to tell
important stories for kids, without coming out of nowhere. The real
disadvantage if we ever lost it is that we would have to ramp up every time we
wanted to tell an important piece of news to kids. So it’s a built-in venue for
us to tell important stories.

TV
KIDS:
Looking at the entertainment side of Nick, what new animated shows are coming
up?

ZARGHAMI: We have some really funny stuff
coming. I do believe that it doesn’t matter if it’s animation or live action,
as long as it’s funny. We recently premiered a show called Mr. Meaty, which we are excited about,
because it feels like it is very fresh. I think kids will be encouraged by the
fact that they are seeing something funny in a format they haven’t seen in a
while.

We have a show called Tak, which is CGI from a lot of the creative team that did Jimmy
Neutron, that
will premiere early next year. And El Tigre, which has a very humor-based but
authentic Mexican flavor to it, which we are also very excited about. These
three shows are for the 6- to 14-year-olds.

Then there is Ni Hao Kai-Lan for preschoolers, which is a show about a Chinese girl.
It’s creatively inspired and it celebrates Chinese culture, but will probably
have a broad appeal, mostly because of how fresh it looks.

TV
KIDS: And
what about new live-action shows?

ZARGHAMI: We will have new episodes for a
bunch of TEENick
shows, more Zoey 101, more Unfabulous, more Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. We are very excited about a show
called The Naked
Brothers Band,
which we sometimes describe as Spinal Tap for kids. It’s a mockumentary of a kids’ rock band
with a lot of behind-the-scenes made-up stuff about them. It’s Polly Draper
from thirtysomething—it’s her kids and her brainchild.

Then we have another show, Just Jordan. It stars Lil’ JJ, who is a kid
comedian who has been on our air for quite a while now and we’re putting him at
the center of the sitcom that has yet to be named.

TV
KIDS: What new shows will there be on Nick Jr.?

ZARGHAMI: Our most recent success story is The Wonder Pets!, besides Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go!, which are runaway hits. We just
celebrated the tenth anniversary of Blue’s Clues, which was very exciting. Blue
got a baby. The
Wonder Pets!
is a real innovation creatively. A group of classroom pets in a preschool
become superheroes after the kids go home, and they save animals and others
from danger. And the great thing about it is that a lot of the stories are told
in opera. It’s really brilliant and beautiful. The Backyardigans is still a success story. So
we’ve had a really great run on Nick Jr. Wow! Wow! Wubbzy recently premiered, and then Ni
Hao Kai-Lan is
coming in the fall of 2007.

TV
KIDS: How does Nickelodeon’s international development team work?

ZARGHAMI: We have some really spectacular
people all over the world working for Nickelodeon. Recently we have really
cross-pollinated so they are working together more than they ever have before.
We believe that some great properties and great trends begin outside this
country. We are really excited to have a new person to head the development
team in London named Nina Hahn, who is working with all the channels as well as
the U.S. to make sure that we are not missing anything. We want to make sure
that when we find a property that everybody loves, that we coordinate a way to
get it made. So far we haven’t made one yet, but I’m expecting to get there
very soon.

TV
KIDS: How important are acquisitions to your channels?

ZARGHAMI: The Nicktoons Network has recently
premiered a bunch of acquired shows. And one of the great things about having
the Nicktoons Network is that if something exciting comes through that door,
then it migrates to big Nick and then back again. And there are two such shows
at the moment. One of them is called Shuriken School, and the other is called Kappa
Mikey.

TV
KIDS: You offer quite a range of programming.

ZARGHAMI: In the 26 years that we have been
around, we have evolved to be a full-service network for kids. We have news, we
have stuff for big kids, we have stuff for little kids, we have celebrities, we
have animation, we have live action, we have pro-social. It has been a build to
where we are now. And our future holds even more entertainment that will
broaden our audience to the family.