Scott Dyer

April 2008

Since its launch in 1988, YTV has become a powerhouse in the Canadian kids’ business. An active supporter of locally commissioned content, the channel has also been a significant acquirer of international programming over the years. Available in more than 8 million homes, YTV has expanded its reach well beyond young kids, targeting a broad demographic of 2- to 17-year-olds. Its preschool block airs more than 30 hours of commercial-free content per week, while The Zone has become the country’s number one after-school block. Evenings are devoted to tweens, teens and families with drama, comedy and animation, and weekend afternoons and Saturday nights entertain with a family movie block. Offscreen, YTV services kids with its website ytv.com, the traveling road show Weird on Wheels (WOW) and the YTV Whoa! magazine. And it continues to find new ways of serving its audiences by understanding them better through the SWAT kids advisory panel and an annual lifestyle survey, The YTV Tween Report. As YTV gears up to turn 20, TV Kids speaks with Scott Dyer, the executive VP and general manager of Corus Kids, the division of Corus Entertainment that also operates Treehouse TV, Discovery Kids Canada and Nelvana.

TV KIDS: How has YTV evolved over the past two decades?

DYER: YTV launched in September 1988. The kids who watched our network then have now grown up and started their own families. YTV has made the jump between generations and has consistently responded to the interests and tastes of its viewers.

Over the years, we’ve added anime, more comedy and more live-action series. Our kid-centric branding “Keep It Weird” has also evolved to a focus on being fun and quirky, as well as an emphasis on kid empowerment, for example: [the tagline] “Take Back Saturday Morning!” with our Crunch daypart [on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon]. Throughout 20 years of broadcast, though, we’ve always put our audiences first.

TV KIDS: How have you gone about serving such a wide demographic—2- to 17-year-olds?

DYER: We use a variety of dayparts, scheduled to align with our viewers, throughout the broadcast day. While our core audience of 6- to 11-year-olds is supported throughout the day, during school hours we run a noncommercial block aimed at younger audiences (2 to 5 years old). In the evenings we shift to older, more family-oriented programming. We have also run anime programming, with its somewhat older audience, on Friday evenings. Movies, which attract a co-view audience [of kids and parents], are seen on the weekends.

TV KIDS: How important is Canadian content to the schedule?

DYER: We have always been a strong supporter of Canadian independent production, both through the obligations of our broadcast license and because Canadian shows speak to our audiences about their experiences, feelings and interests. We commission about 100 hours of original, first-run content from Canadian independents each year. Canadian shows occupy 60 percent of our schedule and may be produced entirely within Canada or may be the result of co-productions with other broadcasters and producers around the world. We also have a commitment to non–North American international content.

TV KIDS: You’ve also broadcast a number of shows from Nickelodeon in the U.S.

DYER: MTV Networks International has been a key relationship for us, and we have recently strengthened our partnership with access to the digital rights for MTVN content. We ran our first Nickelodeon show (Rugrats) in 1992. More recently, we air shows like SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents, which really resonate with kids and occupy important positions in our after-school block, The Zone. Now, with the addition of digital rights for games, streaming, mobile and VOD, we can make this content available to Canadian kids across a wide variety of new platforms.

We’ve always offered the best content for our audiences and done our best to respond to their interests and to the trends that shape their interests. Superheroes, anime, reality, live action and comedies all have their place on YTV.

Anime in particular has enjoyed a special place on YTV with our Bionix block and a strong community of active, loyal viewers. And we’re building our Get Real! focus with a variety of reality-based programming for kids, both through Canadian commissions and acquisitions.

TV KIDS: How does YTV differentiate itself from its competitors?

DYER: Fundamentally, it’s about the programming and the brand environment that resonates with kids. We’re the place kids turn to first. We’re the home of great, quirky comedy and action, ranging from the Nickelodeon shows, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, to our Canadian commissions like Being Ian, Storm Hawks and many others. Our hosted dayparts, like The Zone after school, offer a unique, direct connection to kids. Plus, our brand extensions, such as the WOW road shows, take the brand, its hosts and its programming directly into the community.

TV KIDS: What are the brand values that viewers associate with YTV?

DYER: YTV is entertaining, quirky and funny. We celebrate the peak events in kid culture, like March break, back to school and Halloween, as well as being a kid-friendly environment with responsible programming. YTV is committed to quality creative and we have a reputation for providing the best branding and on-air creative in kids’ entertainment.

TV KIDS: How much cross promotion takes place between YTV, Treehouse and Discovery Kids?

DYER: Our Discovery Kids channel is basically a stepping-stone between Treehouse and YTV, as the target demo of 4- to 11-year-olds with a 4-to-7 focus bridges our other two networks. So we use Treehouse to introduce great Discovery Kids shows to a new audience and Discovery Kids to promote YTV. We also use our other Corus properties, like W Network and CMT, to promote all three kids’ channels.

TV KIDS: How are you serving your young viewers across multiple platforms?

DYER: We are significantly growing our catalogue of offerings on a variety of platforms over the next year.

Treehouse On Demand is one of the strongest VOD performers, allowing kids and families to access our preschool programming on their own schedules and as often as they’d like.

Our websites offer streaming video—both clips and full episodes—and we expect to expand that with better personalization and sharing options so that kids can not only watch their favorites but share them with friends.

The addition of the Nickelodeon content will give us the critical mass needed to bring all of our content, including Canadian favorites, to the widest possible audience on these new platforms in Canada.

TV KIDS: Can you tell me about your research initiatives, and some of the key things you’ve learned from them?

DYER: Our kids’ advisory panel, the SWAT team, has given us great insight over the years into kids’ likes, dislikes and behaviors. We have tested a number of YTV initiatives on this live audience, from new shows and ads to our YTV Whoa! magazine. We’ve also used the panel to explore other issues, such as healthy, active living and bullying. We complement this focus-group-like research with online polls on YTV.com, both for our own purposes and on behalf of clients.

Our annual YTV Tween Report allows us to go in-depth on a variety of topics. We’ve produced major research reports on “kidfluence,” media behavior, healthy, active living and co-viewing, along with reports focusing on kids’ likes and dislikes, their fears and aspirations, and, of course, what’s cool.

Our recent Tween Report, from November 2007, gave us great insight into “kidfluence.” We identified three different types of kids: those with high influence, low influence and medium influence. What we discovered was that there is a high correlation between high-influence kids and happy, optimistic kids, and that high-influence kids were also closer to their families. It’s this kind of research that helps our clients deliver their messages in the most efficient and engaging way.

TV KIDS: What role do pro-social initiatives play at YTV?

DYER: YTV has been at the forefront of socially responsible communication to kids since its launch. Most recently, our focus has been on encouraging healthy, active lifestyles through Coach Callous, a YTV on-air character who tells kids to “Get Your Rear in Gear!”

Also, in partnership with the Concerned Children’s Advertisers (CCA), we help develop PSAs and programs that support media literacy, [discourage bullying and promote] healthy, active living. Corus provides media time in support of these initiatives, as well as expertise and advice.

Other partnerships that we feel strongly about and support wherever possible include Kids Help Phone, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada and the United Way.

TV KIDS: What are some of the major challenges affecting the Canadian kids’-entertainment industry today?

DYER: We’re in a time of significant change, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. The industry is in the midst of a regulatory review, both for important funding, such as the CTF [Canadian Television Fund], as well as facing unprecedented global competition as new platforms and new media take root with our early-adopter audiences.

Corus sees building and strengthening our global competitiveness as a key challenge; we need to look beyond our borders and ensure that our producers, broadcasters and other partners can grow and prosper. The Canadian kids’-entertainment industry is strong but needs to be stronger to compete on the global stage.

TV KIDS: Advertising targeted at kids has come under the spotlight in many markets. What role should governments play in regulating this arena?

DYER: In Canada, we have a strong system in place to ensure that advertising to kids is done in a responsible way both in terms of content and placement. We’re proud that Corus has been at the forefront, making industry and advertiser partnerships to advocate healthy, active living, and we strongly believe that this approach can address the problem in an effective, balanced way.

We are strong advocates of healthy living, and research has shown that outright bans on advertising don’t work to solve the problem of childhood obesity. Food companies, in partnership with advertisers and broadcasters, can foster effective communication and help to ensure that families can make responsible, informed choices about products and consumption.