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going after MTV set
From the shadow of its parent, in search of teens
By Kevin Downey
After slogging through two previous incarnations as the Family Channel and more recently as Fox Family, the ratings-challenged ABC Family is tinkering with its format once again.
At its upfront presentation to media buyers next Monday, the Disney-owned network will reposition itself more firmly as a channel for young adults.
The 16-month-old network will put an emphasis on original programs created for young people, including reality shows, music specials, an afternoon lineup for teenagers, and eventually sitcoms and dramas.
The tinkering follows a sharp decline in the network’s audience and is intended to move it away from being a repository for foundering ABC programs like "Less Than Perfect," while firming up its brand image in the minds of TV viewers and media buyers.
"It will really become a full-service channel for the family," says Linda Mancuso, senior vice president and head of programming at ABC Family.
"In the afternoon we’ll be the only teen and young adult network. There are other things that they are watching, but we see MTV as our primary competition."
ABC Family’s move will signal the direction of the network under president Angela Shapiro, who moved over from ABC Daytime and Buena Vista Productions one year ago.
The move also comes at a difficult time for the network.
Although the audience for kids' cable networks has been falling and teen-oriented MTV’s audience has been flat in recent months, ABC Family has suffered the steepest declines.
The network’s audience in primetime fell 36 percent in first quarter compared to the same time last year to 697,000 people.
Among kids 6-11, its audience dropped 55 percent, while its people 12-24 audience dropped 29 percent.
Its average audience for the entire day was down 18 percent in first quarter to 351,000 people, and its kids 6-11 audience dropped 35 percent.
Among people 12-24 its audience was essentially flat at a 2 percent decline.
Its average 100,000 viewers in that demo, however, is about one-third the size of the audience for top-ranked MTV and less than half the size of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon’s audiences.
Executives at ABC Family point out that its rating for people 12-24 in the afternoon grew 50 percent in first quarter, from a 0.4 to a 0.6.
"We are definitely not a teen network, but we are taking advantage of that afternoon block," says Mancuso.
"I think the kind of programming we are going to do, seen through the eyes of teenagers, will go right after teens."
ABC Family is setting out to reverse its slide with the now familiar cable TV strategy of introducing more original programs.
It has four new series coming in the summer, including a new version of "Dance Fever," three movies and a short-run reality show focusing on the marriage of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart.
Among its new shows is the talent competition "Dance Fever" and a New York-based version of the British dating show "Perfect Match."
"The Brendan Leonard Show" brings that Chicago-based cable access show to a national network. "Brendan" focuses on issues important to teens.
"Switched" has teenagers from different families swap lives for a few weeks.
Meanwhile, three movies are in the works, including "See Jane Date," based on the book chronicling the life of a girl trying to find a boyfriend.
"The problem is they started to look a lot like ABC and I think they are trying to get away from that image," says Roy Rothstein, vice president and director of national broadcast research for Zenith Media.
"It may be the same concept as ABC, but skewing a little bit younger."
Whether ABC Family’s new strategy works to its advantage in this spring’s upfront won’t be known for a few months.
Media people like Rothstein, however, generally think the network’s renewed focus on young adults makes sense.
"I applaud them for making the attempt because the networks haven’t done a good job of that," he says.
"You do have MTV and Fox and the WB that go after that younger audience. But they are a fickle audience who do not like to make commitments and who don’t watch as much TV as other demos."
April 9, 2003© 2003 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life
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