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01-09-2002, 12:34 PM
Fox ups ante for kids block to $20 million
By Paula Bernstein
NEW YORK (Variety) - Fox is asking more than $20 million a year for its four-hour Saturday morning kids block.
That's a huge markup from the $6 million a year Discovery recently paid to lease out NBC's 2-1/2-hour Saturday morning block.
In addition to the hefty price tag, there's another potential sticking point: Fox wants the right to preempt programming in the block at least 12 times a year.
The lucky winner won't be decided for another week, but the bidders have all put their names in the ring.
Among the entities vying to purchase the Fox Kids block are: a partnership between cable TV channel Nickelodeon and Canadian kids TV producer Nelvana, DIC Entertainment, ``Pokemon'' producer 4 Kids Entertainment, entertainment entrepreneur Philip Anschutz and AOL Time Warner.
While no front-runner has emerged, Fox parent News Corp. might hesitate before boosting media rivals such as AOL Time Warner or Nickelodeon's Viacom owner. AOL Time Warner had been aggressively pursuing a deal for NBC's Saturday morning kids block.
Fox's Saturday morning ratings have slipped in recent years as the block lost viewers to Kids WB, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Then, once News Corp. sold off Fox Family to Disney and returned its afternoon block of programming to affiliates, Fox -- without a promotional partner that could help amortize programming costs -- couldn't make the daypart worth its while financially.
It's a stark change from the late 1990s when ''Power Rangers'' helped Fox rule the broadcast kids audience.
A Fox spokesman declined comment.
(source: Reuters/Variety REUTERS (www.reuters.com))
By Paula Bernstein
NEW YORK (Variety) - Fox is asking more than $20 million a year for its four-hour Saturday morning kids block.
That's a huge markup from the $6 million a year Discovery recently paid to lease out NBC's 2-1/2-hour Saturday morning block.
In addition to the hefty price tag, there's another potential sticking point: Fox wants the right to preempt programming in the block at least 12 times a year.
The lucky winner won't be decided for another week, but the bidders have all put their names in the ring.
Among the entities vying to purchase the Fox Kids block are: a partnership between cable TV channel Nickelodeon and Canadian kids TV producer Nelvana, DIC Entertainment, ``Pokemon'' producer 4 Kids Entertainment, entertainment entrepreneur Philip Anschutz and AOL Time Warner.
While no front-runner has emerged, Fox parent News Corp. might hesitate before boosting media rivals such as AOL Time Warner or Nickelodeon's Viacom owner. AOL Time Warner had been aggressively pursuing a deal for NBC's Saturday morning kids block.
Fox's Saturday morning ratings have slipped in recent years as the block lost viewers to Kids WB, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Then, once News Corp. sold off Fox Family to Disney and returned its afternoon block of programming to affiliates, Fox -- without a promotional partner that could help amortize programming costs -- couldn't make the daypart worth its while financially.
It's a stark change from the late 1990s when ''Power Rangers'' helped Fox rule the broadcast kids audience.
A Fox spokesman declined comment.
(source: Reuters/Variety REUTERS (www.reuters.com))