Stuart Snyder at his office in Atlanta, Georgia
Cartoon Network recently kicked-off a month long celebration for its milestone birthday at the Atlanta, Georgia headquarters, where Turner Broadcasting founder, Ted Turner, originally launched the network 20 years ago.
Saluting both its vast library of classic animation as well as its current crop of top-rated hits, Cartoon Network is spotlighting birthday-themed episodes from such beloved classics as The Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory alongside more contemporary hit series including Adventure Time, Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball throughout the month of October.
Q: This year we’re celebrating Cartoon Network’s 20th anniversary. How has the channel evolved?
A: Wow, 20 years. You think about the journey and where it all started. It started as an idea from our founder Ted Turner. It started as a collection of classic cartoons. It launched in maybe two million households in 1992. You fast forward to 2012 and now we’re in close to 400 million households, where in 187 countries we’re not only just a library of wonderful classic cartoons but we make original cartoons that are now popular franchises around the world.
So the evolution has been amazing with regards to the growth and the popularity. Who would have thought, “Gee! Cartoons would be so popular for so many.” But Ted did, had a vision, shared that vision and this is where we sit 20 years later.
Q: As you celebrate 20 years, could you share with me some recent milestones that would be causes for celebration this year?
A: Well I’ve had the pleasure of being in this chair since 2007 so in the five years that I’ve been here, I would point to a few things – First of all, partnering with Lucasfilms for Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a significant milestone for Cartoon Network. Perfect franchises, perfect match between a franchise and the network is a significant milestone.
I believe Adventure Time is now our big global franchise, our newest hit. What’s also significant is that we did a series of Cartoonstitute, which yielded us the Regular Show, which just won an Emmy. That to me is a great milestone. Our recent ratings success, where we’ve now greatly improved the ratings of the network in dramatic fashion, is also another milestone.
Our launching of the “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” campaign, I would say, is nationally recognised as a Cartoon Network effort. It has gotten the attention of President Obama, the White House, Facebook. Time Warner is involved, CNN, many partners as well, and the campaign is beginning to go international. We launched the campaign first in Latin America, and we’re looking to roll it out next in Asia, and then also in Europe.
On the digital front, we’ve had a few great announcements. Let me put into context. Digital efforts like CartoonNetwork.com has always been successful initiatives for Cartoon Network. We’ve always been one of the top kids domains – we’re very popular and our gaming efforts really drive that. But what we’ve done through our TV Everywhere efforts – this is the idea of making sure that our content is available to our audience whenever and wherever they are. We’ve done a few things- first of all we’ve started making full-length episodes available to our audience online on a regular basis. We then started streaming the network LIVE to our audience on June 15. In August, we went one step further. We then enabled our audience to watch full-length episodes or play games or do both on their iPads, which we call “Watch and Play” and that was all enabled through our CN2.0 app.
Q: You own a lot of your own content but not all. So if you’re having this TV Everywhere proposition, were there rights issues you had to grapple with?
A: For the most part, we’ve been able to secure the necessary rights to make sure that any show we are acquiring are also available to our TV Everywhere efforts. It’s mutually beneficial. We want to make sure that we expose our partner shows to the widest available audience as well. So we’ve been able to work those out to everyone’s satisfaction.
Q: Congratulations on the strong ratings. A lot of it tends to suggest a more boys-skewed target audience. Are you concerned about not getting enough of the girls onto the channel?
A: You know, Cartoon Network’s strength over the years has always been with boys. That’s one of our greatest strengths as a network. We always try to do it in a way and skew our content to our greatest strength – the boys – but in a way that’s also inviting to girls. You take a show like Adventure Time – Adventure Time, while drawing more boys, also has a very high girl number. So there are some shows that do more in terms of the greater ratio of boys to girls and some shows that do less. But I think we always have to be true to our brand and true to audience, and the strength of our audience has always been boys. I think the biggest thing that we need to do to be successful, frankly, is always be unique and alternative, and to surprise our audience. That is the essence of Cartoon Network. If we’re finding or developing content that surprises our audience, which we first love ourselves, then we are hopeful and we believe there is a very good chance that our audience is also going to love that content. Just by the sheer nature of our strength and our core audience, usually skewed more boy than girl – but that’s ok.
Q: Which properties currently have the greatest licensing and merchandising potential?
A: Well, for us our global brand is first and foremost, Ben 10. Ben 10 is popular around the world – it’s a three billion dollar consumer products behemoth. It is core to our brand, core to our network. Ben 10 through the multiple series that it has, the multiple product lines that it has – and it is one of those shows where the characters engage with the audience so well. And the beautiful thing is, he is a kid that becomes this great superhero but is always still a kid. So it really resonates with our audience and is a really successful global franchise.
The other brands that we’re focused on right now on building to those levels are Adventure Time and The Amazing World of Gumball. Gumball is a little different because Ben 10 is an action show with some comedy and light moments, and these two are comedies. But we’re finding that these kids are really embracing our new generation of comedies, which includes Gumball, Adventure Time and Regular Show. And the next way they are engaging with them is – from a standpoint of consumer products – they’re buying the merchandise, they’re proud of their affinity to the brand and recognising themselves as a fan of Jake and Finn. I can’t go to Comic Con without seeing all the white hats from Adventure Time – there’s a picture of the entire audience wearing the white hats from Adventure Time, t-shirts and so on. So we’re finding that our new generation of comedies are really breaking out, specifically Adventure Time, Gumball and Regular Show.
Q: Since you have come onboard, you’ve introduced movies and live-action as opposed to the traditional 2D animation which Cartoon Network is very famous for. Why?
A: First and foremost, Cartoon Network will always be at its core, about animation. Whether it’s comedy or action. We’ll always be known for that. Through research with our audience, they told us loud and clear they do like seeing themselves on television, they do like live-action. So what we attempted to do and what we’ve done is we’ve tried to put live-action shows and some special events that would fit with the Cartoon Network brand and be successful, and we tested a few – some didn’t work and others did work. That includes our newest show called Level Up, which is on the air now, and it’s all about finding the right show. Kids will accept and have accepted live-action on Cartoon Network but the network will always be at the end of the day, at its core about animation.
We’ve also announced Incredible Crew here in the States, which will be coming out in 2013, and that’s by Nick Cannon. And in the past we’ve had some great live-action shows like Dude, What Would Happen and Hole in The Wall, and they’ve all found their level of success. Another special event that we’ve had nice success with is Hall of Game, which is our kids sports award show – an annual event – last year it was hosted by Shaquille O’ Neal, and it’s just a fun, light entertainment show – kids will vote for their favourite sports events or celebrities of the year. It’s been two years going and we’ve had growth year over year. We’re excited about the third edition coming up in February 2013.
Q: Some of the programmes that you developed – some were successes and some were not. For those that were not successful, what lessons did you learn?
A: You know, the nature of television business is that there’s a statistic that we use in our heads, which is two out ten shows are successful. If you look across the board, across all of TV – the average is 2 out of ten. So we’re all playing some kind of a batting average game, to do the best that we can, to beat the batting average. So you’re always developing shows and you want all of them to hit but you know not all of them are going to hit. So you just try to figure out what works – it’s about taking the right risks. So we took some risks early on. An example of that are two LIVE-action shows that we put on the air early on. And what we tried to do was we tried to actually counter-programme the nature of the kids business and also counter-programming ourselves. And we did that because when I took over Cartoon Network, our ratings weren’t the highest. We were not doing our best and that was recognised. So we said “Let’s really take some big risks. Let’s try to think completely different.” And I think the mindset of taking big risks was right but I think it was just a little bit miscalculated for our brand – we went too far. The two shows, which I’m very proud of by the way – one is called Unnatural History and the other is Tower Prep. They were 60 minutes first of all in length. We tried to do 60 minutes instead of 30. Audience kind of said “mmm” and didn’t quite accept that. They were more, what I would say, action-mystery shows or action-adventure shows and I think they were too jarring for our audience and for our brand. So people would come to Cartoon Network and they would see these two shows, “Mmm that’s not Cartoon Network, that doesn’t fit under Cartoon Network.” And we didn’t draw a large enough audience. The audience that watched the shows, loved the shows. I’m still getting emails today from fans of both shows who want us to bring them back. But there just weren’t a large enough audience. Having said all of that, I’m proud that we took the risk to try things differently because I think that’s the key and that’s one of our keys to success. Taking big risks brought us Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball and Level Up. So it’s really continuing as an organisation to find those shows and take big risks. I think what those shows did were just help us refine the antenna to what we should be taking great risks on.
Q: Speaking about programmes that didn’t fit the brand in terms of animation, I think there’s a certain style and look that you can say is distinctively Cartoon Network. A lot of it is still 2D animation. When it comes to 3D and CGI, there are associated costs. Is that factored in when you decide whether you should do predominantly 2D or venture into the 3D CGI space?
A: First of all, I love the look of CGI, I love 3D. The jury is kind of out with regards to what the future is, but that’s a lot of technology-drive vs. whether consumers accept it or don’t.
Cost always plays a factor in what we do – we always think about that because of the nature of the business that we’re in. So having said that, it all starts with the show. It all starts with what’s the context of the show. To do a show in CG just for the sake of doing a show in CG, in my opinion, is the wrong reason to do a show in CG. I have seen shows in CG that I scratch my head and go, “Looks nice but why was that done in CG?” And the next question is, “How much did it cost to do it in CG?” Because it is much more expensive at this time. So having said that, the question is how do we do CG cost-effectively? Certainly Cartoon Network with Ben 10, the special movie that was done, was able to be done more cost-effectively. So there are opportunities and that’s all we look to. We look for the right reasons and the right opportunities to CG versus a mad rush to go do CG.
Q: Still on content: You’ve had the opportunity to tap into quite a bit of content from other providers within the Turner (Time Warner) family. How has that helped you?
A: It has helped a great deal. One of the things I’m most proud about is that Cartoon Network is working really well as Time Warner companies, to work together, to find creative ideas, to move forward – and that really benefits everyone.
Examples include what we’re doing right now with Warner Bros., in addition to just the library – having Tom and Jerry in the old Looney Tunes cartoons on the air – we’ve actually produced a new Looney Tunes show. So it is a hit and new episodes start premiering very soon. We’ve done that, we’ve done a new hit show called Mad, and we’ve launched a DC Nation one hour block, which is taking advantage frankly of our DC library, and the opportunities in piggy backing off of our movie efforts. So it’s a one hour focus on DC characters, launching with Young Justice, Green Lantern animated series; and we will be doing a new Batman series, Beware the Batman – it’s everything DC but within a one hour block; Scooby-Doo of course – the series; and there are new things coming. We’ve done TV specials, we’ve done direct-to-video and TV movies – so there’s a very good working relationship – we’re always looking to find new opportunities for our classic characters and new applications of the classic characters into new formats, new adventures, new shows and new movies.
Q: Is there a consideration for some of your classic characters for so-called crossover episodes? Is that something which programme developers have talked about at this point?
A: Well I know that Warner has announced a crossover between Scooby-Doo and WWE stars in direct-to-video. So I know that are some crossover things happening. We haven’t really done anything on that front yet.
Q: How are you tracking your competitors?
A: Well, it’s hard to avoid our competitors. (laughs) And I’m certain we all read the same trade magazines and we all read the same news. At the end of the day though, I’m really focused on what we do here – I’m focused on our numbers, our shows and what we can do, I’m focused on our audience – that’s who I’m most focused on; listening to them, observing them, what do they want, what do they like, what do they want us to do. So I rely a lot on listening to them and research and then giving back to them things that really make sense.
I just saw a promo for Dragons and in the area of milestones, I would also like to say that Dragons is a milestone for us when we got to work with DreamWorks Animation.
Q: How has Dragons worked for you so far?
A: Very well. We’re only three episodes in but you talk about a show that looks brilliant in CGI that pops off a television – it really is a dynamic show. It’s movie quality. I’ve said that two times since I’ve been at Cartoon Network, first time was Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and I can say that again with Dragons.
Q: So beyond Dragons, are we talking about future collaborations with DreamWorks?
A: Oh I would hope so. But again it has to be the right fit. When we first started talking to the team at Dreamworks, it was way before that movie was ever released. I remember seeing just boards up and we saw multiple movies, not just Dragons. Rob Swartz and I were walking around and were looking at all the stuff and both of us just looked at each other and of all of the movies, taking nothing against anything else – we just went “that looks and feels like a Cartoon Network show”.
Q: Just like that?
A: Yea, because it was dragons. It was a family of Vikings, lots of action, lots of humour. There was a boy – story of a boy and his dragon. I mean it had such compelling elements for when you talk about who our audience is. And they have great movies and other things but that was the one that really jumped off the page for us and we said: “Let’s keep an eye on this one. This one really feels good.”
Q: Can you share a little bit about what you will be focusing on in your keynote address at MIPJunior?
A: It’s really about twenty years of Cartoon Network – twenty years of growing, but never growing up. That’s the theme. What that means is we’ve had a twenty year journey but at the end of the day, we have had to think like kids. We can’t grow up too much – we always have to be our demographic, which is 6-11, we have to think like an 8-year-old boy. (laughs) And while kids necessarily have grown up living in different times, they’re still the same. Kids are still kids. They want to play, they want to have friends. But the world around them has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. So I’m going to spend some time talking about what’s different with our audience, what are they thinking about, what’s the same and what’s different about our audience over twenty years. And I will also talk about how we have grown, and kind of how we have approached the business, and the plan of entertaining our audience in the past 20 years as well.
Q: Generally speaking, what is the demand for children’s content these days? Are content providers meeting that demand? What are buyers looking out for and how are sellers supplying that?
A: There is always a reception – the beautiful thing about kids is that they are ever-changing. And the challenge about that is what’s popular today may not be popular tomorrow. (laughs) That’s one of the challenges we all live with and that creates an opportunity for more shows, more entertainment. So I do believe that there is an opportunity for kids programming in today’s world. I think that there are challenges in certain market places but overall it’s still about the creative and thinking about the show and what it brings to the audience and how the audience will react to the show and so forth. And even from that standpoint, there’re different areas of kids programming. We focus on a particular area and we’re just in the entertainment space. We’re not in the pre-school space. And I know many people and many sellers and buyers are in the pre-school space. So in the entertainment space, we’re looking for those characters and stories that resonate with our key demographic, and we think that they’re out there. Also what’s happening today, especially for us, we are looking for the new voices who are talking to this generation of kids. That’s what has been successful by looking at our new wave of comedies. They’re all from the millennia voices of creators, and that’s the voice we want to nurture and continue to grow so that their shows are as successful as they can be.
Q: You were talking about “not growing up”. Within the organisation, how do you then ensure that you are surrounded by people who can generate fresh ideas your target demographic would appreciate.
A: First of all, my head of marketing is 12, my head of programming is 6. (laughs) If only we could do that and have kids running the show. No but the first thing is, on the content side, I’m proud of this – as a company, we’ve always embraced the “anything goes” policy – from content to terms of ideas or a creator walking in and pitching us something. We embrace originality. We want to hear their vision and our job is to help them bring their vision to life. We try to be extremely creator-friendly to get them to build upon their vision and be successful. First and foremost also try to stay out of the way because it’s their story, it’s their characters so we try to do that. that doesn’t mean we don’t help along the way but it’s to ensure that they are successful. And then from the standpoint of once a show is greenlit and ready to go, it’s really just doing our homework about understanding our audience, and everything that we do it we eat, sleep, breathe our audience, and we try to do it as best as we can. And then finally translate that into whatever we’re doing. While we’re very much about being whimsical and funny, we have to be authentic as well.
