Meet And Greet Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" At Westfield London On Thursday 21st February 2013!

Nickelodeon UK and Ireland has announced the exciting Nickelodeon UK News in Tweet (post) on their official Twitter profile page (@NickelodeonUK) that, to celebrate the UK's school's February half-term holiday break, Nickelodeon Stars Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo, from Nickelodeon's brand new CGI-Animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series, will be visiting and holding a special guest appearance at the Westfield London Shopping Centre located in White City, London, United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on Thursday 21st February 2013, where TMNT fans can meet and greet their Heroes in a Half Shell! To avoid disappointment, this is a wristband only event, with fans advised to collect their FREE meet and greet wristband from 9am on Tuesday 19th February. Wristbands will be issued on a first come basis, whilst stocks last, so please visit Westfield Derby early to avoid disappointment!:

Turtles @ Westfield -London Ariel Way tomorrow! 10am-2pm. Wristband only event - get one @ Westfield from 9am on the day!

Also, from the 'Kids Half Term Activities at Westfield London - Ninja Turtles Meet & Greet' webpage on the official Westfield London website:

Ninja Turtles Meet & Greet


Calling all Ninja Turtles fans! Here’s your chance to meet the Turtles at 10, 11, 12, 1 or 2pm. Don’t miss out – collect your free wristband from the Atrium desk from 9am on the day of the event. Wristbands will be given out on a first come first serve basis, so please arrive early to avoid disappointment

In-Cinema Advertising Giant Screenvision Adds Nickelodeon Veterans To Its Sales And Marketing Team Underscoring The Powerful TV And In-Cinema Ad Combo

Below is a Screenvision Press Release from PRNewswire about Nickelodeon staff veterans Jim Tricarico, Katy Loria (former Senior Vice President of Digital Sales and Marketing for Nickelodeon) and Lisa O'Keefe:

In-Cinema Advertising Giant Screenvision Adds Television Veterans To Its Sales and Marketing Team Underscoring The Powerful TV And In-Cinema Ad Combo

NEW HIRES LED BY LONGTIME MTV NETWORKS VETERAN KATY LORIA JOINING AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AD SALES

NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Tricarico, Screenvision's recently appointed Chief Revenue Officer, along with John McCauley , Senior Vice President, Marketing, are continuing to augment their sales and marketing teams with the addition of four new executives to their advertising sales and marketing teams.

Fresh from a long stint at Nickelodeon, the latest successful stop in his three-decade career in media sales and management, Tricarico today announces a pair of key staff additions, led by longtime MTV sales veteran Katy Loria joining as Senior Vice President, National Sales and Lisa O'Keefe as Account Executive. McCauley has added former Turner Broadcast veteran Matt Arden aboard as Vice President, Creative Director as well as Time Warner and Current TV veteran Darren Finnie as Vice President, Ad Sales Marketing.

"There is no doubt that there are powerful benefits of combining television ad buys with cinema advertising. Screenvision has significant opportunities to enhance these benefits," begins Tricarico. "To help clients capitalize on this opportunity, we've brought aboard what we think is a true powerhouse of senior level advertising sales, marketing and creative talent to the organization. We think our new team can get the biggest agencies and brands to understand the many benefits of combining in-cinema with their broadcast buys, so it becomes a requisite of any comprehensive video-centric media plan."

Screenvision's new Senior Vice President Katy Loria comes to Screenvision with nearly twenty years of experience in media sales, with eighteen spent at Viacom Networks. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President of Digital Sales and Marketing for Nickelodeon where she headed the digital advertising sales efforts for Nick's suite of sites, including Nick.com and NickJr.com. Loria previously served as Vice President of TV Ad Sales and Marketing, where she reported into Tricarico, and her consultative sales team developed media and marketing solutions for dozens of blue chip advertisers. Also coming on board as Account Executive is Lisa O'Keefe, formerly of Viacom, another veteran of Tricarico's team, where she spent eleven years in sales roles at MTV and Nickelodeon.

McCauley will bolster Screenvision marketing efforts with additions of Finnie and Arden. Darren Finnie joins the company as the Vice President, Ad Sales and Marketing, whose prior experience includes Turner Broadcast, Current TV, Time Warner and CNBC. Matt Arden joins as Vice President, Creative Director, whose prior experience includes eleven years at Turner Broadcast in a number of creative roles, with Turner Sports and Turner Entertainment creating on-air and digital solutions for advertisers. Since 2011, Arden has been with Maggie Vision Productions working on creative for ESPN, including The ESPYs and NFL Honors.
McCauley added, "With the enthusiasm and momentum to include cinema as part of the overall video ad mix, Darren and Matt are welcome additions as we not only generate excitement amongst brands and agencies for Screenvision, but generate compelling and creative marketing solutions."

ABOUT SCREENVISION

Headquartered in New York, N.Y., Screenvision is a national leader in cinema advertising, offering on-screen advertising, in-lobby promotions and integrated marketing programs to national, regional and local advertisers and providing comprehensive cinema advertising representation services to top tier theatrical exhibitors presenting the highest quality moviegoing experience. The Screenvision cinema advertising network is comprised of over 14,300 screens in 2,300+ theater locations across all 50 states and 94% of DMAs nationwide; delivering through more than 150 theatrical circuits, including 6 of the top 10 exhibitor companies. For more information: http://www.screenvision.com.

Media Contacts:

Kaitlin Lindsey / Jacky Agudelo – Cataldi PR, 212.244.9797 kaitlin@cataldipr.com
jacky@cataldipr.com

Caroline Kasabian – Screenvision, 212.497.0453 ckasabian@screenvision.com

SOURCE Screenvision

RELATED LINKS
http://www.screenvision.com.

Nickelodeon And Viacom Consumer Products Strengthens Licensing Activity In Russia And CIS

The children's entertainment and media news website Kidscreen is reporting the Nickelodeon News in the following article that Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) has added its first Moscow-based licensing executive as the company looks to drive more brand extension in Russia and CIS. Petia Toncheva will step into the role of senior licensing manager for Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and will manage and develop licensing programs across the Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV portfolios for those regions. As part of her job, Toncheva will work directly with retailers and licensees and with VIMN's Russian licensing agent, Riki Group. She will be charged with ramping up the consumer products licensing business for stand-out new properties such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Bubble Guppies" as well as evergreens "Dora the Explorer" and "SpongeBob SquarePants". She joins from cosmetic brands and licensing firm Clever Company in Moscow:

Nickelodeon strengthens licensing activity in Russia

Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products has added its first Moscow-based licensing executive as the company looks to drive more brand extension in Russia and CIS. Petia Toncheva will step into the role of senior licensing manager for Russia and CIS and will manage and develop licensing programs across the Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV portfolios for those regions.

Toncheva will work directly with retailers and licensees and with VIMN’s Russian licensing agent, Riki Group. She will be charged with ramping up the consumer products licensing business for stand-out new properties such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bubble Guppies as well as evergreens Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Toncheva joins NVCP from cosmetic brands and licensing company Clever Company in Moscow, where she headed up the licensing direction of the business as marketing and licensing consultant.

Tags: Licensing, Nickelodeon Consumer Products, Petia Toncheva, Russia

Middle Eastern Kids' Channel MBC3 Acquires FTA Broadcast Rights To More Popular Nickelodeon Series For Programming Block; Nickelodeon And Viacom Consumer Products Names Petia Toncheva As Senior Licensing Manager For Russia And CIS

The entertainment news website C21Media is reporting the Nickelodeon News that MBC3 in the Middle East has renewed its block deal for Nickelodeon programming and has also picked up the free-to-air rights for number of new animated and live-action Nickelodeon series.

Under the renewal deal with Viacom International Media Networks, the Middle Eastern free-to-air children's channel will continue to air Nickelodeon content on weekdays for one hour of preschool in the morning, 90 minutes of animation and live-action in the afternoon, plus a maximum of two hours of live-action in the evening.

New animated pick-ups for the Middle East channel include season one of CGI series "Robot & Monster", seasons one and two of preschool series "Bubble Guppies", Russian animation "Kikoriki", season one of "Planet Sheen" (the spin-off of "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius") and season one of "Legend of Korra".

Among the live-action titles in the latest Nickelodeon block are "Fred: The Show", "Supah Ninjas" season one and "The Troop", seasons one and two. MBC3 has taken 520 episodes of Nickelodeon content per year since 2010:

C21Media is also reporting the Nick News in the same article that Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products has named Petia Toncheva as senior licensing manager for Russia and CIS. She joins from cosmetic brands and licensing firm Clever Company in Moscow:

Nick deals in Mid-East

MBC3 in the Middle East has renewed its block deal for Nickelodeon programming and bagged a number of new animated and live-action series.

Under the renewal with Viacom International Media Networks, the free-to-air channel will continue to air Nickelodeon content on weekdays for one hour of preschool in the morning, 90 minutes of animation and live-action in the afternoon, plus a maximum of two hours of live-action in the evening.

New animated pick-ups for the Middle East channel include season one of CGI series Robot & Monster, seasons one and two of preschooler Bubble Guppies, Russian animation Kikoriki, season one of Planet Sheen and season one of Legend of Korra.

Among the live-action titles in the latest Nickelodeon block are Fred: The Show, Supah Ninjas season one and The Troop, seasons one and two. MBC3 has taken 520 episodes of Nickelodeon content per year since 2010.

Elsewhere in the Middle East region, pay-TV broadcaster OSN has picked up Comedy Central properties including Daily Show with Jon Stewart, daily and global editions of The Colbert Report, plus South Park season 15.

In other news, Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products has named Petia Toncheva as senior licensing manager for Russia and CIS. She joins from cosmetic brands and licensing firm Clever Company in Moscow.

C21 reporter
20-02-2013
©C21Media

SHOWS: Bubble Guppies, Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Fred: The Show, Kikoriki, Legend of Korra, Planet Sheen, Robot & Monster, South Park, Supah Ninjas, The Colbert Report
COMPANIES: MBC3, OSN, Viacom International Media Networks
SECTIONS: C21Kids
COUNTRIES: Middle East

Nickelodeon Acquires Global Pay-TV Rights For Canada's Breakthrough Entertainment's New Animated Series "Rocket Monkeys"

The entertainment news website C21Media is reporting the Nickelodeon News that Nickelodeon has picked up the pay-TV broadcast rights to the brand new animated comedy series "Rocket Monkeys" for the networks US and international channels (Planet Nickelodeon / Planet Orange) and will start to launch the show from Spring 2013! "Rocket Monkeys" is a new 26 episode x 26 minute cartoon that is produced by Canada's Breakthrough Entertainment in association with Teletoon Canada and animation studio Atomic Cartoons.

Nick's new comedy animation Rocket Monkeys follows the adventures of two monkey astronauts and their robot sidekick. "Rocket Monkeys" was created by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson, and developed by Alex Galatis and Mark Evestaff (also the show's producer). Executive producers include Ira Levy, Joan Lambur and Peter Williamson. Partial funding for Rocket Monkeys was provided by Shaw Rocket Fund.

Toronto-based Breakthrough is also developing a trio of online games to go with the series, "Monkeys vs Gorillas", "Monkey Business" and "Monkeys on a Mission":

Global pay deal for Monkeys

Rocket Monkeys, the new comedy animation from Canada’s Breakthrough Entertainment, has secured a global pay-TV deal for a launch this spring.

Rocket Monkeys
Nickelodeon has stepped up to acquire the 26x26′ toon for its US and international channels. The series is produced by Breakthrough in association with Teletoon Canada and animation studio Atomic Cartoons.

“Rocket Monkeys is a great fit for our global network, a funny, energetic, laugh-out-loud comedy that we are confident our audiences around the world will love,” said Jules Borkent, senior VP of global acquisitions and international programming, Nickelodeon.

The show was created by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson, and developed by Alex Galatis and Mark Evestaff (also the show’s producer). Executive producers include Ira Levy, Joan Lambur and Peter Williamson. Partial funding for Rocket Monkeys was provided by Shaw Rocket Fund.

Rocket Monkeys follows the adventures of two monkey astronauts and their robot sidekick. Toronto-based Breakthrough is also developing a trio of online games to go with the series, the first titled Monkeys vs Gorillas.

C21 reporter
20-02-2013
©C21Media

SHOWS: Rocket Monkeys
PEOPLE: Jules Borkent
COMPANIES: Breakthrough Entertainment, Nickelodeon, Teletoon
SECTIONS: C21Kids
COUNTRIES: Canada

Also, from Kidscreen:

Nickelodeon hops on Rocket Monkeys

Canada’s Breakthrough Entertainment has inked a worldwide broadcast deal for animated comedy Rocket Monkeys with Nickelodeon (including the US) for a launch this spring.


The recently launched animated property, which is also the focus of a series of online games, is produced by Breakthrough in association with Teletoon Canada and animation studio Atomic Cartoons. The series (26×30) introduces the universe to brothers Gus and Wally, two hapless “monkeynauts” who cause more intergalactic calamity than they could ever prevent as they pursue important missions.

The show is created by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson, and developed by Alex Galatis and Mark Evestaff (who also serves as the show’s producer).

Its Breakthrough exec producers include Joan Lambur, Peter Williamson and company co-managing director Ira Levy. Partial funding for Rocket Monkeys is provided by the Shaw Rocket Fund.

From Playback Online

Tags: Breakthrough Entertainment, Nickelodeon, Rocket Monkeys

Nickelodeon Announces Plans To Release The Networks First iPad iOS App On Thursday 21st February 2013; To Launch Nick Jr. iPad App During Fall 2013

The New York Times is reporting the Nickelodeon News in the following article that the worlds number one children's brand will be launching their first brand new iPad app in North America on the Apple iOS app store on Thursday 21st February 2013! Nickelodeon's new iPad app, called the "Nick" app, is the first attempt by a Viacom channel at TV Everywhere, and is designed to be a "ginormous grid of everything Nick". The Nick app features free games, interactive polls and slide shows floating featuring popular Nickelodeon characters against a bright Nickelodeon orange background, plus also has the option to allows users to purchase a subscription to watch full-length episodes of Nickelodeon shows on tablet devices, including the last five episodes of series like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Big Time Rush" and "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness." This fall, Nickelodeon will also introduce a separate app for Nick Jr. viewers and fans intended to serve as an "interactive play date" for its preschool-age audience.

Speaking about Nickelodeon's new iPad app, Cyma Zarghami, the president of Nickelodeon and MTV Networks' Kids & Family Group, said the Nick app could help the channel develop new series and stars, based on which clips, actors and characters drew the most attention. Nickelodeon commissioned 12 short films for the app, including one called "Dance Party in a Port-A-Potty" that featured meerkats partying in a portable restroom. Nickelodeon has greenlighted five for the channel. "Our aim is to get more content faster," Ms. Zarghami said:

Nickelodeon Hopes Its App Wins Hearts

Nickelodeon has spent the last two years asking 9- and 10-year-olds what they want to watch on the iPad. The result: Very little actual television.

The Nick app features free games, interactive polls and slide shows floating against a bright orange background.
That response posed a problem and an opportunity for Nickelodeon, a top-rated children’s cable channel that is home to “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Victorious” and “iCarly.” Instead of simply making its programs available on tablets, Nickelodeon designed its first app as a noisy, colorful smorgasbord of animated clips, irreverent music videos and the occasional deluge of the network’s trademark green slime. Or, as Nickelodeon executives describe it, the app is designed to be a “ginormous grid of everything Nick.”

As fun as it is supposed to be for children, the Nick app has serious implications for its parent company, Viacom, and for the entire television distribution business. The app represents the first attempt by a Viacom channel at TV Everywhere — the concept that paying customers can stream live and on-demand shows on all devices — that many television executives hope will keep viewers tied to their cable and satellite contracts. It is expected to be available in the Apple App Store on Thursday.

The Nick app features free games, interactive polls and slide shows floating against a bright orange background. A less obvious feature also allows users to watch full-length Nickelodeon shows on tablets as long as they (or, more likely, their parents) authenticate that they are paying subscribers.

Nick arrives late to the app store. A main rival, Disney, already offers authenticated apps for the Disney Channel and Disney Junior that allow children to stream shows like “Good Luck Charlie” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and to participate in interactive “appisodes.”

Cyma Zarghami, president of the Nickelodeon Group, said she preferred to wait until the cable channel had more information about how its audience used mobile devices. Research showed children preferred to play games and watch short clips on apps, rather than catch up on complete episodes. Nickelodeon already has individual branded games available as apps.

“TV Everywhere is a given. It’s not special anymore,” Ms. Zarghami said. “Being first wasn’t important to us. We took our time to combine these two ideas” of interactive games and snippets of shows.

A brief video instructs children to “grab an adult” to enter a password that shows they subscribe to Nickelodeon before gaining access to the last five episodes of series like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Big Time Rush” and “Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.” This fall, Nickelodeon will introduce a separate app for Nick Jr. intended to serve as an “interactive play date” for its preschool-age audience.

Nickelodeon’s strategy — based on extras rather than episodes — signals how Viacom may approach apps for its other cable channels, including MTV, Comedy Central and VH1. Until this week, Viacom had not introduced authenticated apps for its channels, unlike Time Warner’s HBO and its popular HBO Go app.

“This is a creative sandbox for kids but it’s also a creative sandbox for the company,” said Steve Youngwood, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president for digital.

The Nick app represents an evolution in Viacom’s thinking about its audience. Nickelodeon has long been a powerhouse in children’s programming, but its ratings suddenly plunged in 2011. Viacom in part blamed Nielsen for not counting children who streamed shows via “unmeasured platforms” like Netflix. (The company also conceded that it had aging series like “SpongeBob” and “iCarly”.)

Viewers who watch shows on the Nick app will not be counted in ratings data, but the cable channel can at least sell advertisements. Nickelodeon will introduce the app to marketers at its upfront next week in New York.

The introduction of the Nick app comes as the channel’s ratings are slowly climbing back after the unexpected plunge that started in 2011. A daily average of 2.9 million viewers ages 2 to 11 watched Nickelodeon this month, up 12 percent from February 2012, according to Nielsen.

Ms. Zarghami said the Nick app could help the channel develop new series and stars, based on which clips, actors and characters drew the most attention. Nickelodeon commissioned 12 short films for the app, including one called “Dance Party in a Port-A-Potty” that featured meerkats partying in a portable restroom. Nickelodeon has greenlighted five for the channel. “Our aim is to get more content faster,” Ms. Zarghami said.

Tablet use among children 11 years old and younger is projected to grow faster than almost any other age group. Half of households in the United States with children own a tablet and 70 percent have some sort of smart device, according to Nickelodeon’s research.

“The tablet has come of age particularly among our audience,” Mr. Youngwood said.

Nickelodeon has struck deals with eight cable or satellite providers including Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Cablevision and DirecTV to make the streaming feature of its Nick app available in nearly 50 million homes. The nonstreaming offerings will be available to viewers who do not subscribe to those companies.

Paul Verna, a senior analyst at eMarketer, said the authentication model could pose challenges for Viacom. He pointed to the media company’s dispute with DirecTV this last summer, which prompted the satellite provider to suspend Viacom’s channels.

“How do you explain to a little kid that your friend on Comcast can watch Nick Jr. and ‘iCarly’ on their iPad but you can’t?” Mr. Verna said.