BURBANK, Calif.
- A funny thing happened on the way to remaking the Toon Disney channel into one that catered to "tween" boys: It got a lot more popular with girls.
Perhaps it's because teenagers Hutch Dano and Adam Hicks, the stars of the channel's most popular new show, "Zeke and Luther," exude a goofy innocence in a scrubbed-clean environment.
Whatever the reason, the slightly off-kilter rebranding effort at the channel now called Disney XD highlights a larger problem at The Walt Disney Co.: It has had difficulty winning over young male audiences.
Perhaps it's because teenagers Hutch Dano and Adam Hicks, the stars of the channel's most popular new show, "Zeke and Luther," exude a goofy innocence in a scrubbed-clean environment.
Whatever the reason, the slightly off-kilter rebranding effort at the channel now called Disney XD highlights a larger problem at The Walt Disney Co.: It has had difficulty winning over young male audiences.
Disney announced part of the solution this week, agreeing to buy comic book giant Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the house of Hannah Montana, Cinderella and Pocahontas.
A closer look at Disney's ongoing efforts with the XD channel — where prime-time ratings this summer nearly doubled among boys aged 9 to 14 but tripled among girls the same age — helps explain why the company wanted Marvel's outside firepower in its quest for boy-focused content.
While there's no harm in attracting more girls to the channel, Disney also wants to draw more advertising for boy-focused products like video games and action figure toys.
That might have taken years on its own. Now Marvel is expected to bring more superhero power to Disney XD, adding to the 20 hours per week that Marvel content already runs on the network.
That could be a big boost at Disney's cable division, which includes ESPN, the Disney Channel and ABC Family, and is increasingly important for the company, especially as DVD sales sag. The cable networks account for more than a quarter of Disney's revenue and more than half of its profit, and have launched some of Disney's biggest stars.
But going after a more male audience is a tough slog. Boys are fickle. They demand authenticity and appreciate a snarky sense of humor, while at other times, they just want to immerse themselves in fantasy worlds and animation.
Rich Ross, president of Disney Channels Worldwide, said the goal of rebranding Toon Disney as Disney XD was always "to create this destination for boys that is still inclusive of girls."
And the shift has already helped bring in some new ads.
Electronic Arts Inc. boosted its advertising spending about 30 percent this year on Disney XD after its switch, mainly to advertise kid-friendly video games such as "MySims Racing" and "Madden NFL 10."
Higher ratings and more girl viewers should help sell more games, said Amber Mayo, EA's director of media strategy.
"It's not unexpected that we're seeing XD pop up with more girl numbers. That's great for us. That's a bonus to me," she said.
The openness to girls was part of the design of "Zeke and Luther," according to executive producer Matt Dearborn. Amid their tomfoolery, the lead characters sometimes turn to the camera to agonize over decisions, expressing self-doubt in a way that is reassuring to girl audiences, he said.
"There's a vulnerability behind their bravado and swagger," Dearborn said after a recent writers' session. "For a girl viewer, I think they feel like they're getting a peek into `the secret world of boys.'"
A closer look at Disney's ongoing efforts with the XD channel — where prime-time ratings this summer nearly doubled among boys aged 9 to 14 but tripled among girls the same age — helps explain why the company wanted Marvel's outside firepower in its quest for boy-focused content.
While there's no harm in attracting more girls to the channel, Disney also wants to draw more advertising for boy-focused products like video games and action figure toys.
That might have taken years on its own. Now Marvel is expected to bring more superhero power to Disney XD, adding to the 20 hours per week that Marvel content already runs on the network.
That could be a big boost at Disney's cable division, which includes ESPN, the Disney Channel and ABC Family, and is increasingly important for the company, especially as DVD sales sag. The cable networks account for more than a quarter of Disney's revenue and more than half of its profit, and have launched some of Disney's biggest stars.
But going after a more male audience is a tough slog. Boys are fickle. They demand authenticity and appreciate a snarky sense of humor, while at other times, they just want to immerse themselves in fantasy worlds and animation.
Rich Ross, president of Disney Channels Worldwide, said the goal of rebranding Toon Disney as Disney XD was always "to create this destination for boys that is still inclusive of girls."
And the shift has already helped bring in some new ads.
Electronic Arts Inc. boosted its advertising spending about 30 percent this year on Disney XD after its switch, mainly to advertise kid-friendly video games such as "MySims Racing" and "Madden NFL 10."
Higher ratings and more girl viewers should help sell more games, said Amber Mayo, EA's director of media strategy.
"It's not unexpected that we're seeing XD pop up with more girl numbers. That's great for us. That's a bonus to me," she said.
The openness to girls was part of the design of "Zeke and Luther," according to executive producer Matt Dearborn. Amid their tomfoolery, the lead characters sometimes turn to the camera to agonize over decisions, expressing self-doubt in a way that is reassuring to girl audiences, he said.
"There's a vulnerability behind their bravado and swagger," Dearborn said after a recent writers' session. "For a girl viewer, I think they feel like they're getting a peek into `the secret world of boys.'"
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