ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200009 SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO DATELINE: NEW YORK SOURCE: DAVID BAUDER ASSOCIATED PRESS
The waiting room outside Nickelodeon's Manhattan office is clogged with toddlers, their mothers pulling hair into pigtails or watching young legs run in circles by the elevator.
A security guard marvels that the network's receptionist manages to maintain a smile amidst the din.
Despite the appearance, children don't really run the place. They're waiting their turn for a tryout on the popular ``Blue's Clues'' show.
Yet, in a sense, children ARE in control here. Nickelodeon is convinced that listening to young people's ideas and not being afraid to take chances has made the network the dominating force in children's television.
Nick has pulled into a tie this television season with Fox in average ratings for viewers aged 2-11, beating other competitors such as ABC, CBS, UPN, the WB, the Cartoon Network and Disney. Only Nickelodeon and UPN have gained viewers from last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Given that Nickelodeon is a cable network available in only two-thirds of the nation's homes, that's impressive.
Given that Nick is 17 years old and is devoted almost exclusively to children's programming - with the exception of nighttime reruns of old sitcoms - that's a little less impressive.
What took them so long? Nickelodeon had to learn something from the tykes who compose its audience.
Awash in programming like puppet shows a decade ago, Nick surveyed viewers with this humiliating result: Children considered Nick to be their parents' idea of what kids wanted to watch on TV - the ultimate kiss of death, said Herb Scannell, network president.
``We really started talking to kids and kids became the barometer of everything Nick does,'' Scannell said. The network runs about 200 focus groups a year and communicates frequently with viewers by computer.
The result, coupled with a commitment to produce new shows, has led to something of a golden era for Nick. Among its top shows: ``Rugrats,'' a cartoon featuring a baby's eye-view of an adult world; ``Kenan & Kel,'' a buddy series featuring two teens; ``The Secret World of Alex Mack,'' about a 13-year-old girl with superpowers; and ``Blue's Clues,'' which challenges preschoolers to solve puzzles with a mix of live action and computer animation.
Of the 20 highest-rated series on cable television last year, 17 were on Nickelodeon, Nielsen said. Its most recent weekly roster gave Nick 11 of the Top 15 programs.
``They make very unusual programs that break the mold. They aren't violent and they aren't stereotyped,'' said Amy Jordan, a senior researcher on childrens' television at the University of Pennsylvania and mother of children aged 8, 3 and 2.
Nick keenly recognizes the differences in what each age group wants from television, she said. Knowing that preschoolers like activities that keep them stimulated, the host of ``Blue's Clues'' talks to them and asks questions, she said.
A show like ``Hey Arnold!'' recognizes that older children are concerned about peer pressure and the mysteries of the adult world, she said.
Nickelodeon has also smartly set its schedule to carve out a niche. New episodes of programs are shown on Sunday mornings - not Saturdays in direct competition with other networks - and are rerun on Saturdays and after school.
Repetition has helped build a loyal audience.
Last fall, Nick began running original children's programming at 8 p.m. seven nights a week. With shows like ``Friends'' talking about orgasms at that hour, Scannell said the networks had pretty much abandoned the idea of family hour.
``That was a sign to me that kids don't matter, because these aren't the shows that kids are going to access,'' he said.
Nick is now the top-rated network among children aged 2-11 on four nights a week, he said.
Nickelodeon's success is affecting what other networks do. Some networks are seeking a special niche; struggling CBS said it will specifically target preteens. Scannell's predecessor, Geraldine Laybourne, was hired by ABC.
In general, though, it has proved that children's television can be a profitable venture, a far cry from the 1980s - when the genre was filled with unimaginative shows modeled after toys or movies.
The network's success can only help increase the number of choices for children, said Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education, a Washington think tank.
The danger is that a quest for profits will become so strong that it squeezes out the incentive for innovation, Montgomery said. She's already disappointed with the programming lineups introduced by networks for next fall.
Nickelodeon can be expected to keep coming with the original fare. Viacom, its corporate parent, recently announced it was sinking $420 million into series development, which should produce a dozen new shows over the next five years, Scannell said.
Perhaps even better than the ratings, a telling sign of Nickelodeon's consistent quality came in a survey Jordan and her colleagues at the Annenberg School for Communication conducted last year.
Asked to name some of their favorite programs for their children, many parents simply said, ``Nickelodeon,'' she said.
``Over the years they have really evolved into almost a safe island for parents,'' she said.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. ``Kids became the barometer of everything Nickby CNBdoes,'' says Herb Scannell, president of the 17-year-old cable
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