Starting Jan. 30, Family Channel’s popular Disney TV shows and original movie sked will also be available on its website at Family.ca.
‘The online interactive world changes daily,’ says Holly Chapman, director, Astral Media Integrated Solutions. ‘It’s a great way to get in front of our partners and say, ‘We’re expanding our portfolio, here are some opportunities that now include Disney content.’ If they’re doing a contest or promotion on air, this allows them to extend it on the Family.ca environment.’
Airing weekly new programming such as Hannah Montana, The Suite Life On Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place, Family Channel is also offering more branded opportunities for promotional partners wishing to target its coveted 8- to 14-year-old demo. Some of Disney’s television properties include High School Musical 2 and Camp Rock.
‘Kids are not fussed about watching online,’ says Chapman. ‘We’ve proven that putting the linear content online actually supports both. As opposed to cannibalizing one or the other, they actually complement each other.’
Opportunities include the traditional billboard space, banner ads, 30-second video pre-roll sell of a product before the show and section sponsorships, for instance, but Chapman says some of the most popular sections are the branded online contests and games.
Partners can adopt a pre-existing game, or Family Channel can create a game for a partner. An example of a previous game partner is Chef Boyardee. ‘They didn’t have a game, so we created one embedding their product, and themed it around the qualities of that product,’ says Chapman. The game was successful, with more than 600,000 game plays, she adds.
Family.ca receives nearly a million unique visitors a month. Chapman says that according to comScore numbers, it’s always among the top five ad-supported kid sites.
