After a sucessful fall season, Kids' WB! has placed orders for next
season for five of its animated series, Kids' WB! executive vice president Donna Friedman Meir said.
Three of the series -- Ozzy & Drix, Mucha Lucha! and What's New
Scooby-Doo? -- are new this year and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, also
owned by AOL Time Warner Inc.
The other two, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon, are veterans, with
Yu-Gi-Oh! in its second season and Pokemon in its fifth.
Both those shows are from 4Kids Productions.
"These early pickups are testament to our confidence and appreciation of the
wonderful creative teams behind each of these shows," Friedman Meir said.
"These series will be the anchor for what we expect to be another winning
season," she added.
So far this year, Kids' WB! has repeatedly beat cable kids' leader Nickelodeon
in boys six through 11, tweens nine through 14 and male tweens nine through 14.
The shows also have performed well for Kids' WB! on Saturday mornings, when
The WB Television Network broadcasts its kids' lineup from 8 a.m. to noon on the East Coast and 7
a.m. to 11 a.m. on the West Coast.
Kids' WB! also appears from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week.
"The fact that we beat market-leader Nickelodeon head-to-head in their core
business speaks to the strength of the Kids' WB! brand, the quality of the shows
and the underlying advantages of broadcast television. Together with Cartoon
Network, AOL Time Warner kids' properties now provide kids and advertisers with
their best alternative to Nickelodeon,' said Jed Petrick, president and chief operating officer of
The WB.
