She said NBCUniversal wanted to create an “umbrella brand” for its family offerings — television cartoons made by
the Universal-owned DreamWorks Animation, Universal-Illumination films and attractions at Universal theme parks.
They want more than the same sitcoms.”
At its start, Universal Kids will also show reruns of DreamWorks Animation cartoons like
“All Hail King Julien,” which is connected to the “Madagascar” movie franchise.
“Reality programming is a real white space in the U. S. children’s market — food, pets,
dancing, even news,” said Ms. Brennan, who will be general manager of Universal Kids.
Starting on Sept. 9, NBCUniversal will turn one of its smallest cable properties, Sprout,
into a network called Universal Kids, said Deirdre Brennan, who will oversee the effort.
Ms. Hammer added that the goal was to create “an even richer entertainment experience and a new strategic business model.”
Continuing as it is now would have been perilous for Sprout, which has low ratings and reaches only about 59 million homes in the United States.
Viacom’s Nickelodeon held steady among viewers 2 through 11 in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago,
but Time Warner’s Cartoon Network fell 15 percent, according to Todd Juenger, a media analyst at Sanford Bernstein.