Allen Varney
03-18-2008, 04:23 PM
New York Times -- March 18, 2008
Advertising
Online Games by the Hundreds, With Tie-Ins (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/business/media/18adco.html?ex=1363492800&en=78d59ce77ce71d4b&ei=5088
)
By BRIAN STELTER
[...]Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon and MTV, may be moving the most aggressively. On Tuesday, Nickelodeon is expected to announce the first of 600 original and exclusive games for its network of Web sites, as part of a $100 million investment in game development.
“We don’t believe they have enough homework,” joked Cyma Zarghami, the president of the MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon Kids and Family group.
[...]Just how important are games to Nickelodeon’s future? Standing on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan at an annual event for advertisers last Wednesday, Ms. Zarghami began her presentation by gesturing to a giant overhead monitor tinted in the channel’s signature shade of orange. A message promoted the company’s gaming audience: “Over 25 million unique visitors last month.”
[...]With a series of customized sites for different age groups (preschoolers, tweens, teenage boys, moms), Nickelodeon calls itself the “biggest gaming network in the country.” Movie studios, video game publishers, and toy makers are among the top marketers on the sites. In the online games market, its stiffest competition comes from Yahoo Games, which had 15.5 million unique visitors in February according to the measurement firm comScore.
With more than 12 million visitors each, Electronic Arts and Disney.com are also leaders in the arena. (By comparison, Microsoft’s online game network, Xbox Live, has about 10 million members.)
[...]MTV Networks acquired three sites to strengthen its gaming brand in 2005 and 2006. Of the three, Addicting Games is by far the most popular, averaging 9.4 million unique visitors in February, a 50 percent increase over the same month last year, according to comScore.
The site houses hundreds of simple games with names like Max Dirt Bike and Don’t Shoot the Puppy. In the latter, users see how long they can wait before firing a giant cannon at an animated dog. It’s no surprise then that Addicting Games’ intended audience is teenage boys.
Advertising
Online Games by the Hundreds, With Tie-Ins (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/business/media/18adco.html?ex=1363492800&en=78d59ce77ce71d4b&ei=5088
)
By BRIAN STELTER
[...]Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon and MTV, may be moving the most aggressively. On Tuesday, Nickelodeon is expected to announce the first of 600 original and exclusive games for its network of Web sites, as part of a $100 million investment in game development.
“We don’t believe they have enough homework,” joked Cyma Zarghami, the president of the MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon Kids and Family group.
[...]Just how important are games to Nickelodeon’s future? Standing on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan at an annual event for advertisers last Wednesday, Ms. Zarghami began her presentation by gesturing to a giant overhead monitor tinted in the channel’s signature shade of orange. A message promoted the company’s gaming audience: “Over 25 million unique visitors last month.”
[...]With a series of customized sites for different age groups (preschoolers, tweens, teenage boys, moms), Nickelodeon calls itself the “biggest gaming network in the country.” Movie studios, video game publishers, and toy makers are among the top marketers on the sites. In the online games market, its stiffest competition comes from Yahoo Games, which had 15.5 million unique visitors in February according to the measurement firm comScore.
With more than 12 million visitors each, Electronic Arts and Disney.com are also leaders in the arena. (By comparison, Microsoft’s online game network, Xbox Live, has about 10 million members.)
[...]MTV Networks acquired three sites to strengthen its gaming brand in 2005 and 2006. Of the three, Addicting Games is by far the most popular, averaging 9.4 million unique visitors in February, a 50 percent increase over the same month last year, according to comScore.
The site houses hundreds of simple games with names like Max Dirt Bike and Don’t Shoot the Puppy. In the latter, users see how long they can wait before firing a giant cannon at an animated dog. It’s no surprise then that Addicting Games’ intended audience is teenage boys.