Disney Channel was quick to recognize females would put their money where “liberation” appeared signifying that third-wave ideals of girl power are related to consumer power. Rather than use girl power as a true political stance, Disney Channel used it as an industrial strategy to cultivate their audience and justify the commodification of young females and the prioritization of consumption over substance. Having now established the feministic atmosphere that would allow for this decade of programming to thrive, this chapter addresses how the network spoke to young girl audiences as consumers.
Cognizant of the buying power and influence it has over the tween demographic, Disney Channel, a powerful transmedia conglomerate, asserts its oligarchic …show more content…
This chapter also contains a brief history of Disney Channel but does so in the context of consumer culture by focusing on the aggressive marketing of Disney programs and affiliated products through a broad network of dissemination to young consumers. Establishing gendered messages occurs not merely in the programs girls are watching, but in branded merchandise related to the program; therefore, Disney Channel’s branding and merchandising strategies as they relate to capturing the tween girl demographic as consumers will be discussed. Paratexts have “considerable power to amplify, reduce, erase, or add meaning [to] much of the textuality that exists in the world” (Gray 46) since these elements are not to be considered peripheral, but rather add to the overall construction and reception of contemporary popular culture. The initial success of a single product or character leads to long-term franchising—a dynamic process in which girl culture is produced across television, film, games, and other products to capture girl …show more content…
Sweeney and new network head Geraldine Laybourne (formerly with Nickelodeon) wanted to further separate Disney from its main competition: Nickelodeon (Pomerantz 44). After speaking with children and families who revealed they wanted to spend more time together, they decided Disney would not only continue to segment its day to cater to different ages—especially tweens—but allow for more of the tween programming to still be appealing to adults as well so families could watch together throughout the day (Selznick 124, Sterngold N.P.). Sweeney helped spearhead original shows like Lizzie McGuire to accomplish this goal and further overcome the network’s dilemma regarding competition from other networks like Nickelodeon who had been successfully focusing on girls with programs like The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998) and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996-1999) (Boorstein 112). Lizzie McGuire was focused on a family, but the series, a mix of live-action and animation to capture kids young and old, centered on a tween girl and ended up capturing the tween girl demo more than it did entire families. The “Lizzie McGuire following” consisted of 2.3 million viewers (Huff, 2002, 41) in
Cognizant of the buying power and influence it has over the tween demographic, Disney Channel, a powerful transmedia conglomerate, asserts its oligarchic …show more content…
This chapter also contains a brief history of Disney Channel but does so in the context of consumer culture by focusing on the aggressive marketing of Disney programs and affiliated products through a broad network of dissemination to young consumers. Establishing gendered messages occurs not merely in the programs girls are watching, but in branded merchandise related to the program; therefore, Disney Channel’s branding and merchandising strategies as they relate to capturing the tween girl demographic as consumers will be discussed. Paratexts have “considerable power to amplify, reduce, erase, or add meaning [to] much of the textuality that exists in the world” (Gray 46) since these elements are not to be considered peripheral, but rather add to the overall construction and reception of contemporary popular culture. The initial success of a single product or character leads to long-term franchising—a dynamic process in which girl culture is produced across television, film, games, and other products to capture girl …show more content…
Sweeney and new network head Geraldine Laybourne (formerly with Nickelodeon) wanted to further separate Disney from its main competition: Nickelodeon (Pomerantz 44). After speaking with children and families who revealed they wanted to spend more time together, they decided Disney would not only continue to segment its day to cater to different ages—especially tweens—but allow for more of the tween programming to still be appealing to adults as well so families could watch together throughout the day (Selznick 124, Sterngold N.P.). Sweeney helped spearhead original shows like Lizzie McGuire to accomplish this goal and further overcome the network’s dilemma regarding competition from other networks like Nickelodeon who had been successfully focusing on girls with programs like The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998) and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996-1999) (Boorstein 112). Lizzie McGuire was focused on a family, but the series, a mix of live-action and animation to capture kids young and old, centered on a tween girl and ended up capturing the tween girl demo more than it did entire families. The “Lizzie McGuire following” consisted of 2.3 million viewers (Huff, 2002, 41) in