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The Week in Germany: Business and Technology November 3, 2006 Super RTL and Viacom vie for German Kids’ Attention with Spongebob Spongebob Schwammkopf, the sea sponge with the angular waistline created by the U.S. children’s television network Nickelodeon, is getting a lot of screen time on German television lately. As Nickelodeon and its better-established local competitor Super RTL (a joint venture between Bertelsmann and Disney) duke it out over Germany’s kids, they are now showing 28 hours of Spongebob per week, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nickelodeon’s parent, Viacom, sold Super RTL the rights to Spongebob to after an attempt at establishing Nickelodeon in Germany failed in 1998. When Viacom took another stab at the German market in 2004 by purchasing a small Cologne TV station, Super RTL held over 30 percent of the market for viewers between three and thirteen, and the network did not want to see Nickelodeon encroach on that territory with Spongebob, one of its popular shows. Nickelodeon’s arrival set off a Spongebob race, with RTL boosting its Spongebob broadcasts to 10 hours a day and Nickelodeon showing eight episodes. Both networks launched elaborate marketing campaigns: RTL sponsored a kid’s election parallel to the national elections in 2005, asking young viewers to choose a Chancellor from among its television characters. Nickelodeon launched a marine attack – a Nickelodeon barge shuttled up and down the Rhine with Nickelodeon characters, including Spongebob, on board. Super RTL still seems to have better brand recognition among kids and
their parents – about five times as many viewers watch Spongebob
on Super RTL as watch it on Nickelodeon. However, Super RTL’s market
share dipped about five points after Nickelodeon arrived in Germany. |
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