Adem422
01-09-2015, 01:02 AM
Nick At Nite 30th Anniversary Interviews -
Iv been getting a hold of and talking to current and former Nick At Nite staff, vice presidents, etc.
So I was wondering some questions to ask them and i already have a few in mind. So really hoping to hear from everyone Thanks!
These will either be a shoot and uploaded to YouTube or Q&A Print and posted on a blog or my Facebook page.
This from Tom Hill
https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_100_100/p/3/000/007/336/2081b2f.jpg
He is currently VP/Creative Director at TV Land
What was your position at Nick At Nite?
I was a freelance writer on some Nick at Nite projects as early as 1987, but it was 1989 when I joined the staff as a writer in the on-air promos group – which at that time was a single group that did both Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. I later became editorial director and VP of Creative. I became a sort of head writer for marketing and promotions, both with Nick at Nite and TV Land, and finally exclusively for TV Land.
Do You think since Nick At Nite was so successful and has been around for 30 years, Will it continue to be successful and be around for many years to come or even another 30 years?
It is increasingly difficult to know what will happen next in the world of television. But so long as people are watching television, I think there will always be a desire to revisit the shows you “grew up with” – whatever those particular shows are. In fact, the same will probably be true of video games, websites – just has it been true of music, movies and TV.
What was it like behind the scenes at Nick At Nite?
It was lots of fun as you can imagine. Frankly, there were low expectations from a business perspective. The acquired shows were perceived to be more or less “past their prime” and it was considered a small miracle that would could get anyone to watch old reruns of Donna Reed or Mr. Ed, much less build a fan base and a powerful advertising brand. There were lots of talented and smart people working for Nick at Nite and we has some core values that really made it work. We never took the shows too seriously, but we never treated them derisively either. We always walked that line. We all knew they were ephemeral pop culture – and always treated them like nothing was more important or worth analyzing.
Nick At Nite was so successful from 1985 to 1995 that in 1996 it got its own TV channel known as TV Land. Did that bring more success to Nick At Nite and was TV Land the reason Nick At Nite starting changing in the early from 2000's 50's, 60's, and 70's to 80's, 90's, and 2000's shows?
TV Land was indeed the heir to most of the core ideas born at Nick at Nite. As for the programming – it isn’t easy to generalize, there were lots of different managers, all with constantly shifting goals, large research teams informing the decisions and so on. But certainly, Nick at Nite and TV Land carved out different territory with distinct branding and audiences. Nick at Nite remained attached to Nickelodeon and that had a natural impact. TV land was independent and 24 hours. TV Land continued for years to air classic TV, but today – with the media world in flux and content available in so many different ways and places ¬– TV Land is moving on to become a channel focused exclusively on creating original comedy.
I should be getting more from him and others!!
Iv been getting a hold of and talking to current and former Nick At Nite staff, vice presidents, etc.
So I was wondering some questions to ask them and i already have a few in mind. So really hoping to hear from everyone Thanks!
These will either be a shoot and uploaded to YouTube or Q&A Print and posted on a blog or my Facebook page.
This from Tom Hill
https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_100_100/p/3/000/007/336/2081b2f.jpg
He is currently VP/Creative Director at TV Land
What was your position at Nick At Nite?
I was a freelance writer on some Nick at Nite projects as early as 1987, but it was 1989 when I joined the staff as a writer in the on-air promos group – which at that time was a single group that did both Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. I later became editorial director and VP of Creative. I became a sort of head writer for marketing and promotions, both with Nick at Nite and TV Land, and finally exclusively for TV Land.
Do You think since Nick At Nite was so successful and has been around for 30 years, Will it continue to be successful and be around for many years to come or even another 30 years?
It is increasingly difficult to know what will happen next in the world of television. But so long as people are watching television, I think there will always be a desire to revisit the shows you “grew up with” – whatever those particular shows are. In fact, the same will probably be true of video games, websites – just has it been true of music, movies and TV.
What was it like behind the scenes at Nick At Nite?
It was lots of fun as you can imagine. Frankly, there were low expectations from a business perspective. The acquired shows were perceived to be more or less “past their prime” and it was considered a small miracle that would could get anyone to watch old reruns of Donna Reed or Mr. Ed, much less build a fan base and a powerful advertising brand. There were lots of talented and smart people working for Nick at Nite and we has some core values that really made it work. We never took the shows too seriously, but we never treated them derisively either. We always walked that line. We all knew they were ephemeral pop culture – and always treated them like nothing was more important or worth analyzing.
Nick At Nite was so successful from 1985 to 1995 that in 1996 it got its own TV channel known as TV Land. Did that bring more success to Nick At Nite and was TV Land the reason Nick At Nite starting changing in the early from 2000's 50's, 60's, and 70's to 80's, 90's, and 2000's shows?
TV Land was indeed the heir to most of the core ideas born at Nick at Nite. As for the programming – it isn’t easy to generalize, there were lots of different managers, all with constantly shifting goals, large research teams informing the decisions and so on. But certainly, Nick at Nite and TV Land carved out different territory with distinct branding and audiences. Nick at Nite remained attached to Nickelodeon and that had a natural impact. TV land was independent and 24 hours. TV Land continued for years to air classic TV, but today – with the media world in flux and content available in so many different ways and places ¬– TV Land is moving on to become a channel focused exclusively on creating original comedy.
I should be getting more from him and others!!