Time Magazine 2015 Annual Report Download - page 20

Sports
Turner Sports produces award-winning sports programming and content for Turner’s TNT, TBS and truTV networks,
their related digital properties and bleacherreport.com. Turner’s sports programming helps drive value across its networks in
the form of higher affiliate fees, ratings and advertising rates as well as more promotional opportunities.
Turner’s sports programming features licensed programming from the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) through
the 2024-2025 season, Major League Baseball (“MLB”) through 2021, The National Collegiate Athletic Association (the
“NCAA”) for the Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament through 2032, and the Professional Golfers’ Association (“PGA”)
through 2019. NBA games and PGA tournaments air on the TNT network, and MLB games air on the TBS network. TNT
airs the studio program Inside the NBA and, during the 2015-2016 season, will air a new reality competition series, The Dunk
King. Turner also operates NBA TV, an advertising-supported cable network owned by the NBA, featuring NBA exhibition,
regular season and playoff games and related programming. The NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament games air
on the TNT, TBS and truTV networks and on the CBS network under an agreement among Turner, CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
and the NCAA. Turner’s networks carried the NCAA Final Four semifinal games in 2015, and, in 2016, Turner’s networks
carried the NCAA Final Four semifinal games and championship game. After 2016, Turner’s networks and CBS will carry
the NCAA Final Four semifinal games and championship game in alternate years. In September 2015, Turner announced a
partnership with WME|IMG to form a multiplayer competitive videogaming league called eLeague with live events
scheduled to begin in 2016. The live events will air on TBS and will be available across multiple digital platforms.
Kids
Cartoon Network and Boomerang offer original, acquired and classic animated and live-action entertainment aimed at
kids in the U.S. and in international territories. Turner has been focused on significantly expanding its global kids business,
increasing its collaboration with Warner Bros. on television programming based on Warner Bros.’ and DC Entertainment’s
brands and characters and growing its consumer products business. In June 2015, Turner and Warner Bros. announced a
strategic partnership to produce and distribute worldwide close to 450 half-hour episodes of original animated programming
across the Cartoon Network and Boomerang networks. This partnership is intended to drive the success of these networks
and foster broader global exposure for Warner Bros.’ existing franchises while also helping launch new long-term franchises.
In February 2016, Boomerang and Warner Bros. announced that Boomerang will be the exclusive broadcast partner for DC
Super Hero Girls, a consumer product and digital content partnership with Mattel centered on iconic female DC
Entertainment characters such as Supergirl and Wonder Woman. The premiere of the programming on Boomerang is
expected to coincide with the launch of the DC Super Hero Girls consumer products. Turner is increasingly managing
programming decisions for its kids business on a global basis, whereas, historically, it had managed programming decisions
for its international and domestic kids businesses separately.
Cartoon Network offers original and syndicated animated and live-action series and motion pictures for youth and
families. As of December 2015, Cartoon Network reached 94.3 million domestic television households. For the 2015-2016
season, Cartoon Network’s original animated series include Warner Bros.’ Be Cool, Scooby Doo! and Teen Titans Go!,as
well as Adventure Time,The Amazing World of Gumball,Clarence,Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa and We Bare Bears.
Boomerang offers exclusive new original content from Warner Bros., as well as classic animated entertainment from the
Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Cartoon Network libraries, such as The Flintstones,The Jetsons,Pink Panther,
Tom and Jerry and Yogi Bear. For the 2015-2016 season, Boomerang is offering exclusive new original series, such as
Bunnicula,The Tom and Jerry Show and Wabbit from Warner Bros., as well as Inspector Gadget and Mr. Bean. In 2014,
Boomerang began airing advertising for the first time in the U.S. and some international territories and began airing
advertising in its other international territories in 2015.
Turner’s kids business is a key part of its international operations, and Cartoon Network is the number one kids network
in several territories outside the U.S., including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Spain and
Thailand. Turner’s kids networks outside the U.S. include Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Tooncast in Latin America;
BOING, Boomerang, Cartoon Network and Cartoonito in Europe and the Middle East; and Boomerang, Cartoon Network,
POGO and Toonami in Asia.
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