Eisner: You also should be aware that the Customer Relations Management program is completely voluntary and guests are welcome to decline to participate. We absolutely respect our customers' right to privacy and leave it to them to decide if they wish to take advantage of the benefits of this program.
As much as technology can be a catalyst for growth, the underlying growth engine will always be the entertainment of our company.
An area of current challenge is the ABC television network during primetime. And, the way to return the network to ratings prominence is through the creation of great programming. We are highly focused on this issue and have installed new leadership at ABC to spearhead our efforts.
Returning ABC to number one is not as daunting a task as it may sound. The primetime ratings race is incredibly close. Because of the small margin of difference between the networks, it could take as few as two to three hit shows to take ABC back to the top.
With strong signature series such as "The Practice," "NYPD Blue," "Drew Carey," "My Wife and Kids," "Alias," "20/20" and "Monday Night Football," we have a strong foundation to improve our position. We also have the rights to some major event programs, such as the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl in 2003. Development for next season is now underway, and we are focused on quality family-friendly shows. Here is a glimpse of some of the top quality programming you can sample across an entire day on ABC.
Iger: Great programming also is going to be a driving force for the growth of ABC Family. This newest addition to our television assets will help the ABC Television Network, by broadcasting some of its shows at alternative times for people who might have missed them, and it will draw on the great Disney library, while also airing original series developed especially for this channel. This will improve the economics of the network, in much the same way that the creation of SoapNet, which now goes into 20 million homes, has helped leverage the programming of ABC Daytime while also further building the audience for the initial broadcasts -- a true win/win situation. Like our ESPN collection of cable networks, the combination of the ABC Television Network, SoapNet, and ABC Family represents an integrated programming franchise that we will be able to cross-program, cross-promote, and grow.
ABC Family is just a few months old, but already we are seeing positive results, with primetime ratings up more than 25 percent over the prior year. As its name indicates, ABC Family appeals to the core Disney audience. And, with the Fox Kids channel in Europe and South America, our television presence also is expanded overseas. This clip should give you an idea of the new directions we're taking ABC Family.
Eisner: To help bolster our television assets, we recently reached a broadcast agreement for the rights to some particularly great programming -- the games of the National Basketball Association. In a demonstration of the interplay of our television services, this agreement will add wonderful programming for ABC and especially our other great brand -- ESPN.
ESPN is now the only domestic program service that offers National Football League, college football, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association games. With the strength of its league offerings, and strong original programs like "SportsCenter" and "X-Games," ESPN is an even more important service to cable and satellite operators for acquiring new subscribers, retaining existing ones, and securing greater local advertising revenue.
As part of our NBA deal, ESPN and ESPN2 will air the majority of the games but this package also is extremely important to ABC. ABC Sports will broadcast 15 regular series games as well as post-season games, including the entire best-of-seven championship series. Beyond the NBA games, our agreement also provides for related NBA programming, such as features and post-game shows, to be covered by a wide array of our businesses on a global basis, including ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ABC Family, ESPN Radio and ESPN.com. This deal clearly plays to the strengths of our company and its multiple platforms, and further solidifies our platforms' value to the consumer, as well as to cable and satellite providers.
Iger: What Disney is to family, ESPN is to sports. ESPN has unrivaled appeal in the world of cable television. ESPN and ESPN2 alone account for nearly 20% of the local ad revenue that is earned by cable operators. In a recent survey, cable operators ranked ESPN as the number-one reason that viewers subscribe to cable. ESPN is an incredible franchise that owes its success to the finest sports content on the air. Actually, it's content with attitude, as award-winning "SportsCenter" spots like this one demonstrate.
By the way, that is not meant as a commentary on Connecticut Light & Power.
ESPN is currently expanding its appeal by creating original programming. On March 10th, it will broadcast its first ever made-for-television film, "A Season on the Brink," about coach Bobby Knight and the 1985-86 Indiana Hoosiers basketball season. Here's a glimpse.
Eisner: And, for the first time, ESPN is going to the big screen ... and we mean big.
Beyond ESPN and ABC Family, we have all or part ownership of an extraordinary array of cable networks -- Lifetime, A&E, The History Channel, E! Entertainment, SoapNet, Toon Disney and, of course, the Disney Channel. You are probably all familiar with the Disney Channel, but you may be unaware that there are now 12 international Disney Channels, reaching subscribers in 56 territories, serving as an extraordinary ambassador for the Disney brand around the world. Beyond this is the Fox Kids channel -- which will be renamed of course -- that we acquired as part of the Fox Family deal and reaches more than 34 million additional homes in Europe and Latin America. Furthermore, we have equity holdings in GMTV in England and RTL2 and Super RTL in Germany.
Iger: Nowhere is unique Disney content more on display than at our parks and resorts. These are also places that do so much to build and reinforce the Disney brand, since this is where people immerse themselves in all that Disney stands for.
Last year, we opened two all-new theme parks -- Disney's California Adventure and Tokyo DisneySea. In four weeks, we are going to launch yet another new Disney theme park -- Disney Studios Paris, next to Disneyland Paris. As with California Adventure and DisneySea, this park will help transform the site of a single Disney theme park into a two-park multi-day resort destination. Here's a preview.