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Home , Billy Ray Cyrus, Hannah Montana, Hilary Duff, I Got Nerve, Lizzie McGuire, Miley Stewart

ILLUSTRATION BY MARTHA RICH

50 SEPT | OCT 2009 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE By Robert Strauss

Mixing up-to-the-minute marketing techniques,

tried-and-true entertainment formulas, and engaging young stars and stories, Disney Channels Worldwide President Richard Ross C’83 is helping ensure that the company remains supreme in the kid-entertainment universe. her popular Disney ChannelHannah IN cable , (if you live anywhere in the vicinity of a nine-year-old girl, you have surely seen it), plays a teenager withock startwo andidentities— the one as a famous r other as the daughter of a single fa- ther just trying to make it through what passes on TV for a normal life. (Cyrus’s regular-girl identity) and her wacky older brother Jackson live in a Malibu beach house with their widowed father, played by Cyrus’s real-life father , previously best known for his -era hit “.” The show’s comedy is a cheerful mix of teen misunderstandings and slapstick revolving I Love Lucy around Miley’s halfhearted efforts, to keep her identities separate with plenty of time left over for “Hannah” to perform her latest hit. ER HANNEL THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2009009 51 C SEPT | OCT 2 51 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Since premiering on the Disney “That guy Ross” is Richard Ross C’83, entertainment phenomenon. Disney has Channel in March 2006, the series has president of Disney Channels Worldwide immediate name recognition for parents become a consistent top-rated show (a since April 2004, and an executive with and children, and the is new episode was the most watched cable the company since 1996. In his current both its primary source of program- show in primetime for the week ending role, Ross oversees 94 channels avail- ming and main arm of promotion. The July 5). It’s also spawned hit albums, able in 163 countries in 32 languages, relationship between the two functions sold-out live shows and a concert film, a along with their associated websites, is seamless. successful theatrical film release this as well as , which is avail- Commercial breaks are mostly ads for past spring, and an avalanche of brand- able on 50 stations, satellite radio, its own upcoming TV series and original ed merchandise—everything from dolls iTunes, and mobile phones. movies, as well as Disney theatrical-film to dried fruit. One of those channels, Playhouse releases, music, theme park visits, and is just the latest Disney, caters to the traditional audience other spin-off products and merchandise. example of the Company’s of very young children, introducing the The stars frequently appear in on-air pro- uncanny ability over much of the past mos, public service announcements, and century—from the dawn of sound film to a variety of between-show interview seg- the Internet age—to anticipate what kids “To get such a ments designed to give viewers an “inside and teenagers will watch and get enthused look” and promote a sense of , by. Having set the standard in theatrical as if the casts of the various shows and the movies and broadcast television, the com- run as Disney, audience are one big family. This idea is pany has in recent years worked its magic reinforced by the Disney Channel website, in the burgeoning cable-TV universe, and now the where fans can watch more promotions, packaging enduring formulas in up-to- see video clips and TV episodes, partici- the-minute wrapping, and supplying a Disney Channel, pate in surveys and contests, play games, steady stream of new faces to replace download photos and screensavers, and inevitably aging favorites. has had, that guy send emails that stream on the screen. For readers of a certain age, the show’s To heighten the close-knit atmosphere twinning device may recall the 1961 Ross must be doing even further, the Disney Channel also movie The Parent Trap, starring Hayley does occasional “mashups” of shows, in Mills (or its 1998 remake with a pre-tab- something right.” which various casts spill into each oth- loid ) in the dual role of er’s universes. In one that premiered sisters separated as infants and raised preschool set to the familiar cast of over the summer Miley and her by their divorced parents, unaware of Disney characters in shows like Mickey from Hannah Montana find themselves each other’s existence until they meet at Mouse Clubhouse and offering newer on a cruise ship, the S.S. Tipton, the set- summer camp, switch identities to get a animated fare like Little Einsteins (four ting for a series called Suite Life on taste of each other’s lives, and eventually kids and their rocket ship, whose adven- Deck, starring twins Cole and Dylan engineer their parents’ reunion. tures promote art and music apprecia- Sprouse (itself a spinoff from an earlier Going back even further, the essential tion) and , which spot- long-running show where the boys DNA of Disney’s 1950 dreams-come-true lights Latino culture. But where Ross wreaked comic havoc in a posh hotel). classic is faintly recognizable has really made his mark is at the flag- Also along for the ride are the cast of in Hannah Montana—though the differ- ship Disney Channel, aimed at a some- The , a kind of ences are more telling. No housework, what older demographic of kids aged comic takeoff on that pre- for one thing, and the dream-come-true 6-14. During his tenure, the channel’s miered in 2007, led by teenaged Selena isn’t a royal marriage anymore but per- core audience of “tween” girls (ages Gomez. A video clip running on the sonal empowerment in a life that com- 9-14) has ruled large swathes of pop cul- Disney Channel website in advance of bines worldwide fame with hometown ture, generating top-grossing albums, the show’s July 17 premiere had the friends (the “best of both worlds,” as the movies, and TV shows, while consuming actors enthusing over the opportunity show’s infectious theme song puts it). an astonishing array of associated mer- to spend quality time with each other. “Disney always seems to find the next chandise featuring their favorites. “We all talk about how we’re all family , the next thing. They have found young Besides the Hannah Montana phe- and how we’re all friends, but you never stars who are almost preternaturally mag- nomenon, Ross has launched the get to see that,” says Miley in a typical netic to young adolescents or old elemen- Brothers—boy-band heartthrobs Kevin, comment. “So I think it’s cool that we tary schoolers,” says Jonathan Storm, long- Joe, and Nick, with their own concert get to share what we love together.” time TV critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer. movie and Disney Channel TV series— Disney also grooms its stars as assidu- “In TV, because they throw so many wads and, above all, has shepherded the ously as any old-time studio. Also airing of wet paper to the wall, some will stick. megahit franchise , this summer was Princess Protection But to get such a run as Disney, and now now at three movies and counting. Program, co-starring Gomez and another the Disney Channel, has had, that guy Ross presides over something that is rising star, . (The two are Ross must be doing something right.” both a legacy and a modern marketing- BFFs—“best friends forever”—off-screen

52 SEPT | OCT 2009 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE As president of Disney Channels Worldwide, Ross oversees nearly 100 TV channels available in 162 countries in 32 languages, plus website and radio.

as well, according to any number of fan “splashy, eff ervescent musical numbers,” north of . Instead, he was an magazines and websites.) Lovato first reminiscent of the old Mickey Rooney- entertainment industry , at age came to fame in the 2008 Disney Channel Judy Garland putting-on-a-show musicals, 12 asking his parents for a subscrip- movie , which also featured the and allowed that the songs, while not par- tion to Daily Variety rather than Sports . She has her own Disney ticularly memorable, were no worse “than Illustrated like his friends. Watching Channel TV series, too, titled Sonny With the faux-rock toodling of Rent.” TV while he did his homework, he paid a Chance. A Wizards of Waverly Place “Disney has hit it right,” says Derek attention to production values in movie premiered over the summer as well, Baine, an analyst for SNL Kagan, an enter- between the canned laughs. and Camp Rock II is scheduled for 2010. tainment research firm. “Ross has man- “He was always in the know about a lot But while Disney may be relentless in aged to find stars who kids relate to and of things in entertainment—more than promoting its products and stars, it’s also vehicles, particularly High School Musical, anyone else,” says Marcia Goldstein C’83, true that much of the Disney Channel’s that resonate with them. And he has found who grew up with Ross in Eastchester programming, particularly under Ross, a way—through merchandising and music and also was a classmate at Penn. “It has won praise for being among the best and sequels—to make the most out of the seemed clear to all of us early on that there is, especially for the hard-to-please stars who are inevitably only around for a that was where he was headed.” market of young teens. few years before moving on.” Though his general aversion to per- Even some adult critics can recognize forming continued at Penn, one excep- its charms. While notices for High School oss became focused on the enter- tion was giving campus tours. “That Musical 3, for example, were mixed, Salon tainment business at just about was a great outlet,” Ross recalls. “You reviewer Stephanie Zacharek wrote that Rthe same age as the audience to could tell stories. I loved getting to the fi lm “off ers simple, buoyant plea- which he now caters. He says he was know everything about the school, so sures,” and asked, “Why wouldn’t kids never really a performer as a kid grow- not only was I an expert, but I could be

ETHAN PINES like this?” She for praise the ing up in Eastchester, New York, just comfortable talking about it.”

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2009 53 At the same time, Ross displayed a bud- Ross followed Sweeney to FX, one of early successes with shows like Lizzie ding entrepreneurial streak. In those pre- the Fox networks, and then to Disney/ McGuire and That’s So Raven—starring laptop days, he was among the few on ABC in 1996, when she was named and former Cosby Show cast campus who could speed-type—and was president of the Disney Channel. His member Raven-Symoné, respectively— savvy enough to recognize a market first job was as senior vice president that were built around the travails of a opportunity. “He saw there was a service overseeing programming and produc- teenaged girl and her friends, her gener- in West Philadelphia called Kirk, which tion. Later he was promoted to general ally befuddled parents, and her annoying typed papers for students, so he started manager and executive vice president, brother, presaging the coming one called Spock,” says another college and then to Disney Channel president, madness over Hannah Montana. friend, Wendy Cohen C’83. “He is one of succeeding Sweeney in the position. He Under Ross, the Disney Channel has the funniest people on Earth, so even took over Disney Channels Worldwide been the first or second highest-rated when he was going to make a little money, when she was promoted from that post basic cable network for all viewers for the he wanted to do it in a fun way.” to become co-chair of Disney Media past three years; it’s been number one in Ross majored in international rela- Networks and president of the Disney/ primetime viewing among 6- to 11-year- tions, but he always had his eye on the ABC Television Group in April 2004. olds for six years and 9- to 11-year-olds for entertainment industry as a career “There are several things that contrib- eight years. Ross also was responsible for path. In what he calls a perfect example ute to Rich’s success: his tremendous a string of successful TV movies produced of “Jewish geography,” his mother knew creativity, his constant curiosity, and for the Disney Channel, which have scored someone from her summer camp who his ability to imagine what could be,” the highest ratings with those age groups had a connection with the William says Sweeney. “But I think the key is his for eight years running. High School Morris Agency in New York, which passion for what he does. It’s one of the Musical 2’s premiere in August 2007 was helped him land a summer internship first things I noticed when we originally at the time the highest rated telecast in there while he was at Penn. (“This was worked together, and one of the many cable history with 18.6 million viewers. back in the day when the Xerox reasons hiring him immediately was a Ross was also quick to sense the break- machines were the size of RVs and priority for me at Disney Channel.” out potential of the original High School there was something called the secre- Though Ross didn’t set out to work in Musical. He had decided to check in on tarial pool,” Ross says.) It was the ste- kids’ entertainment—he is in a long- the production of a made-for-Disney- reotypical start in the entertainment term relationship but has no children Channel movie being filmed in Salt Lake business, and Ross played his role as of his own—he soon came to love it. City, just one of a number that had been rising young man earnestly, taking on “Kids are incredibly authentic,” Ross green-lighted. He loved everything about whatever job was necessary to learn all says. “For one thing, they have a real it—the actors, the writing, the music, the parts of the business and returning for understanding about television. They message—and called Sweeney to tell her several summers, even after enrolling know what they like, and they say so he thought that it might be the next big at Fordham Law School following his right off. They don’t waste time with Disney thing. graduation from Penn. things they don’t like. So it is incredibly That was an understatement. Mostly “I really only went to law school because challenging, but really rewarding at the through word of mouth, the tale of East I got out during a recession, and it seemed same time, to come up with something High basketball-star Troy Bolton (Zac like a way to do something positive while that really attracts the audience.” Efron)—who falls for brainiac Gabriella waiting to get a job,” he explains. “My When Ross joined Disney, the compa- Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) and realizes PhD, though, was working at William ny’s cable operation was in the unusual his own performing ambitions when Morris. I learned just by being able to position of having to play catch-up. they are pushed into a fateful karaoke meet so many people there.” Competitors like his former employer duet, overcomes his own fears and After finishing law school in 1986, he and the defies his basketball coach/dad to co- got in on the ground floor of what was were stealing Disney’s animation thun- star with her in the school musical, and then still a new concept—a kid’s TV der with series like Rugrats, Ren and along the way leads the school’s various network, Nickelodeon. Early on there, Stimpy, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter’s cliques to recognize that “we’re all in he met a young executive named Anne Laboratory, and Nickelodeon had also cre- this together” and “we’re different in a Sweeney, who became his mentor. She ated a kids’ comedy niche with the sketch- good way”—became the biggest kid-hit didn’t exactly give him free rein, he comedy show and programs that of the decade. More than 255 million says, but pushed him to be creative in dumped green slime on performers— people have seen it worldwide. business. For instance, he took a fea- which remains a network signature. If word of mouth provided the initial ture that could have been a dull side- The Disney Channel jumped in where wind at HSM’s back, Ross lost no time light—Nick News, moderated by former those channels and other sources of chil- in unleashing the Disney marketing NBC reporter and newscaster Linda dren’s programming like Fox (whose shows machine to set it flying. It became the Ellerbee—and made it a lively, engaging tended to be boy- and action-oriented) and top TV movie in 16 different markets— syndicated show, one that not only PBS (younger fare like and from Chile to Norway to Taiwan. Its impressed parents and educators but Barney) left an opening—with teenaged soundtrack was the best-selling album also attracted children. and pre-teen girls. The channel scored of 2006, and there was a best-selling

54 SEPT | OCT 2009 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE junior novel as well. A High School than anyone. In this case, it is hard 10 to 14. So then you aim for a 14-year-old, Musical concert tour sold out in 42 sometimes to know that it was Ross who but try to have an entry point for some- dates in North America, and then went found the reason to do it, to know which one, say, six to eight, if possible. on to a five-country Latin American property was worth doing it for.” “I just think that a seven-year-old can tour. Its DVD sales quintupled that mar- Ross says that he was merely reverting watch High School Musical, but it will ket for Disney, which used to get about to an old Disney formula: find a really be more understood by someone 11 or $15 million annually, but chalked up $72 good show and then find likable stars to older. You just have to recognize what million in 2006. Within a year, more play in it. Having virtually ceded the kinds of entertainment will do that,” he than 2,000 schools had performed a ver- younger group of children to his com- adds. “And you have to nurture people sion of High School Musical licensed by petitors, he had a smaller spread of ages who can do it for you.” Disney. There was a High School Musical: to which to appeal. Still, he didn’t want to In the case of High School Musical and, The Ice Tour by the following September, circumscribe that group too narrowly, so indeed, Hannah Montana, it is also using and three global touring companies of picking a high-school type play let him those people a second and third time the show, not to mention doll, DVD, get both the kids already in high school around. With the core audience clamor- poster, and other paraphernalia sales. and those who were old enough to have ing for more—but aging rather rapidly— It’s fair to say that Walt would have high school aspirations. and the actors not getting any younger, been proud. “We were not as successful in pre- either, that means getting back on the “Once Disney has something like this,” school television, so then it meant target- project fast. —the says Baine, the SNL Kagan analyst, ing older kids,” he explains. “Our core gang spends summer vacation putting “they can run with it farther and faster was the older tween audience, say ages on a show at a resort—came out within a Living in Disney(Channel)World e’re in the car and the question Montana’s regular girl/ prem- “hoodie,” sheets and pillowcases, bath- comes before I even turn on ise: On a school field trip to Rome, robe and pajamas, and a couple of dif- Wthe ignition. Lizzie is mistaken for an Italian pop ferent styles of HSM-branded under- “Daddy, can we listen to something?” star, who looks just like her!). wear. She has Hannah Montana Lately, the something has been By the time High School Musical and underwear, too. Hannah Montana, recutting the Hannah Montana really got going as When we were buying Lily supplies to grooves in my brain previously etched entertainment phenomena, Sarah was go to kindergarten this fall, she split by High School Musical during the already beginning to drift away a bit, the difference, choosing a High School drive to and from my daughter Lily’s drawn by edgier, alluringly inappropri- Musical backpack and a new Hannah preschool. Many days I wake up with ate fare like Ugly Betty, America’s Top Montana guitar-shaped lunchbox. And “Bop to the Top”—a Latin-flavored Model, and The Bachelorette available for her fifth birthday in July, her aunts paean to showbiz competitiveness by on the grown-up channels. What that and grandmother added Sharpay’s HSM’s sister and brother act Sharpay meant was that she still watched the pink Mustang convertible and and Ryan—or Hannah’s girl-power Disney shows a gazillion times, but “Fabulous Fashion Closet,” an East anthem “” playing in my head. generally kept quiet about it, and High Wildcats cheerleader outfit, and Both CDs are actually vintage items beyond the music and DVDs, didn’t a working microphone that lets you in today’s whirlwind entertainment ask for much other stuff. Lily is mak- sing along with two songs from HSM universe, inherited from Lily’s big sis- ing up for that, though. 3. Sarah got Lily the soundtrack CD, ter Sarah, now 12, who got them in the Sarah, who sings and acts herself, which has given us something new to first flush of hysteria over HSM and was still very eager to see the third listen to in the car while we wait for Hannah Montana, all of three or four High School Musical movie, and she High School Musical 4 to come out. years ago. By that time, she was a vet- got Lily excited about it, too. We all Judging by ’s comments in eran Disney Channel fan. She watched went on its opening weekend last fall, the accompanying story, Lily may be a all the shows—I could list them—but doing our part to ensure the film’s little young to graduate from her great love was Lizzie McGuire. record-breaking debut. And that’s when to the Disney Hilary Duff played the title character, it began. After we got home, we dug out Channel. She still watches those a generally normal teenager, as I the original version DVD and watched younger shows—although, actually, recall, except for having a cartoon it (and watched it, and watched it). she’s more of a PBS Kids fan—and I . Somewhere in the house we Things snowballed from there. don’t know how much she gets of the have several of her CDs, along with In addition to the HSM 3 DVD, a par- stories. But she’s darned cute singing VHS tapes (tapes!) of the TV show and tial list of merchandise purchased for along to the songs. And truth be told, of the Lizzie McGuire Movie (which Lily since then would include an HSM I’ve had worse things playing in my bears a weird resemblance to Hannah wall clock, lunchbox, pink zippered head when I wake up.—J.P.

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE SEPT | OCT 2009 55 year of the first (295 million viewers The general thought in Hollywood is Though he is approaching 50, Ross does worldwide). High School Musical 3: that girls will watch Hannah Montana not think he wants to leave children’s pro- Senior Year, which was produced for the- on TV, check out her outfits on the com- gramming just as he seems to be perfect- atrical release first rather than TV, pre- puter, listen to Miley Cyrus singing on ing it. He knows that by his own formula, miered 18 months after that. the iPod and have an Entertainment he needs to keep shopping for the next The response provided no hint that Weekly story about her open in front of Miley, the next Jonas Brothers. the franchise is losing steam. Released them, all at the same time. Boys, so the “I like that our actors are the same last October, in the first downstroke of theory goes, are one-trick animals. If age as their characters. Miley is a teen- the recession, the film took in $42 mil- you don’t get them on the tube, then ager, just like Hannah,” he says. “I hate lion in its opening weekend—setting a you’d better have a video game ready or it when someone 25 is playing some new record for musicals and G-rated they are off doing something else. 17-year-old. The kids want to relate to movies—and went on to earn $252 mil- It’s not that boys don’t watch the Disney someone really their age, someone who lion worldwide in theaters. The sound- Channel—the audience is actually 40 per- may be sometimes a celebrity, but also track reportedly sold nearly 300,000 cent male—but there’s no doubt that girls someone with their issues.” copies in its first week on sale in the drive the focus of programming. Ross There are practical reasons at work U.S., and has notched 1.3 million sales in would like a High School Musical for here. For example, it was rumored that the U.S. and more than 2.3 million world- boys, essentially, maybe something like a Zac Efron was looking for $10 million to wide. More than 3 million DVDs have TV , which went return as Troy Bolton in a fourth HSM been sold. A fourth installment, with a from a Disney theme park ride to a movie movie. Also, as they age, teen stars may new cast, tentatively titled High School to a merchandising profit center. But he lose their status as role models, as the Musical 4: East Meets West and intro- wants to avoid the fate of Fox in the example of Lindsay Lohan, say, demon- ducing East High’s crosstown rivals, the 1990s, which started the Boyz Channel strates. Both Efron’s co-star Vanessa West High Knights, is reportedly in the and its companion Girlz Channel, both of Hudgens and Miley Cyrus have had pub- works to air in 2010. which failed and were castigated for lic relations flaps over behavior that Hannah Montana’s initial success as a intentionally segregating the sexes. Ross seemed to contradict their wholesome series spun off a live concert-tour by sees Disney XD as the more action-ori- images—Hudgens over revealing pictures Miley Cyrus—you may recall news reports ented, and perhaps gaming-oriented sent from her cellphone that wound up about desperate parents offering thou- channel, which would appeal more to on the Internet and Cyrus over a photo sands of dollars to scalpers or on eBay, or boys but not exclude girls. Its shows spread in Vanity Fair that was deemed making up tragic stories to score contest include , about a pair of too suggestive—though neither contro- tickets. It was soon turned into a movie, would-be skateboarding stars; Aaron versy seemed to cause any lasting dam- Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Stone, about a teenager who is recruited age. But beyond those considerations, Both Worlds Concert Tour, released in to be the real-life version of his favorite there is the question of believability and February 2008, that grossed $71 million video-game hero; and the identification with the audience. worldwide, despite appearing in fewer , which focuses on the “The key is this: Can the teen viewer say, than 700 theaters. This past spring, antics of two brothers and their med- ‘I am just like…’” Ross says. “There are lit- Cyrus starred in a scripted Hannah dling older sister, and which also airs on erally a record number of kids trying out Montana movie, which took the star back the Disney Channel. for drama and theater in high school. I to her roots, which brought in Besides serving the boys’ and girls’ believe it is because they have seen High a reported $79 million in the U.S. and entertainment needs, Ross wants to get, School Musical and said, ‘I am just like…’ another $64 million internationally. at least in a small way, adults to watch To believe good entertainment can inspire “It is not really genius but hard work as well. “It was always that I believed that is why I am in this business.” and persistence that makes someone there should be two lines of humor—at Ironically, Ross’s mom, who helped him like Rich Ross make it at a place like least in the movies—to attract adults,” get that first important internship at Disney,” says Stacey Snider C’82, chief says Ross. “What we have been able to William Morris, was never a fan of his executive officer of the Hollywood studio deliver is that we have families in our watching so much TV when he was young. DreamWorks. “He has learned over time shows and movies. High School Musical, “But my Dad was. He never feared that what works with young talent and how to whatever it has become, I thought it suc- I wouldn’t do my homework,” says Ross. get it before young audiences. It isn’t just ceeded because it had a powerful story “We formed a bond over TV. Pink Panther High School Musical, but a run of good line. It was about a kid trying to live up and Scooby-Doo, whatever it was. programming in just the right places. to his father’s expectations, and then “To this day, my dad watches our There aren’t many like him.” the story of a father trying to become stuff, and that is the best confirmation proud of the kid who has taken his own of all,” he says. “It is wonderful when a ack in February, Ross and Disney path. We were able to deliver a father- teenager at heart can just relax with embarked on a new effort to work son relationship with a message: that what you have worked so hard to do.”◆ Bsome of that magic on TV’s most the best thing is to help your kid live out elusive audience—boys—with a new his own dream. That is what Disney Robert Strauss is a lecturer in the English cable channel and website, DisneyXD. tries to do—have it all in that way.” Department and a writer in Philadelphia.

56 SEPT | OCT 2009 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE