Joe Tedesco’s seven-year tenure as vice-president and general manager of Family Channel has been anything but dull.

The former CFO of business affairs for Astral Television Networks – a chartered accountant by trade – has, since his appointment in 2001, turned the unassuming kids channel into a full-blown champion on the cable dial, where it has become the number-one specialty in the country.

Its success can be attributed in part to the clever ‘Never a Dull Moment’ slogan Family adopted in 2002 to engage the coveted tween market, in addition to its pivotal relationship with Disney.

In a Q&A with Playback, the man that Astral president and CEO Ian Greenberg calls an ‘extraordinary negotiator and relationship builder’ talks about what it takes to forge and maintain a strong brand.

Many people still see Family Channel as being for younger kids in the pre-tween stage. What does Family mean and what is it supposed to mean?

Back in 2002, when we were going through our analysis of the brand, it’s true – Family’s history, when it first launched, had that safe aspect to it, and that was very important. It had that ‘television you can trust’ kind of positioning. But that’s not what tweens would necessarily hold on to as a brand or an attribute. Whereas [our slogan] ‘Never a Dull Moment’ speaks more to the kind of life that they experience… it’s about comedy, spontaneity, rambunctiousness and about being goofy. But it always remains in the notion of ‘the kids love it, the parents approve it.’

How has the rebranding in 2002 helped Family become one of the best positioned channels on the small screen?

There are a number of factors. The ‘Never a Dull Moment’ [brand positioning] and our focus on tweens has been a big contributor. Obviously it all starts with the programming, but ultimately needs a very well-defined brand to help you develop the right kinds of programming, which has been key to our success. Our relationship with Disney has given us access to some of the best and strongest tween programming in the world.

Also, we’ve developed live-action original Canadian shows such as The Latest Buzz and Life with Derek, which have been ratings drivers. It all started with Radio Free Roscoe [in 2003]… for us that show was a revelation that ‘Hey, you can make shows in Canada that drive ratings.’

So who exactly is your target audience?

Our primary target group is eight- to 14-year-olds, but you can always extend beyond that. We certainly know there are many kids above 14 that still tune in.

Even though we do not necessarily see ourselves as being a teen network, we are, in terms of ratings, the number one teen network [in Canada] as well. Because our programming is safe for all participants in the household, we can even start to pick up kids with our tween shows as young as six and seven.

What have been some of the challenges in getting Family to the successful property it is today?

The biggest challenges we tackled were really spending time developing our brand positioning… really honing in on our target audience that we thought we were best suited to serve, and then putting in the processes and systems internally to ensure that all the various departments worked in a co-ordinated fashion.

And some of the highlights?

The launch of Playhouse Disney last fall, [because] it was the first time that Disney has had the trust in a partner to license their TV brand to an entity that they did not have an ownership interest in.

Also, Family Channel’s migration from a pay service onto a tier, which took distribution from 400,000 to over three million homes. We’re now approaching six million homes in Canada.

How does Family balance the major U.S. brand that is Disney with its own content and still retain its unique Canadian-ness?

Our brands are very similar in terms of attributes. So it’s not that [the Disney] brand takes us in a completely different direction from where Family Channel wants to be.

We don’t hide the fact that our shows are being supplied by Disney. But even with that, we’ve managed to create an extremely strong Canadian brand, and when we go out and do focus groups and studies, we get that kind of feedback. People understand that we are the destination for the great Disney programming, but they also appreciate the local content aspect of Family through such shows as Derek, Buzz and Naturally, Sadie.

Looking ahead to the future, how does Family retain its number one status and stay competitive?

One of the things that we keep top of mind every year is staying relevant… understanding our audience, doing the research, having people who are comfortable in the kids space. Staying relevant is absolutely key because preferences and tastes with our core audience can change dramatically. *