58. Sprouting Influence

Sandy Wax
Title: President, PBS KIDS Sprout

Andrew Beecham
Title: SVP programming, PBS KIDS Sprout
Age: “Older than Jeff Shell, drat!”
Years in industry: “20ish”
Years left in industry: “10 if my wife has her way."
Last year: NR
 
Why Them? Who knew VOD would stick like Elmer’s Glue to preschoolers? Andrew Beecham, that’s who. While others placed their on-demand wagers on movies, music and adult content, PBS KIDS Sprout—the digital love child of PBS, Comcast, HIT Entertainment and Sesame Workshop—was busy corralling enough content to uniquely offer round-the-clock programming for the littlest tykes. Not a Herculean task when your parent companies have yielded offspring like Barney and Elmo, but Sprout’s real genius lies in its heavily integrated distribution model that resides under the watchful eyes of president Sandy Wax. When the network launched in September 2005, it immediately encouraged kids and parents to weave among the Sprout digital channel, Web site, and on-demand service. That means little Johnny can indeed watch “Thomas the Tank” 24/7 if he wants to. The result? More than 100 million downloads in its first year. Beecham, a transplanted Brit who came to Sprout via HIT, knows the power of a brand name in kids entertainment and relied heavily on existing series during Sprout’s first year. He’s now branching into original content, beginning with movies, and will be doing even more slicing and dicing of existing franchises into new video snacks like “The Goodnight Show” and “Sprout Diner.” Yum yum. - CAO

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Andrew Beecham

I knew the cable industry was for me when: “I found VOD.”
Defining career moment: “Listening to mums in focus groups explain Sprout’s programming strategy in minute detail just three months after launch... and loving it!”
Biggest cable surprise of 2006: “Over 100 million Sprout VOD downloads in a year.”
Top personal achievement in 2006: “Being able to give directions to tourists in Philly like a native.”
In my free time, I like to: “Sail anywhere with my wife and kids.”
My most embarrassing cable moment was: “Forgetting to turn the mic off during a live preschool show whilst the host nipped to the bathroom during a break.”
Favorite restaurant: “Sprout Diner, it’s where all the top preschool stars hang out: Barney, Elmo, even the Teletubbies have been known to frequent this trendy spot.”
Favorite city: “Burnham-On-Crouch, U.K. A quaint spot on the East Coast for great sailing and pubs with the best beer, Adnams.”
Favorite line from a movie or TV show: "It’s a hospital.” “What’s that?” “It’s a place where sick people are, but that’s not important right now.” – “Airplane”
Three things I would take with me to a deserted island: “Video iPod, solar recharger, and free video downloads.”
Favorite TV show not on my network: U.S. version of “The Office,” “Arrested Development,” “Deadliest Catch” and “The Wonder Pets.”
Favorite movie: Luc Besson’s “The Big Blue”
I wish cable would: “Have a uniform VOD menu structure.”
Favorite piece of technology: “Wireless Internet.”

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