LOS ANGELES – Nickelodeon, under pressure to reverse sharp ratings declines, fired its president of animation and longtime head of preschool programming on Wednesday amid a broader management shake-up.
Brown Johnson, who was responsible for groundbreaking hits like “Blue’s Clues” and “Dora the Explorer,” is credited with Nickelodeon’s entrance to preschool television, an area that it came to dominate – largely because of one of Ms. Johnson’s innovations known as “the pause.”
Many of the shows she has helped nurture make use of a choreographed pause during the program, one long enough to let children actively respond to the television, solving puzzles and problems along with the characters, and allowing young viewers to feel like part of the story.
Nickelodeon also rearranged its executive deck chairs on Wednesday, elevating Russell Hicks to the new position of president of content development and production. Two other executives were given new roles: Margie Cohn
will serve in the new role of president of content development, and Paula Kaplan will now serve as executive vice president of current series.
The moves centralize animation and live-action programming. What they don’t do is add fresh blood to Nickelodeon’s management lineup – something that some
analysts say is crucial to reviving the channel’s creative spark and fending off competition from Disney. Disney recently introduced an entire preschool channel, with shows like “Doc McStuffins”
showing early promise.
Ms. Johnson was based in Burbank, Calif., and most recently managed Nickelodeon’s impending relaunch of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise.
“She leaves an indelible impact on generations of kids for which we will always be incredibly grateful,” Cyma Zarghami, president of the Nickelodeon Group, said in a statement. Of Mr. Hicks, she said, “Russell will ensure that our rich and diversified development slate, as well as our new and established producing partners, will all serve our creative vision for the network and deliver for our audiences.”