Rajdeep Mann rmann@tepper.cmu.edu Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America
Situation
Nickelodeon, a cable channel, was launched in 1979 primarily for a target audience of age group 2-11 years old and produces a wide-range of programming that includes comedy, animation, music, game shows and sports. The channel was available in cable channel bundles but had its own branding and name. Owning to high rating and a management focused on international expansion led by International Swat Teams, nearly after two decades of its inception, the channel could be watched in more than thirty countries.
Taran Swan, a highly recognized leader of Nickelodeon, was renowned for handling challenging situations and transforming them into profitable businesses. She was an open communicator who was dedicated to building a…show more content… After reviving a failing business line in Europe, she tried to convince owners of Nickelodeon to enter the new market. The owners gave her partial approval and she was given an opportunity to showcase a potential profit business line in the new region. Among other challenges such as low funds, she encountered inexperienced (content for children) MTV advertising and sales team, monopolistic distributers, in-accurate market data, and low advertisement revenues. But in September 1996 after deciding to launch two separate streams to lure advertisers and securing minimal distribution targets, she was given full corporate approval. Nickelodeon was launched as a 24-hour channel in three languages that reached over two million viewers in sixteen countries. But to begin with, the advertising sales were below expectations that led her to hire new managers and re-organize the sales and advertising team. But still, there were tensions among managers courtesy of their background, personalities and different working