Pro Gridiron Stars Suit Up for Nick Segments
NFL Players to Contribute Work Out Like a Pro Segments
By Christian Lewis -- Multichannel News, 4/22/2007 8:01:00 PM
Looking for more paydirt from its annual health kick, Let’s Just Play, Nickelodeon drafted National Football League players to serve as positive role models for kids.
Eight pro footballers -- including Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed -- will appear in Work Out Like a Pro segments, airing during Nickelodeon’s monthly half-hour show, Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge. Each segment features highlights and a player offering tips on diet and exercise.
This year’s Go Healthy Challenge program follows two 12-year-olds -- Kenderick from North Little Rock, Ark., and April from Chalfont, Pa. -- as they attempt to establish workout and diet regimens with the aid of personal trainers. The show premieres April 29 at 8:30 p.m.
“They are going to run within the show, and [their segments will] be broken out and run interstitially in between the episodes throughout the month,” Nick senior vice president of public affairs Jean Margaret Smith said.
Each participating NFL team will also promote activities and healthy lifestyles among kids via grassroots events in local communities, urging young fans to sign up for Nickelodeon’s Go Healthy Challenge.
“Our players know the importance of staying physically active and, through this partnership with Nickelodeon, they will have an opportunity to continue to encourage children to lead healthier lifestyles,” NFL director of community ventures Beth Colleton said.
The league will also promote the network’s fourth annual Worldwide Day of Play Sept. 29, when Nick goes dark for three hours to push kids to go outside and get active. The game plan includes distribution of Let’s Just Play-branded materials and toolkits through youth programs and posted information on NFLRush.com, the league’s youth Web site.
Smith said the NFL tie-in is just one aspect of Nickelodeon’s expanded effort behind the initiative, a $30 million commitment.
For one, Go Healthy Challenge has been expanded from a 12-minute cart format to a monthly half-hour scheduled spot. This comes in response to roughly 200,000 kids registering nationally for the health challenge last year, 7.6 million total viewers for last year’s cart airings and 1.6 million unique Web-site visitors from April-September 2006, the network said.
The campaign is also moving online: Kids will be asked to document their fitness routines in their own room.
“The ‘My Room Revolution’ is going to be part of our new effort to incorporate user-generated content into the campaign,” Smith said. “We’re going to be encouraging kids to film themselves doing games or obstacle courses that our coaches will be recommending online, and uploading that. That will be part of our MeTV segment in the afternoon.”
MeTV is Nickelodeon’s weekday block, running from 5 p.m.-7 p.m., which features kids’ user-generated content.
Starting in July, short-form content from the NFL and Nick’s health and wellness library will be available on-demand. Content from My Room Revolution may be added later.
“This year, part of what we’re doing that’s also new is we’re going multiplatform,” Smith said. “We’ve got [video-on-demand], we’ll be working with cable operators with that, and we’re also going to be rolling out free content on iTunes and on wireless so that kids can stay connected to their challenge every day, where they are.”
In past years, Nickelodeon has teamed up with Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Charter Communications in local markets to host nutrition fairs, walkathons and broader educational-outreach efforts.
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