Merchandising of television shows and/or their associated characters
can often be more profit-making than the shows themselves.  For
example, ?Buffy? has over 10,000 licenses worldwide, helping it rake
in big bucks.

I am looking for statistics to answer the following questions:

1.  What are the statistics re: licenses, profits, overall returns
etc. that were an off-shoot from television shows.  I am interested in
an ?overall television? answer here, but am also very interested in
stats associated with adult-focused animation (i.e., ?The Simpsons?.
?King of the Hill?, ?Futurama?, ?Family Guy?, et al)

2. Are merchandising revenues typically figured into overall profits
of television shows now?

3. Do animated shows perform better as merchandising opportunities
than live-action shows?  If so, what are some of the stats associated
with their revenues/profits?  (e.g., What are the most profitable or
successful animated shows from the standpoint of merchandising?  How
do these track to the demographic breakdowns of the shows?)

4.  Animation is traditionally more popular with men than women; is
there a growing audience in women watching animated fare?

5. How effectively does merchandising affect the show?s viewership or
brand ? has merchandising been proven to show an uptick in viewership?

6. Are there any animated shows that have earned more on the
merchandising back-end than through the show itself?

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 24 May 2004 19:17 PDT

Hello prpro-ga,

I suggest that you break up this question into several smaller
questions. I think you'll have a much better chance of getting some
response. Multi-part questions tend to scare away researchers because
you can't post an answers if you've found some of the information but
not all. Good luck.

~ czh ~

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Clarification of Question by prpro-ga on 24 May 2004 20:18 PDT

Great advice, czh -- I will break this into two parts (any more seems
too piecemeal and the info seems all interrelated.  Thanks!