"This is what happens when you don't have episodes for 11 months dad!"
Hasbro did their annual investor conference call today, and the results were a bit shaky on the pony side of things. We saw another girls brand drop, down 28% from last year (echoed by Bloomberg), which includes things like pony, Furby, and Pet Shop. Pony dominates that section pretty well, so we can probably assume it's the main driver.
Luckily, it's not all gloom and doom. In fact, Hasbro seems to "get" why this is happening. In a response to one of their investors calling in asking about it, Brian Goldner responded with the following:
"I think in many ways it sort of reinforces our belief that programming support its over the full calendar year is essential as you look at content storytelling and that it's a little more challenging to put out a one-time per year special, although we do have lots of streaming short videos and other elements to support the EQUESTRIA GIRLS product line. It does impact our timing on that -- on that part of the business certainly."
"In MY LITTLE PONY, several new initiatives coming both in the core MY LITTLE PONY as well as EQUESTRIA GIRLS."
In other words, they understand that giving us literally 11 months of no pony was a bad idea, and more content throughout the year is hopefully the plan going forward. We are coming up on the next major hiatus between season 5 and 6, and the only way to keep this gravy train rolling on their end is to give us something to chew in the break. Speaking as someone who works pretty closely to the world of pony, I can confirm that giant gaps of nothing has a long-lasting effect on the fandom's numbers, and as much as they like to pretend this show is still 100% 12-year-old girl driven, there is no denying that having an army of dudes with Rainbow Dash avatars online is big advertising.
Now they need to do a bit more advertising for the rest of season 5! Where did it go?
Head on down below for the full pony transcript from Seeking Alpha
Here are a few relevant snippets from the transcript:
Brian Goldner - Chairman, President and CEO
"MY
LITTLE PONY demand remained strong around the world, with positive
point-of-sale trends for MY LITTLE PONY Friendship is Magic! products
and a new PLAYSKOOL FRIENDS line for preschoolers."
"The
Equestria Girls: Friendship Games entertainment premiered last month on
Discovery Family with good ratings that beat last year's Rainbow Rocks
special in several key demographics."
"In Q3,
we’re happy to see that our gross POS is up double digits. In MY LITTLE
PONY, the core MY LITTLE PONY business, the pony’s part of the business,
Friendship is MAGIC is up in the quarter and MY LITTLE PONY
year-to-date is up a bit. It’s really in the timing of EQUESTRIA GIRLS.
The special one on the air ins in September 17th and the translation in
placement of that special happening throughout the fourth quarter in
many markets around the world."
"...And MY LITTLE PONY, if you can just elaborate on revenue decline there? Thanks."
Brian Goldner - Chairman, President and CEO
"I
think in many ways it sort of reinforces our belief that programming
support its over the full calendar year is essential as you look at
content storytelling and that it's a little more challenging to put out a
one-time per year special, although we do have lots of streaming short
videos and other elements to support the EQUESTRIA GIRLS product line.
It does impact our timing on that -- on that part of the business
certainly."
"In MY LITTLE PONY, several new initiatives coming both in the core MY LITTLE PONY as well as EQUESTRIA GIRLS."
Thanks to Lance and
