'High School Musical' a boon for Disney Channel

By Stone Martindale Aug 3, 2007, 21:24 GMT

07/20/2007 - Zac Efron - Hairspray Cast Performs Live on NBC\'s Today Show Morning Concert Series - Rockefeller Plaza - New York City, NY © Janet Mayer / PR Photos

In the 18 months since "High School Musical" debuted on the Disney Channel, it has reaped $100 million into Disney's operating income.

Variety reports that "High School Musical" has helped strengthen the company's international channel presence, which includes 27 Disney Channels and 60 overseas outlets overall.

The popular telepic has affected almost every division, from home entertainment, the film studio, which is finishing another installment of "High School Musical", theme parks, licensing and merchandising, and more.

"It's everything imaginable," Ross says to Variety. "This is a global business."

The statistics are overwhelming: "More than 170 million viewers have watched the movie worldwide. It has sold 7.8 million DVDs globally, and the soundtrack has clocked sales of 7 million globally," reports Variety.

Nearly 2,000 U.S. high schools have performed stage versions, paying a small licensing fee to Disney. More than 100 licensed products are on shelves or are about to hit stores.

The 21st repeat run showing of "High School Musical" on Disney pulled in 5.8 million viewers last month, making it July's eighth-most-watched primetime cable telecast according to Variety.

The launch of "High School Musical 2" has for the first time, the Disney Channel poised "to tie or overtake longtime kids champ Nickelodeon in the ratings" claims Variety.

"There's never been a more exciting time at the network," Ross said to Variety. "Everyone says, 'There you go, you have it, you've reached a crescendo and it's all downhill from there.' But what has happened, it's been a steady climb."

Ross credits Disney Channel's rise with its ability to target more than just kids.

"You talk to a family, and their 4-year-old is watching something on the Disney Channel, their 8-year-old is watching something else, and their parents are watching with them," he says. "It's about being more than a one-hit wonder."

"High School Musical 2" was produced with that broader audience in mind. The original cast of the movie returned, as did writer Peter Barsocchini and director-choreographer Kenny Ortega, who shot the sequel in less than 30 days.

marketing globally has been a key strength: A "High School Musical" promotion that began life in India. an online competition dubbed "My School Rocks" is being repeated in territories across Asia.

In South America, where a local version of "High School Musical" is in the works, a live 10-week TV show has launched (and is the basis for a similar project in Spain).

"High School Musical 2" will roll out across the globe in a six-week plan to thwart pirating.

"When you have a TV movie, piracy is not that big of an issue normally," Ross says. "But people pirate what they demand, and this is the most hotly demanded property out there right now."

Variety reports that on tap this fall: "High School Musical: The Music in You," an unscripted show from documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple, who filmed Texas students putting on a stage version of "HSM."

A theatrical release is also in the works for the third "High School Musical" installment.

But as the careers of "HSM" stars like Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale take off, Disney Channel Worldwide Entertainment president Gary Marsh admits "that it will be tougher to keep the original cast intact," reports Variety.

"We are in conversations with everybody," Marsh says. "We are hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to pull everybody back together and re-create the spirit of what we created in 'High School Musical 1' and 'High School Musical 2.'"