Nice NYT article by Edward Wyatt on how cartoons are Nickelodeon’s bread and butter.

Among the series to be introduced in the coming months are “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera,� a cartoon about a Latino family of superheroes and supervillains, created by a Mexican husband-and-wife team; “Ni Hao, Kai-lan,� a series for preschoolers created by a first-generation Chinese-American; and “Tak and the Power of Juju,� based on a video game set in the fantasy world of the Pupanunu people. Also in development is an animated series based on characters from the feature film “Barnyard,� and “Mighty B,� a cartoon about a sweet, merit-badge-obsessed girl scout created by Amy Poehler, of “Saturday Night Live.�

In the last two years the Disney Channel has been eating into Nickelodeon’s long-standing spot as the top-ranked cable network among children, rapidly gaining viewers while Nickelodeon’s ratings have been edging up, but only slightly. But the Disney Channel has made a specialty out of scripted, live-action series. Nickelodeon makes that type of series too, but cartoons are the engine that powers the bus.

“Animation really is the heart and soul of our business,� Ms. Zarghami said. It accounts, she said, for more than 70 percent of annual revenues from advertising and licensing of consumer products. (Viacom, Nickelodeon’s parent, does not break out individual company revenues.)

Spread the word!