How much Cartoon Network aired each show from 2004 onward?

[Stumpos]

Why did KND take such a sizable drop between 2005 and 2006?

It's still in top 4. And I'm guessing either it was simply because Foster's Home and Billy & Mandy were getting better ratings, KND was winding down around this time, more shows this year meant less airtime by default, or maybe they didn't really have anyone on the show they could plaster on the Yes bumpers like Foster's Home with Cheese, Billy & Mandy with Fred Fredburger, and Ed Edd n Eddy with Ed.

 

[EdCNPowerpuffDrama]

Really surprised about Xiaolin. I see very few people from America even remember Xiaolin Showdown, let alone remember it airng on CN, as most people from what I've noticed only remember it airing on Kids WB. Where I live Xiaolin used to always air on CN for more than a decade in pretty good timeslots. in 2011 it was the second most watched show on the channel, only getting beaten by Adventure Time.

 

[Stumpos]

And now here's the 2007 breakdown on how often each show aired. Half hours are the measurement for this, 0.5 being a 11-minute segment and 0.33 being a 7-minute segment. The Grim Adventures of the KND will be counted for both KND and Billy & Mandy. The live action Ben 10 movie doesn’t count though when I mention how much of Ben 10 2005 aired in the year since it isn’t considered part of the 2005 series in production.

Same source as 2004-06, with the added MrMaketsu on Twitter for the Fall portion.

2007:
Originals by Cartoon Network:

1. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: 1088.5
2. Camp Lazlo: 1021
3. Ed Edd n Eddy: 862
4. My Gym Partner's a Monkey: 843.5
5. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy: 822.33
6. Ben 10 2005: 434
7. Codename Kids Next Door: 351.33
8. Courage the Cowardly Dog: 229
9. Class of 3000: 223
10. Squirrel Boy: 223
11. Chowder: 82.5
12. Dexter's Laboratory: 24.33
13. Johnny Bravo: 21.83
14. The Powerpuff Girls 1998: 13
15. Cow and Chicken: 7.33
16. Evil Con Carne: 6.17
17. Transformers Animated: 6

Originals by Warner Bros:

1. Xiaolin Showdown: 356
2. Teen Titans: 165
3. What's New Scooby Doo: 147
4. Baby Looney Tunes: 76
5. Krypto the Superdog: 74
6. Mucha Lucha: 43

Live action shows:

1. Goosebumps: 142
2. Out of Jimmy’s Head: 102

Acquired shows from others:

1. The Land Before Time: 102
2. Storm Hawks: 91
3. Code Lyoko: 52
4. Ellen’s Acres: 27
5. Robotboy: 19
6. Totally Spies: 14
7. Fantastic Four World's Greatest Heroes: 10
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003: 10
9. George of the Jungle 2007: 6
10. Team Galaxy: 5

Anime:

1. Pokemon: 846
2. Naruto: 396
3. Transformers Cybertron: 200
4. Yu-Gi-Oh: 111
5. Idaten Jump: 52
6. One Piece: 42
7. Pokemon Chronicles: 30
8. Dragon Ball Z: 29
9. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo: 26
10. .hack//Roots: 25
11. MAR: 18
12. The Prince of Tennis: 17
13. Zatch Bell: 3

Tickle U:

1. Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs: 65
2. Peppa Pig: 6

Classic cartoons:

1. Tom and Jerry: 450
2. A Pup Named Scooby Doo: 220
3. Scooby Doo Where Are You: 174
4. The New Scooby Doo Movies: 90
5. The New Scooby Doo Mysteries: 6

2007 was definitely a major transition point for Cartoon Network with the switch from Jim Samples to Stuart Snyder. Various longtime programming blocks such as Fridays, Cartoon Theater, and Miguzi ended this year. Initially using Friday Night Premiere Thunder as a temporary replacement, Fried Dynamite would become the new home for Friday comedy premieres by fall with a greater emphasis on live action. The movie block would be replaced by Movie Madness. The role of an afternoon weekday block from Miguzi would be replaced by Master Control in the fall, which in turn was replaced by Funny For Your Face (which also emphasized the new push for live action in the bumpers) by the end of the year.

The Tickle U preschool programming officially stopped airing on the channel and would be removed early into the year.

Adult Swim also increased in presence with July 6-7, 2007 officially marking when the block expanded into Fridays, officially airing every day of the week now.

On the anime side of things, Pokemon dominates in light of Cartoon Network recently gaining exclusive premieres for the franchise. Naruto also continues to be a Toonami favorite, often having times where it took up at least an hour’s worth of programming on the block. Kinda feels like the block was starting to skew toward Pokemon and Naruto more than the other shows by this point, with there even being marathons of the two shows that spanned 2-3 days.

After spending a couple of years getting less airtime (aside from A Pup Named Scooby Doo), the Scooby Doo content becomes more prominent again in the Fall half of the year with the various classic Scooby shows returning to the schedule.

After experimenting with live action acquired content for a couple years, Cartoon Network really started to embrace live action with their first original live action show in Out of Jimmy’s Head and airing constant marathons of Goosebumps during Halloween seasons. Even the bumpers begin reflecting this with the CN City branding being dropped in favor of the Fall rebrand in fall 2007 that emphasized live action in bumpers.

For the Cartoon Network originals side of things, the last three shows from the Cartoon Cartoons era with Ed Edd n Eddy, KND, and Billy & Mandy would air their final regular episodes this year with their remaining content after this year being either series finale TV movies or a special episode (in Ed Edd n Eddy’s case). And for KND, it seems it was starting to lose steam as one of Cartoon Network’s favorites around this time as well, being the first year I covered so far where it didn’t place in the top 5 most aired shows with even the third party shows such as Pokemon and Tom & Jerry surpassing it for airtime. In September and October, KND wasn’t even airing any reruns at all outside The Cartoon Cartoon Show block. Guessing the more story driven nature of the later episodes was making it harder to air reruns (not the last time this will happen to a story driven show on Cartoon Network), though at least the airtime was still okay enough in quantity despite not being at the top 5 anymore.

My Gym Partner’s a Monkey and Camp Lazlo begin to pick up the slack with KND and Billy & Mandy winding down, with the former even displacing KND from the top 5 most aired Cartoon Network originals and the latter displacing Billy & Mandy from the top 3.

Surprisingly, Courage the Cowardly Dog ends up gaining more airtime outside The Cartoon Cartoon Show despite ending years ago, even getting more than some of their newer stuff like Squirrel Boy and Class of 3000.

Class of 3000 also starts to wind down during the Fall portion of the year, with reruns also being removed outside the Christmas episode. Apparently, the creator cites that it wasn’t getting high enough ratings so guessing the show didn’t really gel as much as Cartoon Network hoped.

Chowder goes off to a great start and gets a solid amount for a show that only began in the final two months of the year.

Ben 10 2005 also gets a lot more exposure in the Fall portion of the year. Guess they were gearing up for the end of the original show and start of Alien Force (greenlit this year).

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I’m surprised how little KND was on. Xiaolin Showdown and Tom & Jerry were on more?!

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

They actually aired the New Scooby Doo Mysteries in 2007? That is surprising. It wasn’t one of the more aired Scooby shows even in the pre-City eras. Still, only three hours of airings isn’t that much. CN and Boomerang favored New Scooby Doo Movies excessively. With the long timeslot, poor animation, and dated celebrity cameos, it’s surprising that aired in over half as many slots as Where Are You.

Also, look how little they aired Team Galaxy. They spent $17 million on that show thinking it would be the new Totally Spies, then gave up on it after just a few episodes aired. Even New Scooby Mysteries aired more episodes than it in 2007. What a tumultuous period for CN.

‘Galaxy’ on Cartoon Network team

Cartoon Network has pre-bought animated kids series "Team Galaxy" from Marathon. The two-season package of 52 26-minute episodes is budgeted at $16 million-$17 million, making this animation project one of the most ambitious in production outside a major studio.

variety.com

 

[EdCNPowerpuffDrama]

That's a surprising amount of Out of Jimmy's Head. Makes it even worse that the series was lost media for so long.

Also this is the first time that I hear Class of 3000 had bad ratings. I thought it was the lawsuit that caused CN to start mistreating it and even remove it from the website entirely.

Either way thanks for these OP, your hard work and dedication is very much appreciated. Also props to the people on wiki for archieving these schedules.

 

[Red Arrow]

They actually aired the New Scooby Doo Mysteries in 2007? That is surprising. It wasn’t one of the more aired Scooby shows even in the pre-City eras. Still, only three hours of airings isn’t that much. CN and Boomerang favored New Scooby Doo Movies excessively. With the long timeslot, poor animation, and dated celebrity cameos, it’s surprising that aired in over half as many slots as Where Are You.

Also, look how little they aired Team Galaxy. They spent $17 million on that show thinking it would be the new Totally Spies, then gave up on it after just a few episodes aired. Even New Scooby Mysteries aired more episodes than it in 2007. What a tumultuous period for CN.

‘Galaxy’ on Cartoon Network team

Cartoon Network has pre-bought animated kids series "Team Galaxy" from Marathon. The two-season package of 52 26-minute episodes is budgeted at $16 million-$17 million, making this animation project one of the most ambitious in production outside a major studio.

variety.com

They didn't even give it a chance. Five episodes. I knew it was bad but I didn't realize it was that bad. It's like a reverse "sunk cost fallacy". You can't conclude from one week how popular a cartoon is.

 

[PinkieLopBun]

Also this is the first time that I hear Class of 3000 had bad ratings. I thought it was the lawsuit that caused CN to start mistreating it and even remove it from the website entirely.

I don't know how well how it rated exactly, and I can't find the link to where I saw this, but it was cancelled because it cost more to make than their other shows (Andre 3000 isn't cheap) and it wasn't doing well enough to cover that.

Also, I feel I should mention that CN won that lawsuit. It wasn't decided until well after the show went off the air, but I've heard before that they lost.

Writer Loses Claim to ‘Class of 3000’ Cartoon

(CN) – Cartoon Network and hip-hop artist Andre 3000 did not scoop the idea for the animated series “Class of 3000” from a man who claims to have pitched a similar series 15 years ago, a federal judge ruled. Andre 3000, one half of the popular duo Outkast, co-created “Class of 3000” with...

www.courthousenews.com

 

[Stumpos]

Also this is the first time that I hear Class of 3000 had bad ratings. I thought it was the lawsuit that caused CN to start mistreating it and even remove it from the website entirely.

The creator confirmed the ratings weren't good enough to justify the high production cost in this post:

https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/42346299/653147397

 

[PinkieLopBun]

The creator confirmed the ratings weren't good enough to justify the high production cost in this post:

https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/42346299/653147397

Yes, thank you. That’s exactly what I was trying to find earlier (although that’s not the creator, just someone that worked on it).

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I believe 2007 is when Courage returned to the channel for their October schedule, which did so well that it ended up staying on the regular lineup on and off for the next couple of years. I remember that it was kind of surprising that this was the Cartoon Cartoon that was sticking around, while Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls were relegated to The Cartoon Cartoon Show in the mornings.

As for Kids Next Door, I don't have concrete proof, but I've always had a feeling that the show fell from grace according to CN during its last couple of years as their attempts to make it the next Powerpuff in terms of merchandising never came into fruition. The same thing appeared to Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, although that was to a more extreme extent. It'd especially make sense at this point, when Ben 10 became their true moneymaker.

 

[JMTV]

I believe 2007 is when Courage returned to the channel for their October schedule

I thought it was 2006 through the Grim and Courage Hour.

Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls were relegated to The Cartoon Cartoon Show in the mornings.

That, and they got moved to Boomerang.

As for Kids Next Door, I don't have concrete proof, but I've always had a feeling that the show fell from grace according to CN during its last couple of years as their attempts to make it the next Powerpuff in terms of merchandising never came into fruition.

I guess my theory as to why KND wasn't a huge cash cow as CN hoped for, and this is pure speculation on my part since I don't have the concreate answers. While KND was decently marketable with the toys and the video games, it wasn't as lucrative as CN was looking for. If you think about it, KND is a Cartoon Cartoon, yes, always has and always will be, but it was a different kind of Cartoon Cartoon.

Let me put it this way. KND wasn't as hugely episodic as Foster's was nor wasn't hardcore slapstick comedy like Ed Edd n Eddy and Billy and Mandy. KND was episodic at first, but they become a lot more story driven as the series progress. Judging by schedules for CN in 2006 and 2007, it seems like CN didn't reran KND that often because of its story driven nature. Heck, the final season had a massive long gap between episodes, it was ridiculous. Then again, this is not the last time CN does something like this with their shows. We all know what happened with Steven Universe, but that's a whole another can of worms.

My guess is that when Ed Edd n Eddy and Billy and Mandy became huge success amongst the target demographic, CN wanted to focus more on episodic comedies since they have more longevity than story driven shows like KND. However, Ben 10 on the other hand. Despite not being episodic, the show was very bankable in terms of merchandising, and CN wants to milk it as much as possible.

Again, that's just my theory on the matter...
(And no, it's not a Game Theory either lol)

 

[Red Arrow]

The same thing appeared to Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, although that was to a more extreme extent.

Our local version of Cartoon Network kept airing the CN originals for years. For example, Sheep in the Big City aired from 2001 until 2007 and then again from 2012 until 2014.

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is an exception. It started airing in May 2005 and stopped airing in early 2007 (February, March or April) and never returned. It didn't even return in 2012 for Cartoon Network's 20th anniversary. I highly doubt Cartoon Network can still air it.

 

[Francisque]

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi was quite "mistreated" by most feeds I believe

I can't believe the City era graphics even contained that lol

It was one of the reasons in general that era did not last long: so many shows leaving and new one quickly being introduced

 

[Stumpos]

And now here's the 2008 breakdown on how often each show aired. Half hours are the measurement for this, 0.5 being a 11-minute segment and 0.33 being a 7-minute segment.

Same sources as 2007.

2008:
Originals by Cartoon Network:

1. Chowder: 607.5
2. Camp Lazlo: 494
3. Courage the Cowardly Dog: 450
4. The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: 403
5. Ben 10 2005: 351
6. Transformers Animated: 320
7. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: 281.5
8. My Gym Partner's a Monkey: 278.5
9. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy: 273.5
10. Ben 10 Alien Force: 272
11. Codename Kids Next Door: 159.5
12. Squirrel Boy: 148.5
13. Ed Edd n Eddy: 113
14. The Secret Saturdays: 96
15. Samurai Jack: 23
16. Dexter's Laboratory: 19.83
17. Johnny Bravo: 11.33
18. The Powerpuff Girls 1998: 10
19. Cow and Chicken: 2.33
20. Class of 3000: 2
21. Evil Con Carne: 1.67

Originals by Warner Bros:

1. What's New Scooby Doo: 269
2. Baby Looney Tunes: 175
3. Mucha Lucha: 64
4. Teen Titans: 29
5. Batman the Brave and the Bold: 16
6. Krypto the Superdog: 2
7. The Batman: 1

Live action shows:

1. Goosebumps: 117
2. Out of Jimmy’s Head: 89

Acquired shows from others:

1. Johnny Test: 981.5
2. Skunk Fu: 420
3. Total Drama: 395
4. George of the Jungle 2007: 371.5
5. The Mr. Men Show: 254.5
6. Robotboy: 151
7. 6teen: 146
8. Chop Socky Chooks: 146
9. Storm Hawks: 142
10. Star Wars The Clone Wars: 84
11. The Land Before Time: 81
12. Code Lyoko: 30
13. Totally Spies: 15

Anime:

1. Pokemon: 545
2. Bakugan Battle Brawlers: 218
3. Naruto: 137
4. Transformers Cybertron: 39
5. Blue Dragon: 22
6. Yu-Gi-Oh: 20
7. Dragon Ball Z: 12
8. One Piece: 11

Classic cartoons:

1. Tom and Jerry: 714
2. A Pup Named Scooby Doo: 144
3. Scooby Doo Where Are You: 140
4. The New Scooby Doo Movies: 60

Since this year was the first one I covered where the CN originals aren’t the most aired shows, here’s the top 5 most aired this year:

1. Johnny Test
2. Tom & Jerry
3. Chowder
4. Pokemon
5. Camp Lazlo

2008 marked a huge shakeup for Cartoon Network. It definitely had a record for the most amount of Cartoon Network originals that ended with 6 airing their series finales (KND, Billy & Mandy, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, Ben 10 2005, and Class of 3000) that year. With Class of 3000 especially, the only time it aired in 2008 was for premiering two final episodes on May 25 and disappearing afterward, leaving two episodes unaired in the United States.

On the premieres side of things, Fried Dynamite didn’t seem to gel with people so premieres for comedies would see a change. While the block persisted until September, the destination for premieres of comedy shows would now be on Har Har Tharsdays on Thursdays.

Adult Swim gains the 10 PM hour at the end of the year.

Toonami also becomes at its weakest state with the block just reduced to being half-Naruto, especially with the reduction to just 2 hours by October 2007. The line up of the final few months would be Naruto and repeats of Ben 10 Alien Force and Samurai Jack (which returned one final time on Cartoon Network). With the decline that had been happening for a while, it’s no surprise the block would see its end this year in September. While Saturday morning block Dynamite Action Squad (an extension of Fried Dynamite) would initially be the home for action cartoon premieres for shows such as Ben 10 Alien Force, Ben 10 2005, and Transformers Animated, a new action cartoon block would replace it in October with You Are Here on Friday nights.

Flicks also replaces Movie Madness as the new movie block this year.

As far as acquired shows go, Canadian imports begin to increase. While the previous year already introduced Storm Hawks and George of the Jungle, 2008 would see the Canadian cartoons expand more and become favorites of Cartoon Network, especially Total Drama and Johnny Test. Granted, Johnny Test being on the channel had some precedent since it was initially on Kids WB and Cartoon Network had a thing for airing Kids WB shows. It is still jarring how it ended up becoming the most aired show of 2008, the first year I covered where a non-Cartoon Network original took the top spot.

Summer sees the channel taking a huge revamp in programming. Most of the pre-2007 originals would be removed (aside from TV movie airings) around that time with only Camp Lazlo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Ben 10 2005 remaining (despite all three ending by that time), with Billy & Mandy eventually returning in October too. And this was despite My Gym Partner’s a Monkey and Foster’s Home still having episodes on the shelf at that point, with no reruns outside of TV movie airings and holiday events. This wasn’t helped by The Cartoon Cartoon Show block ending in July, eliminating an outlet for the Cartoon Cartoons to air.

At that point, the only premieres the pre-2007 originals had left would either be specials (Destination Imagination for Foster’s Home, Underfist for Billy & Mandy, Big Picture Show and the only season 6 episode for Ed Edd n Eddy, and the Thanksgiving episode for My Gym Partner’s a Monkey) or episodes burned off in one day events (My Gym Partner’s a Monkey’s final 3 on July 27 and Foster’s Home’s final 5 on May 3 of the following year). The Thursdays block even reflects this night and day transition of January-May vs June-December with the March-May lineup including the final seasons of Foster’s Home, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, and Out of Jimmy’s Head and the June onward lineup being Flapjack and the Canadian import cartoons, with Chowder as the only constant in all this. Interesting how the first half’s dominant shows were Camp Lazlo, Courage, My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, and the Scooby Doo franchise and the second half shifting the power to Johnny Test, Chowder, Flapjack, and the Ben 10 franchise.

Chowder would start to get a HUGE increase in airtime though and become one of the few that was holding things together for the in-house productions, with Flapjack joining and becoming an instant favorite too. The Ben 10 franchise also begins to grow more at this time between both Ben 10 shows getting lots of airtime. Still, the amount of originals had gone down by a lot with only 5 producing new episodes by the end of the year (though a sixth series in Adventure Time had been greenlit around this time).

Thankfully, Out of Jimmy’s Head fizzled out quickly and was removed shortly after airing its only season. The branding would also switch from the live action Fall bumpers to the animated Nood bumpers, so aside from airing Goosebumps on Halloween, their live action was dwindling in the second half of the year outside movies. Not that it stopped them from doing live action shows again.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

I had checked out of the CN part of the channel besides Toonami by this point. There is a lot here that surprised me. I knew Johnny Test was infamous for airing a lot, but I didn’t realize it was by far their most aired show in 2008. Tom and Jerry being second place also shocked me. CN was not really focused on older shows at this point, so having it on more than anything besides Johnny Test was unexpected. I also didn’t realize how much CN had burned off their older shows. It seems like the transition from Samples to Snyder is in a very rough patch here, with most of the remnants of the previous era being phased out. It will be interesting to see the next year. CN real is infamous, but did the shows actually air that much?

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I thought it was 2006 through the Grim and Courage Hour.

Yes, I think you're right in hindsight.

I guess my theory as to why KND wasn't a huge cash cow as CN hoped for, and this is pure speculation on my part since I don't have the concreate answers. While KND was decently marketable with the toys and the video games, it wasn't as lucrative as CN was looking for. If you think about it, KND is a Cartoon Cartoon, yes, always has and always will be, but it was a different kind of Cartoon Cartoon.

Let me put it this way. KND wasn't as hugely episodic as Foster's was nor wasn't hardcore slapstick comedy like Ed Edd n Eddy and Billy and Mandy. KND was episodic at first, but they become a lot more story driven as the series progress. Judging by schedules for CN in 2006 and 2007, it seems like CN didn't reran KND that often because of its story driven nature. Heck, the final season had a massive long gap between episodes, it was ridiculous. Then again, this is not the last time CN does something like this with their shows. We all know what happened with Steven Universe, but that's a whole another can of worms.

My guess is that when Ed Edd n Eddy and Billy and Mandy became huge success amongst the target demographic, CN wanted to focus more on episodic comedies since they have more longevity than story driven shows like KND. However, Ben 10 on the other hand. Despite not being episodic, the show was very bankable in terms of merchandising, and CN wants to milk it as much as possible.

Again, that's just my theory on the matter...
(And no, it's not a Game Theory either lol)

I'm not entirely sure if we'll know just why Kids Next Door fell out of fashion, but I do think that being more action-oriented was an initial plus for the show's commercial potential. Those are the kind of series that Cartoon Network has always tried to push for toys, like Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, Generator Rex, Adventure Time or Steven Universe. That may have made it appear more marketable than Ed, Edd n Eddy or Billy & Mandy, even if those eventually ended up being more consistent in the ratings due to, as you mentioned, KND's push towards an overarching storyline.

As for 2008, I do not have great memories of this period for Cartoon Network. The decreasing space for their originals, increasing space for live-action and Toonami's slow, eventual death turned me off, although part of that was also just my age. Not that I was against a good cartoon- Chowder and Flapjack kept me tuned in, Total Drama Island was a breath of fresh air for a minute, and while I missed Toonami, The Secret Saturdays and Brave and the Bold won me over. The "lost" EEnE episode was another win, one that had me wish that we could have had that sixth season alongside the movie.

This was a grim period, but not without its highlights.

 

[Mejo]

Does anyone know why Tom and Jerry and A Pup Named Scooby Doo were the only classic cartoon mainstays on the channel during this time?

 

[JMTV]

I'm not entirely sure if we'll know just why Kids Next Door fell out of fashion, but I do think that being more action-oriented was an initial plus for the show's commercial potential. Those are the kind of series that Cartoon Network has always tried to push for toys, like Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, Generator Rex, Adventure Time or Steven Universe. That may have made it appear more marketable than Ed, Edd n Eddy or Billy & Mandy, even if those eventually ended up being more consistent in the ratings due to, as you mentioned, KND's push towards an overarching storyline.

Sure, that's fair. I can understand your sentiment.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I’m gobsmacked that Tom & Jerry was the second most played show. To be fair I didn’t really watch the channel at their time. The only time I purposefully tuned in was to watch the lost episode of Ed Edd n Eddy.