The 13 “Deaths” of Cartoon Network (Editorial)

[Leviathan]

I think it was in the podcast Betty Cohen did. It was mentioned that when Turner merged with Time Warner, all the Hanna-Barbera and classic cartoons ended up on the Warner Bros. side of things and Turner had to start paying WB to air them on Cartoon Network. That is what prompted investment into the Cartoon Cartoons.

As funny as this promo was, in retrospect, it was a warning sign of CN pushing the new at the expense of the old.


This was airing in tandem with Toon Heads and Late Nite Black and White.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Dear Mr. Internet, there are too many streaming services nowadays. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot.

Are you trying to make fun of me?

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I'm going to say it: I kind of liked Fridays. The wraparounds weren't animated but it was still kind of fun, with the Big Guy Shimmies, Whiskers the Cat Who Can Name Fruits, etc. It reminded me of Nick's Weinerville but with a bigger budget. Plus I loved the Fridays intro.

If it's true that CN has had many "deaths" and could have more, then I actually want this iteration of CN to "die" so we can fast forward to what comes after it.

While I didn’t like it as much as CCF, I still would say I liked Fridays especially at first when it was more coherent and less of a remix. I do recall some interactions with animated character early on, but maybe I’m just experiencing the Mandela effect.

That's fair. I can understand that CCF was on its last legs in late 2002 where they didn't have any new hosts. I mean, they easily add KND onto their roster to shake things up. Or heck, even Billy and Mandy. Sadly, they didn't, and I'm bitter about it because that would've been so cool.

I guess maybe because of management shifts going on at CN at the time and wanted to geared towards kids. Plus, with animation being expensive, they decided to make something cheaper to replace CCF. To be fair, CN Fridays did put a lot of effort into it.

In my mind, I justified the change as opening up the doors to non-Cartoon Cartoon originals like Teen Titans and Kids WB shows to be featured.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Are you trying to make fun of me?

No, I was just trying to be funny in this instance. I don't disagree with your point.

 

[PicardMan]

A cable network for cartoons is beyond irrelevant now and it seems like a theoretical streaming service like Cartoons Plus would be the future of cartoons. Cartoons are essentially second class citizens on every streaming service not named Disney +, so it seems like it's time for a Cartoon Plus to replace Cartoon Network.

 

[JMTV]

In my mind, I justified the change as opening up the doors to non-Cartoon Cartoon originals like Teen Titans and Kids WB shows to be featured.

Pretty much. I mean to be fair, What's New Scooby Doo aired on CCF was a hint to what things to come.

A cable network for cartoons is beyond irrelevant now and it seems like a theoretical streaming service like Cartoons Plus would be the future of cartoons. Cartoons are essentially second class citizens on every streaming service not named Disney +, so it seems like it's time for a Cartoon Plus to replace Cartoon Network.

Well, I mean, you're not wrong. If this is how WBD felt about Cartoon Network at this point, they might as well become irrelevant.

 

[Daikun]

As funny as this promo was, in retrospect, it was a warning sign of CN pushing the new at the expense of the old.

Holy cow! I forgot all about that commercial!
Well, now I know where Dtoons got its inspiration.

 

[Leviathan]

A cable network for cartoons is beyond irrelevant now and it seems like a theoretical streaming service like Cartoons Plus would be the future of cartoons. Cartoons are essentially second class citizens on every streaming service not named Disney +, so it seems like it's time for a Cartoon Plus to replace Cartoon Network.

Nick, CN and Disney have been hitched to a particular web of revenue streams. Sell ad time on cartoons targeted to boys 6-11, who will then buy toys and other merchandise, and the cartoons can be rerun, syndicated and sold on VHS/DVD.

All the components of that are faltering, mostly because of streaming. But the executives in charge have no clue about how to fix things, so they're content to just stay the course to diminishing returns.

 

[PicardMan]

All the components of that are faltering, mostly because of streaming. But the executives in charge have no clue about how to fix things, so they're content to just stay the course to diminishing returns.

Disney Plus knows how to do succeed in the cartoon business, but Max and Paramount Plus seem to be lagging behind a bit. Max seems to treat everything that isn't adult comedy like crap. Paramount Plus is an interesting topic to talk about. They famously purged Star Trek Prodigy, which is the worst mark against them. Ark: The Animated Series seemed like it was a huge flop despite having huge names in the voice cast. It seems like Paramount Plus will rely on long running action cartoon franchises like TMNT and Transformers, so I guess they are doing marginally better than Max when it comes to cartoons. I guess Paramount Plus gets a C- for their current cartoon content.

 

[Leviathan]

Disney Plus knows how to do succeed in the cartoon business, but Max and Paramount Plus seem to be lagging behind a bit. Max seems to treat everything that isn't adult comedy like crap. Paramount Plus is an interesting topic to talk about. They famously purged Star Trek Prodigy, which is the worst mark against them. Ark: The Animated Series seemed like it was a huge flop despite having huge names in the voice cast. It seems like Paramount Plus will rely on long running action cartoon franchises like TMNT and Transformers, so I guess they are doing marginally better than Max when it comes to cartoons. I guess Paramount Plus gets a C- for their current cartoon content.

I'm not sure about Disney+. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur getting a Season 3 is tied to it hitting some insanely impossible streaming metrics.

 

[PicardMan]

I'm not sure about Disney+. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur getting a Season 3 is tied to it hitting some insanely impossible streaming metrics.

That's kind of a surprise as Netflix seems to give cartoons more slack when it comes to renewal. A live action show can chart for weeks on end and still get cancelled, but a cartoon can not chart at all and still be considered a massive hit. Well, even Disney Plus when it launched seemed to try to oversaturate the market with live action Marvel and Star Wars shows and those seemed like their priority over cartoons. Linear Disney Channel also has a long history of being 90% live action kidcoms 10% cartoons, so it's probably best to say that Disney Plus/Channel is merely the least bad platform for Western animation in the 2020s. Cartoons from the 1990s-2010s thrived so well because of Saturday morning blocks and cable channels; now it seems like a cartoon focused streaming service where the toons aren't second class citizens to live action content is the best way to help animation as a medium.

 

[Leviathan]

CN execs can't seem to make up their minds about what they want.

https://fixupx.com/Acuna_Mattata/status/1796733753651327185

https://fixupx.com/breanimator/status/1796735927278072171

 

[JMTV]

CN execs can't seem to make up their minds about what they want.

https://fixupx.com/Acuna_Mattata/status/1796733753651327185

https://fixupx.com/breanimator/status/1796735927278072171

Honestly, this whole situation is so frustrating to me.

Preschool content ain’t cracking the kids, yet YA content is Adult Swim territory.

It’s effing aggravating! It’s like, what do you guys want at this point?

 

[Ace]

CN execs can't seem to make up their minds about what they want.

https://fixupx.com/Acuna_Mattata/status/1796733753651327185

https://fixupx.com/breanimator/status/1796735927278072171

Was this during Tom Aschiem or Michael Ouwuleen's tenure? It could have been at completely different times.

but it makes sense for why there aren't any new CNS originals at this point. Most of them are for Adult Swim and preschool seems to have flopped.


but also Cartoon Network is a kids 6-11 brand and it's pretty much one of the worst hit demographics in the ratings. Kids networks but especially Cartoon Network have only skewed younger when kids are really off watching YouTube and playing games like Roblox finding things that better appealed to them.

I don't think they helped themselves either going against their established reputation of being the "cooler edgier network" to being perhaps more restrictive than either Disney or Nickelodeon.

 

[JMTV]

Was this during Tom Aschiem or Michael Ouwuleen's tenure? It could have been at completely different times.

During the Tom Aschiem era, CN was looking for preschool and family content to synergize HBO Max. Once Discovery took over, Micheal Ouweleen wanted to make CN a general audience channel for young adults, leading to scrap preschool and family content altogether. And the HBO Max purge didn’t help either.

but also Cartoon Network is a kids 6-11 brand and it's pretty much one of the worst hit demographics in the ratings. Kids networks but especially Cartoon Network have only skewed younger when kids are really off watching YouTube and playing games like Roblox finding things that better appealed to them.

I don't think they helped themselves either going against their established reputation of being the "cooler edgier network" to being perhaps more restrictive than either Disney or Nickelodeon.

All of this could easily avoided if CN was just a general audience channel meant for young adults instead of kids, but nope. WBD decided to give the crown to Adult Swim because of higher ratings and ad revenue.

 

[PicardMan]

I don't think they helped themselves either going against their established reputation of being the "cooler edgier network" to being perhaps more restrictive than either Disney or Nickelodeon.

Which makes the moving of action cartoons to Adult Swim all the more confusing. These shows seem absolutely tame compared to what DBZ or Naruto had. The idea of seeing cartoon characters bleeding was absolutely scandalous and kids flocked to see the novelty of seeing cartoon characters bleed. It does seem like Cartoon Network's standards and practices did change their mind about the p bomb in Regular Show as it was censored in later airings and the uncensored version might be lost media. I don't see any optimism in terms of action, comedy, or dramedy and I wonder if they plan on being a rerun farm like most of cable. It does seem like as bad as it looks for animation on cable networks, live action scripted programming is pretty much dead except for reruns. Actually for once, cartoons on cable have it better than live action.

 

[JMTV]

I wonder if they plan on being a rerun farm like most of cable.

I hope not. CN better needs new shows right now because what they are doing is not working.

 

[PicardMan]

I hope not. CN better needs new shows right now because what they are doing is not working.

Being a rerun farm seems to be working with most of cable. Comedy Central is content with being The Office channel. TBS is fine with being a Friends, Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon channel. USA is comfortable with being the Law and Order: SVU channel. Cable abandoned live action scripted originals and I'm surprised cable animation has lasted as long as it has. So far, adult comedy is the only genre of animation Max cares about, so it doesn't seem like Cartoon Network's animation would transition to Max after the Infinity Train debacle.

 

[Goldstar!]

I don't think Cartoon Network going back to being Rerun Central would be a good idea at all. I know that there are some folks out there that liked it when CN was a retirement home for old cartoons and hated it when the channel started producing original programming, but what these people tend to forget is that CN wasn't making any real money as the Hanna-Barbera Reruns Channel.

The problem with nostalgia is that it has a limited shelf. Thing always start out OK, but then after a while, people get tired of watching the same old shows every day and then reaching for the remote to see what else is on. The only way for that formula to work would be for network to constantly shuffling its lineup, replacing some shows with others in order to keep the schedule from becoming stale.

@JMTV is right. The Cartoon Network part of the channel already is Rerun Central, and no one is watching it. Sure, you can make the argument that the other basic cable channels are comfortably airing reruns also, but no one is watching them either. WB could conceivably bring Boomerang back to CN, but I don't see that helping the channel in the long run.

 

[Silverstar]

WBD has already partnered with Weigel Broadcasting to make the ultimate cartoon rerun farm, MeTV Toons. (And no, I'm not bad-mouthing MeTV Toons, I really hope it does well; just pointing out that they've already stated in a presser that MTVT has zero plans to develop any original shows like Cartoon Network did; all classics and no originals is MeTV's brand.) The only way I could see CN becoming a rerun farm working would be if they went all-out and put a huge chunk of CNS' originals on there. The launch of Checkered Past (and it's apparent fizzling out in such a short time) seems to indicate that WBD has no such plans.

All signs point to the same conclusion: this current regime inherited this big, lumbering thing that they clearly have no idea what to do with. One's mileage will vary on the Tom Ascheim era of CN, but he/they at least had a clear cut vision for the network: Ascheim was seriously building CN and HBO Max to be Warner Media's hub for Kids and Family Entertainment both animated and live-action. Discovery doesn't know nor do they understand what they have with Cartoon Network and the people at the top clearly have no idea what they want it to be. One person claims they want to "crack the kids' market" while another says he wants CN to target 29 year olds. As it is now, CN is split into two halves, one side which targets 5-11 year olds and the other which now is aimed at teenagers to adults; meanwhile you also have the international CNs and Boomerangs, which are just as schizophrenic in different ways, and several of these countries don't even have an Adult Swim block, while over here it's the only part of CN that's making money and attracting eyeballs.

Cartoon Network (and Warner Media in general) has never had the kind of across-the-board brand unity that Disney and Nickelodeon have, and now it's really starting to bite them in the arse.