June 18, 2001: The day Betty Cohen (then President of Cartoon Network) stepped down

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http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#.UUqz9NvpdMI

Betty Cohen was the President of Cartoon Network from the beginning
way back in 1992. She stayed in that position until June 2001. Over
that time the network grew from being hardly noticed or talked about
to being one of the most talked about and easily recognizable networks
of all time. The original programming was creative with shows such as
the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab and the classic animation kept
fans always wanting more. The glory days looked to be going on forever
until June 2001. On June 18, Cohen announced that she would be
stepping down as President of Cartoon Network, but would continue to
stay with AOL/ Time Warner until August 2002. Things would never be
the same after this. Bradley Siegel was her successor and under him
things began to take a nosedive.

How do you think things would have been today had Betty not stepped
down on June 18, 2001. Do you think we would still be in the state we
are in today with the network or do you think things would be better?

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4098682

As far as I'm concerned, allot of really awesome stuff was produced
after 2001

Grim Adventures (yes, I know Grim and Evil started in 2000, but things
really didn't kick-off until Grim Adventures became a spin-off), Megas
XLR, and Fosters were all post 2001 shows, and are in my opinion some
of the best stuff the network ever put out

Not to mention, if was after 2001 that Adult Swim launched, and gave
us such jewels as The Venture Brothers, 12 Oz Mouse, Moral Orel, The
Boondocks, Metalocalypse, and SuperJail!

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4098689

Never heard of Betty Cohen until now, so thanks for bringing this up.
Personally, this seemed like an end of the era for the Network. They
had many great CN Originals out and they were now moving to the CCF
Fan Votes, PPG movie and a new era with new shows, such as KND, Billy/
Mandy and three years later, Foster's, Camp Lazlo etc. and the new
network rebrand. I personally feel the network would have been better
without the change, but I can't imagine CN without Foster's, KND,
Billy/Mandy (even though it was Grim/Evil at the time) and all those
shows. Have to think that we wouldn't have seen the cancellation of
Courage or see Sheep in the Big City and a couple others neglected.
Plus, I doubt we would've had that crazy Looney Tunes situation when
we didn't see it for 5 straight years and regularly until 2011.

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4098698

Originally Posted by SaneMan
As far as I'm concerned, allot of really awesome stuff was produced
after 2001

Grim Adventures (yes, I know Grim and Evil started in 2000, but things
really didn't kick-off until Grim Adventures became a spin-off), Megas
XLR, and Fosters were all post 2001 shows, and are in my opinion some
of the best stuff the network ever put out

Not to mention, if was after 2001 that Adult Swim launched, and gave
us such jewels as The Venture Brothers, 12 Oz Mouse, Moral Orel, The
Boondocks, Metalocalypse, and SuperJail!

I will say she probably had reasons for leaving the position
whether they were good or not, whether she had any say in it, and
whether it was her idea or someone else's, the post does not explain
therefore I shall refrain from any judgement on whether or not this
question is even worth pursuing
The reason she stepped down was because of various disagreements and
disputes with then new head of AOL/ Time Warner, Jamie Kellner (the
man responsible for pulling the plug of WCW). I can't remember the
specific reason, but I think it had something to do with the network's
programming as well as discontinuing Kids WB!. There's a source
somewhere that explains in better detail, I'll try and find it.

Also, if Betty Cohen was president since the channel's start then when
did Samples come into the picture? After Cohen's successor? Was he
even president?

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4098740

Originally Posted by GPRailroad8794
EDIT: The particular link I was searching for wouldn't come through,
but here's a consolation one.

Betty Cohen Stepping Down as President of Cartoon Network Worldwide to
Pursue Next Venture Within AOL Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting Family.
- Free Online Library
Have you tried digging through The X Bridge's archive? Is this what
you're looking for?

Anyway, yes, the merger between AOL and Time Warner was the catalyst
for CN's transformation in 2001. It turned out to be a major financial
blunder, causing the newly formed conglomerate to cut back on its
funds. Ted Turner (one of ATW's largest stockholders) was removed from
his post at Turner Broadcasting and Jamie Kellner was promoted to his
position. It was a strategic move to merge The WB and Turner under one
roof so the guys up top could afford one television arm instead of two
separate ones.

Of course, it wasn't meant to last. ATW's stock continued to plummet
and AOL's subscriber base dwindled to a trickle due to bad customer
service and slow adaptation to newer and better Internet services. The
WB and Turner became separated again after only two years and Time
Warner has practically disowned AOL. Their name was removed from the
company name in 2003, and they were split off in 2009.

Could this have been averted? Actually, I think so. They made the
mistake of AOL buying Time Warner instead of the other way around. The
small fish tried to consume the bigger fish and dealt with indigestion
as a result. If they had done it in reverse, the buyout wouldn't have
cost so much ($164 billion = YIKES!) and it wouldn't have caused so
many problems.

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4098754

Originally Posted by Daikun

Have you tried digging through The X Bridge's archive? Is this what
you're looking for?

Anyway, yes, the merger between AOL and Time Warner was the catalyst
for CN's transformation in 2001. It turned out to be a major financial
blunder, causing the newly formed conglomerate to cut back on its
funds. Ted Turner (one of ATW's largest stockholders) was removed from
his post at Turner Broadcasting and Jamie Kellner was promoted to his
position. It was a strategic move to merge The WB and Turner under one
roof so the guys up top could afford one television arm instead of two
separate ones.

Of course, it wasn't meant to last. ATW's stock continued to plummet
and AOL's subscriber base dwindled to a trickle due to bad customer
service and slow adaptation to newer and better Internet services. The
WB and Turner became separated again after only two years and Time
Warner has practically disowned AOL. Their name was removed from the
company name in 2003, and they were split off in 2009.

Could this have been averted? Actually, I think so. They made the
mistake of AOL buying Time Warner instead of the other way around. The
small fish tried to consume the bigger fish and dealt with indigestion
as a result. If they had done it in reverse, the buyout wouldn't have
cost so much ($164 billion = YIKES!) and it wouldn't have caused so
many problems.
Not the link I was looking for but this is even better, thanks! Wasn't
expecting such a detailed breakdown of how it went down but the whole
ordeal was explained perfectly. Time Warner is still trying to recover
fully from the failed merger aren't they?

EDIT: One thing that confused me though, all throughout the article it
was mentioned how Kellner favored WB because of his involvement with
it. At one point it says that he hated WB before going back to talking
about how he was ripping off Toonami's image to make Kids WB look
good. Other than that, good article that defines an elementary error
that could've easily been avoided. Kind of sad having to think of what
Cartoon Network could have been had this not happened.

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/cartoon-network-cartoon-forum/302353-june-18-2001-day-betty-cohen-then-president-cn-stepped-down.html#post4099107

Jamie Kellner was the cause of CN unraveling- he should've been fired,
a long time ago. Jim Samples did a pretty good job, but Stuart Snyder
plunged the network into a deeper abyss. On that note, Snyder needs to
go, Robert Sorcher can't be trusted, so give CN exec Donna Speciale
the network presidency- she could run the network the way it's
supposed to be run and put TV show ratings ahead of mnerchandising
profit, if you know what I mean.