Toons of the 2000s: The End of Broadcast Kids TV (3 Parts)
TMC
If I turn on my local CW station at 7am, I'll see their local news. If
I turn on the local MyNetwork station at 3pm, I'll see Maury telling
some poor soul he's the father. If I turn on the local Fox-owned
station at 10am on a Saturday, I get to see an infomercial. In 2000,
all three of these stations were airing cartoons at the times I just
mentioned; today, none of them do. Ten years ago, three networks were
offering new programming on Saturday mornings; today, there is only a
single provider. What was unthinkable a generation ago has come to
pass - if ad-supported broadcast kids' TV is not completely dead, then
it is certainly on its deathbed.
To be fair, the end of broadcast kids' TV is not a new phenomenon. Its
roots can be traced back to 1992, the year NBC decided to drop
cartoons in favor of news and teen-oriented shows. By 1999, the
marketplace was in clear decline. Syndication was all but dead, and
CBS had decided to drop out as well. Most of the big networks were now
airing educational-oriented programming for the majority of their
Saturday morning schedules, as a result of the FCC's new E/I
regulations.
Still, the differences are quite stark. Here's a list of networks
offering kids' programming in 2000:
Fox Kids (new series)
Kids' WB (new series)
ABC/Disney (new series, E/I focus)
NBC (TNBC, E/I)
CBS/Nick Jr. (E/I)
And here's what you can see today:
The CW4Kids (new series)
ABC/Disney (E/I, Disney repeats)
NBC/Qubo (E/I)
CBS/Cookie Jar (E/I)
You'll note that, save for ABC, none of the networks or programming
blocks that existed in 2000 exist in 2009. Only CW (the merged WB and
UPN) is providing a traditional, non-E/I Saturday Morning lineup, and
that's leased to 4Kids. ABC is almost entirely Disney Channel repeats
badged as E/I, with the exception of Power Rangers - which many
affiliates simply don't show and is concluding at the end of the year
anyway. CBS and NBC are all E/I shows aimed predominantly at
preschoolers, and those are sandwiched around news. You'll also note
the absence of Fox, which used to air Fox Kids and then 4Kids before
ending that contract earlier this year. It's out of the business, and
its replacement by infomercial advertising speaks volumes.
This is just counting the wreckage of Saturday mornings. Weekdays are
even worse - no network airs kids' programming Monday through Friday.
The kids' programming that does air is usually E/I and sandwiched at
weird hours of the day. So how has a once thriving landscape turned
into a desert?
The slow death of Fox Kids
By 2000, there were really only three competitive broadcast kids'
blocks: Fox Kids, Kids' WB, and Disney's 1 Saturday Morning franchise.
CBS had signed into a deal with Nelvana to produce the CBS Kidshow,
and NBC was still plugging their long-running TNBC block.
Fox and WB were still running kids' blocks on weekday afternoons, but
their programming emphasis had long shifted to Saturday mornings by
the turn of the decade; weekday afternoons were mainly repeats of
shows with long runs. That isn't to say there weren't a few attempts
to make weekdays worthwhile. Fox Kids tried a block of anime imports
on Friday afternoons at one point. Kids WB made several attempts to
give the weekdays their own brand, including an ill-conceived idea to
use the "Toonami" branding on its otherwise unrelated afternoon
block.
But at Fox, the kids' network was looking increasingly like a nuisance
rather than a legitimate part of the weekday schedule. Part of this
was due to the overall evolution at the Fox network itself. When Fox
Kids was launched in 1990, Fox was a small band of independent
stations, which thrived on kids' programming and sitcoms. It was a
logical move to add that type of programming to the new network.
But by 2000, Fox was no longer an upstart. It had hits like The X-
Files. It was airing the Super Bowl and the World Series and had a
robust sports department. Fox even had a news department in the form
of Fox News Channel on cable; FNC would break in on the main network
in cases of breaking news. In other words, Fox was now operating like
a traditional network.
By 2001, Fox had become an established network, and its affiliates
were increasingly looking like traditional network affiliates as well.
Some of them, in fact, were former ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates that
had made the jump to Fox after the network scored its legendary NFL
coup in 1994. These stations made their money from soap operas and
talk shows in the afternoon and profitable local news in the evenings.
Most of them wanted nothing to do with kids' programming, and many of
the new stations shunted Fox Kids to lesser-watched independent
stations. Even the Fox-owned stations turned away from kids'
programming, towards syndicated programming and ever-expanding news
lineups. Nearly all of them were doing expanded morning news shows at
the turn of the decade; many of them have since started evening
newscasts.
The network's growing affiliate base wanted this very non-traditional
programming block gone from their lineups. Cullie Tarleton, then head
of the Fox affiliate board, echoed the sentiment of the majority in
saying, "It's not working for us and it's not working for them...
fundamentally, we want out of the kids business." An initial
concession was made towards the affiliates - Fox Kids weekdays was
moved from its longtime 3-5 spot to an earlier 2-4 time period,
freeing up the crucial 4pm hour.
Fox was stuck with its kids' block partially as an obligation to its
fledgling cable network, Fox Family. Technically, the Fox network was
not running Fox Kids. Fox Family, a separate joint venture between Fox
and Haim Saban, was in charge of the programming block.
The short and turbulent life of Fox Family is a fascinating story in
and of itself. The joint venture was essentially one misfire after
another. Under its watch, Fox Kids tanked in the ratings, relying only
on the aging Power Rangers and Digimon franchises. Fox Family never
gained any traction after the new ownership canceled every show on the
former Family Channel. An effort to make separate Boy and Girl
networks achieved publicity and criticism, but almost no distribution.
Fox Family was struggling and Fox and Saban decided to bail. Fox
Family was sold to Disney for nearly $3 billion dollars in what is
widely regarded as one of Michael Eisner's biggest mistakes.
Fox kept the US Fox Kids block, but Disney now owned virtually all of
the programming still airing on it. This was enough to make Fox
finally relent to affiliate pressure. The last weekday Fox Kids block
aired December 28, 2001. Fox then put the remaining Saturday block up
for sale; 4Kids Entertainment, producers of Pokemon, won the bidding.
Fox Kids breathed its last on September 7, 2002; 4Kids' FoxBox
premiered the next week. After 11 years, Fox was done programming for
kids.
And now, this message about your local station...
Ever wonder why court shows, talk shows, and local news shows litter
the schedules of your local Fox and CW affiliate? They're cheaper to
produce. Court shows and talk shows can be set up for comparatively
little money. Revenue from these shows is split between the syndicator
and the local station, although the local station keeps most of the
money. Local news is even cheaper; the station cuts out the middleman
entirely and gets to keep all of the money it takes in during the
broadcast.
Most viewers are familiar with the networks rather than the local
stations, but the stations have a lot more clout than most of you
think. NBC's recent decision to move to Jay Leno to 10pm for five
nights a week has been accompanied by a lot of nervousness from their
affiliates. As you saw above, as Fox grew in stature, the makeup of
its affiliate body changed dramatically. Most of the network's
stations took on the character of the bigger former network affiliates
that joined the fold.
And if the stations weren't former network affiliates, increasingly
they were owned and controlled by the more established stations. The
Telecommunications Act of 1996 eased limits on television station
ownership and made possible the concept of a duopoly - that is, one
company owning two television stations. Most duopoly relationships
operate like the one in Philadelphia, where CBS owns both KYW-3 and
WPSG-57. Generally KYW, the CBS affiliate, runs WPSG, the CW station,
and the stations share programming. The effect is one station running
on two different channels.
You might think that duopolies would be more conducive to cartoons.
You would be dead wrong. A 2006 study by Children Now examined a
number of affiliates, studying both duopolies and independently owned
stations. The duopoly stations showed significantly less children's
programming overall than the non-duopoly stations.
http://blog.toonzone.net/blogs/120/toons-of-the-2000s-the-end-of-broadcast-kids-tv---part-2/
Kids' WB: That's All Folks?
Things looked rosier over at Kids' WB, thanks mostly to the ongoing
success of Pokemon, the resources of Warner Bros. Animation, and the
general oversight of WB Network boss Jamie Kellner. But as Fox Kids
was in its extended death throes, The WB was undergoing turmoil of its
own. The infamous AOL Time Warner merger had just completed.
The new regime attempted to rearrange AOL Time Warner's vast empire in
a more synergistic way. The WB moved from Warner Bros. Entertainment
to Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta; Jamie Kellner moved with the
network and became the new president of the enlarged division. The new
boss wasted little time in cleaning house, from refocusing TBS and TNT
to axing its unprofitable wrestling company.
Then there was the matter of the kids' side. Turner already had
Cartoon Network. WB brought in Kids' WB. The two networks began to
work closer together than in the past; a single ad sales team
represented both the cable network and the broadcast side. Programs
developed for Kids' WB began running simultaneously on Cartoon
Network, and vice-versa.
However, the two networks were not combined into one entity and
operated quite separately. This was clearly demonstrated not long
after the merger, when Toonami "expanded" from Cartoon Network to
Kids' WB. Everyone is familiar with the Cartoon Network original,
which packaged action animation with slick drum-n-bass, nice CGI, and
an overall cool attitude. Kids' WB's version, a spectacular misfire,
simply took the name and CGI and pasted it on top of the existing
weekday lineup. It lasted a year.
Kids' WB stayed with the same programming strategy that made it
successful. For most of the decade it remained the #1 broadcast kids'
lineup, although declines in viewership began to accelerate towards
the middle of the decade.
Yet the affiliates began to grumble. The same changes that happened at
Fox were happening over at WB as well. There were no affiliation
switches, but more and more stations were duopoly partners, programmed
by stations with little affection for kids' programming. At the same
time, the advertising market for kids began to soften. Spending was
moving to cable, and the FCC was adding tougher restrictions to
advertising on children's programming.
As Fox did, WB caved to the pressures - but unlike Fox, it kept the
time slot for itself. January 6, 2006 was the last weekday for Kids'
WB. On January 9, off-network repeats filled the 3-5pm block as
Daytime WB. Fifteen days after that, Les Moonves and Barry Meyer
walked onto a stage together and shook the broadcasting world to its
core.
The announcement of the CW came on the same day that Disney announced
it would buy Pixar and was no less significant. The WB and rival
network UPN would be shut down, and one new network would air the best
programming from both its parents. That programming included Kids' WB,
transferring over with the same name and branding - no change was made
to reference CW.
Yet the end was near. Advertisers continued to avoid the broadcast
kids' business in favor of cable. The CW wasn't doing very well. Close
government scrutiny toward children's advertising in general began to
scare some longtime advertisers away. Amid these three factors, the
new network threw in the towel and sold the timeslot to 4Kids, the
same company that was running the programming on Fox. For the first
time ever, no network was programming its own Saturday morning cartoon
block.
Of course, Kids' WB didn't completely die, it just moved. Not long
after the block died in television form, Warner Bros. resurrected
Kids' WB on the internet. While new shows aren't being made for the
revived brand yet, various Warner Bros. programming, both past and
present, is available to view. Kids' WB has even returned to
television; Comcast and other cable systems are making the programming
available as an on-demand stream. It's not the end of Kids' WB so much
as it is a new beginning.
After These Messages...
Advertising and kids' television have long had a symbiotic
relationship. To a lot of people, the commercials that aired on kids'
programming are just as important as the actual cartoons themselves.
In some cases, they are one and the same - witness Transformers, GI
Joe, and countless other toyetic cartoons. Yet few other sectors of
advertising are scrutinized and criticized as closely as kids'
advertising is. Countless studies have been done on just what is
marketed to children and if it is really good for them.
When it tightened its federal regulations, the FCC set strict limits
on the amount of commercials that were allowed to air during kids'
programming. Stations can air no more than 12 minutes per hour of
commercials on weekdays, and on weekends this limit shrinks even
further to just 10.5 minutes. To put in perspective how limiting this
is for stations, the general average these days is 16 minutes of
advertising time per hour. A loss of 4 minutes might be nothing to
viewers, but it's tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue to
stations.
Furthermore, limits are set on just what can be advertised. Say a
station is airing Transformers. During one commercial break, it airs a
commercial for a Transformers toy. In the FCC's view, that episode of
Transformers has just turned into an infomercial, and the station has
just earned itself a hefty fine. The agency is particularly strict
about this and will fine stations even if the network - not the
station - is the one that violated the rules.
With these strict limits, it's not surprising that most of the ad
money is going away from broadcast kids' TV and over to cable. The FCC
controls all aspects of over-the-air television, but it does not have
any oversight on cable. There are no limits to what can be advertised
or how much can be advertised during programming. Nickelodeon might
have a slightly smaller reach than CW, but it can air more advertising
- and that makes it a more effective vehicle for sponsors.
Overall cultural pressures have also contributed: primarily the
growing concern about obesity in the nation's youth. The cereal
companies are the most prolific advertisers to children. The cereal
companies are also some of the more scrutinized advertisers to kids.
When the chief products being advertised are Frosted Flakes and Cocoa
Puffs, it's easy to see why.
Remember that key advertiser that stopped buying ads, influencing the
CW to sell the time to 4Kids? That key advertiser was Kellogg's, which
decided to drastically cut its ad spending towards children. Kellogg's
is virtually synonymous with children's advertising. A large part of
its image was built up through Toucan Sam, Tony The Tiger, and other
assorted cereal mascots. If the cereal company was not the largest
advertiser on kids' networks, it certainly was near the top, and the
loss of ad money from Battle Creek was not an insignificant number.
ABC and the Mouse
When Disney bought ABC in 1995, one of the possibilities dreamed up by
analysts was the impact of Disney on the Saturday morning lineup. In
family entertainment there is no bigger name, and a Disney-branded
Saturday morning lineup would make ABC a player in kidvid with
relatively little cost.
That did happen, but not in the form that many people would think.
ABC's kids' lineup eventually became 1 Saturday Morning, an ambitious,
all-Disney animated block that featured hosts and a virtual set.
Instead of the adventure shows that characterized the Disney
Afternoon, ABC's lineup consisted largely of cartoons with a more
realistic focus, largely complying with the FCC E/I regulations. 1
Saturday Morning was a success, and ABC finally became competitive.
For awhile.
While 1 Saturday Morning was taking up residence on ABC, the Disney
Channel was being reinvented. New, mostly live-action programming
targeted towards an older, more feminine audience began to
characterize the channel. On the back of such shows as Kim Possible,
Even Stevens, and eventually Hannah Montana, Disney outgrew Cartoon
Network to become a serious challenger to Nick.
By 2000, 1 Saturday Morning was decaying as Disney Channel rose in
prominence. The hosts and virtual set were gone by this time, and the
amount of new series and episodes decreased each year. Suddenly, a
large portion of 1 Saturday Morning was now "powered by Zoog", and
featured the name and shows of Disney Channel's largest programming
block - all badged as E/I.
In 2002, 1 Saturday Morning was retired in favor of the more
descriptive ABC Kids. The new block's first - and last - significant
additions were Fillmore (the last cartoon produced specifically for
ABC) and the newly acquired Power Rangers. The latter show obviously
cannot be considered as E/I; consequently, affiliates frequently pre-
empt, reschedule, or even refuse to carry the franchise.
ABC's level of commitment to its block has decreased to the point of
non-existence. A weekend Good Morning America replaced an hour of ABC
Kids in 2004. The lineup is now entirely Disney Channel programming,
and no significant changes have been made to the lineup in several
years. Even Power Rangers, displaced from Disney XD, is ending;
repeats of the original 1993 series will fill the hour taken up by new
episodes.
ABC and Disney are sending a clear message: broadcast is an
afterthought. The good stuff is on cable.
A 500 Channel Universe?
You have probably noticed one recurring theme: cable is more lucrative
than broadcast. Stations claim, "There's no reason for us to program
kids' stuff if it's more readily available on cable." Networks claim,
"There's no reason for us to program kids' stuff because we own the
cable networks."
Amongst executives, there's near-universal agreement that cable has
done a better job of catering to the kids audience. That's to be
expected - the cable networks can run kids' programming during times
that broadcast outlets can't or won't run it. Nick can run Spongebob
at 5pm each weeknight; Cartoon Network can run Flapjack in primetime.
Part of CN's initial marketing pitch was "people will watch cartoons
at night; it's just that nobody else has done it."
There are more networks airing kids' programming these days; during
the 1990s most homes had access to Nick, CN, and Disney. Now, a
typical kid has access to not only the aforementioned trio, but Nick
Jr., Nicktoons, TeenNick, Boomerang, Disney XD, PBS Kids Sprout,
Discovery Kids, and a host of others. Most of the big premium services
offer their own family-oriented channel. On average, a cable
subscriber has access to 10-15 services.
However, there is a catch. While there are more channels, a bunch of
them are controlled by Nick, CN, and Disney. Nick has four distinct
channels, and CN and Disney have two each. Now, most of these channels
do have their own focus. Disney's two channels serve girls and boys
while Nick's channels serve different age groups or niches, but it's
still essentially the same guy signing the checks. Even if a
subscriber is on the high end of that 10-15 range I mentioned, you're
still looking at roughly half of the available channels belonging to
these three entities.
This is where things get a little troubling. All of these various
channels produce and market new programming each year, as that's where
the money comes from. Inevitably, the networks look to their own
individual production arms for exclusive programming and not just for
cost convenience. They want to own these properties. The advertising
revenue that SpongeBob takes in is insignificant compared to the
billions Nickelodeon has made from merchandising and licensing the
character.
Networks tend to gravitate towards these types of properties. As a net
result, fewer cartoons come from fewer studios. A studio that has
these outlets - a Warner, a Disney, a Nick - then thrives at the
expense of the smaller, independent studios that don't get the best
timeslots and don't get the best stations. Contrast this with the Fox
Kids lineup of 1994 which included entries from Warner, Saban,
Nelvana, DiC, Hanna-Barbera, and Sunbow - nearly all of them in prime
spots.
Is this more choice? Or simply the illusion of choice?
http://blog.toonzone.net/blogs/121/toons-of-the-2000s-the-end-of-broadcast-kids-tv---part-3/
The Other Guys
NBC and CBS were footnotes on Saturday mornings in 2000; they remain
footnotes in 2009. Only the names have changed.
NBC was a non-factor for nearly a decade, having chosen to bow out of
cartoons in 1992 to focus on a teen audience with its live-action TNBC
block. That worked for awhile, until the Saved By The Bell gravy train
finally ran its course. September 2002 saw NBC lease the block to
Discovery, which aired its live-action Discovery Kids programming on
the block. Cartoons finally returned to NBC in 2006 when Qubo launched
on Saturday mornings. Qubo is a joint venture between NBC, ION Media
Networks, Classic Media/Big Idea, Scholastic, and Corus/Nelvana. In
addition to NBC, it broadcasts its own digital channel, on-demand
service, and even Spanish programming on Telemundo.
CBS got a new owner in 2000 - Viacom, which owned Nickelodeon. The
existing CBS Saturday block was swiftly canceled in favor of preschool
Nick Jr. programming. In 2002, CBS and Nick tried to put general Nick
shows alongside the preschooler stuff, but two years later it was
entirely Nick Jr. again. This lasted until 2006, when Viacom split
into two companies, one with CBS, the other with Nickelodeon. CBS
needed a new partner, and it found one in DiC. DiC and CBS then found
another title sponsor.
September 16, 2006 saw the grand debut of the KOL Secret Slumber Party
on CBS. The block was aimed towards girls and consisted mostly of
repeats of old DiC programming. KOL pulled out of the block at the end
of the first season. CBS and DiC found another new partner in American
Greetings and renamed the block KEWLopolis. Then DiC got bought out by
Cookie Jar. The new owners have scheduled reruns of old DiC and Cookie
Jar series and renamed the block to the more sensible Cookie Jar TV.
Funny names aside, all of these blocks have one thing in common: the
programming was entirely E/I.
This show is brought to you by the letters 'E' and 'I' (and also the
letters 'F', 'C', and 'C').
The designation "E/I" comes up a lot with children's programming (it's
appeared a lot in this article). The letters stand for "educational"
and "informative" and are used to signify programming that counts
towards federally mandated quotas on such programming. All television
stations in the United States are required to air three hours per week
of E/I between the hours of 7am and 10pm. The FCC is very strict in
its enforcement of this mandate.
The FCC's stronger enforcement role began in 1990, with the passage of
the Children's Television Act. That legislation introduced the 3 hour
quotient. Originally, the stations were responsible for designating E/
I programming. Predictably, their idea of "educational and
informative" was GI Joe and The Flintstones, mentioned by name in a
Children Now study of the E/I regulation. Needless to say, GI Joe does
not portray an accurate depiction of the military, nor does The
Flintstones accurately portray prehistoric life.
If the local stations weren't going to abide by the rules properly,
the FCC was going to make them. In 1996, the agency toughened its
enforcement of the rules considerably. Not only did shows have to meet
a certain standard, they had to be identified as such. E/I programming
had to be clearly delineated with a special animation or on-screen
graphic. These limits have only increased this past decade; now all E/
I programming has to carry a bug for the entire duration of the show.
The limits also apply to all multiplex channels, so the weather radar
loop on channel 6.3 is required by law to carry E/I programming.
Stations don't really want to air such programming, especially with
the advertising restrictions touched on earlier. Nor do they want to
give up the lucrative revenue stream of their existing programming.
This left one possible outlet: Saturday mornings. To help the
affiliates out, the networks have largely switched to mostly or
entirely E/I compliant lineups.
It's questionable whether the FCC has proven effective in its mission.
On the one hand, there are more truly educational shows available on
broadcast television than ever before. However, there are shows where
the E/I designation is dubious at best. The FCC has also failed in one
area. It had hoped that the 3 hour requirement would be a building
block upon which local stations would air more programming. This is
decidedly not the case; many television stations carry the bare
minimum three hours and nothing more.
Can the downfall be blamed entirely on E/I? No.
Is E/I certainly a factor? Yes.
4Kids: The Sole Survivor
One company has benefited from the shakeout. For better or for worse,
4Kids Entertainment is the only provider of a classic, entertainment-
oriented Saturday morning lineup in the United States.
Headed by Al Kahn, the former licensing company found its pot of gold
when it adapted the phenomenally popular Pokemon series for US
consumption. That property, along with Yu-Gi-Oh, brought the unknown
company millions in revenue, making it one of the top children's
entertainment companies. With this cash, it swooped in to take over
Fox's Saturday Morning lineup.
Initially, 4Kids' programming was marketed under the name Fox Box.
Most of its properties consisted of Japanese imports, such as Ultimate
M.U.S.C.L.E. and Kirby. Domestic programming slowly increased over
time, notably with the addition of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
animated series. Still, the bulk of programming remained dubbed anime
based on either existing licenses or video games. An overall
rebranding exercise resulted in the Fox Box being renamed as 4KidsTV
in 2005, but it was a name change more than anything. Things carried
on normally until 2007, when the CW announced that Kids' WB was on its
way out.
The only thing more surprising than the announcement of Kids' WB's end
was the news that 4Kids was replacing it. This created the interesting
situation of a single company programming two Saturday morning
schedules on competing networks. This predicament lasted for just
about 6 months. The transition from Kids' WB to the new block, named
CW4Kids, was seamless. 4Kids did not cancel the entire lineup as it
did on Fox; elements changed over gradually. For a few months,
programming from both Kids' WB and 4Kids co-existed until the new
network took over completely.
Behind the scenes, the company's relationship with Fox was crumbling.
The same clearance problems that plagued Fox Kids plagued 4Kids TV.
The block was shuffled around, aired on non-Fox affiliates, and in
some markets was not shown at all. 4Kids argued that Fox was not
making good on its promise to give 4Kids TV to 90% of its affiliates.
Fox, in turn, argued that 4Kids was not paying them. Lawsuits were
filed and settled out of court; as a result of the settlement the
relationship between the two companies was terminated. 4KidsTV ended
as 2008 came to a close, with its shows moving over to CW or online to
4Kids.tv.
Fox, for its part, was done with kids' programming. The affiliates
would have to make up the E/I requirements themselves, on their own
time. Two hours of programming were returned to the affiliates, while
the network kept two hours for something called Weekend Marketplace.
For the first time in history, paid programming was placed onto a
national network schedule. That infomercials are more lucrative than
cartoons is quite telling.
4Kids survives on the CW, but it's unknown for how long. The company's
fortunes are in decline; in 2008, 4Kids recorded a $36.8 million net
loss. It ceded the US rights for the anime One Piece to Funimation,
and recently sold its stake in the lucrative Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles to Nickelodeon. Still, Al Kahn has shown tremendous tenacity
in the past. It's tough to count his company out, especially in the
colorful world of children's broadcasting.
Are We Better Off?
There are two ways to look at it.
We are better off in a strict quality sense.
We've come down in quality a bit from the 1990s, but there are still
more quality shows to view on television than in decades previous. The
new companies still put value in creative, individual visions. For
every mass-produced video game adaptation, there's an Avatar, a
Spongebob, or a Kim Possible.
We're not better off in the strict sense of choice.
The most insidious trend of the 2000s has been the move towards
gigantic media companies that own everything they can, from cable
networks to television stations. The predictable result is fewer
voices in the media. Either they get their programming from Nick,
Disney, Warner Bros, or 4Kids, or they get no programming at all. And
they only get those four choices with cable; otherwise, it's 4Kids or
essentially nothing.
The Perfect Storm
Everything can ultimately be distilled down to this one paragraph. The
FCC not only imposes a quota on educational programming, but also
restricts the amount of advertising allowed for all children's
programming - E/I or not. Advertisers, hamstrung by both these
regulations and strong cultural pressures on what gets marketed to
kids, cut their ad spending. Stations aren't making much profit from
cartoons, so they turn to programming that makes them money. If the
stations aren't airing cartoons and E/I programming, then the networks
have to, and since they're not making much money anyway, they sell
that responsibility to the highest bidder.
That's the root of all of this. Money. The television business lives
and dies by the advertising dollar. As that advertising dollar shifted
away from broadcast kids' TV, the stations began dropping it. There
was alternate programming readily available elsewhere which generated
more money than cartoons.
Essentially, the broadcast kids' TV business became unprofitable. And
that's depressing.