Guys seriously it’s over for CN

[RandomMe]

CN is not dead per se, but it just has to find a new strategy to promote itself on non-linear platforms: because, let's face it, like it or not like it, linear TV will be dead or a shell of its former self in a few years

At times it seems it's not even trying it, it just seems to survive out of nostalgia: sometimes not even that

Besides, living almost exclusively out of existing IPs is a sign of desperation. Even some of the new streaming releases are poorly advertised.

 

[Francisque]

Besides, living almost exclusively out of existing IPs is a sign of desperation. Even some of the new streaming releases are poorly advertised.

A product of our times: current older children seem to watch more stuff "not properly intended to them" than traditional children's programming.

Or they still watch a lot of cartoons too, but sometimes more "mature" at that (this has partly always happened, but not to this extent).

Which is to say, there's a gap between preschooler content and teen content these days: while I appreciate the return of some IPs, it's obvious they often cater (not necessarily but often the case) a nostalgic older audience than children

 

[RandomMe]

A product of our times: current older children seem to watch more stuff "not properly intended to them" than traditional children's programming.

Or they still watch a lot of cartoons too, but sometimes more "mature" at that (this has partly always happened, but not to this extent).

Which is to say, there's a gap between preschooler content and teen content these days: while I appreciate the return of some IPs, it's obvious they often cater (not necessarily but often the case) a nostalgic older audience than children

That and kids obsessed with The Amazing Digital Circus. I don't know if it's a 12+ show but you get the idea.

 

[wonderfly]

HOWEVER, @PicardMan the fact of the matter is that very little original cartoons under the main CN brand are being produced. That is a problem that goes far beyond the cable channel and needs to change. And it’s not like they’re promoting the ones they are making, like Iyanu, very well either.

But look at all of the original content on Netflix/Hulu/Youtube! (come join us on the Streamtopia forum!).

The one thing I'll agree on is that there is a deficiancy in cartoons aimed at kids who are "older than pre-school" and "younger than adult". It's a separate discussion from Cartoon Network's fate, but we need to rediscover cartoons aimed at kids age 8 to 13 again. Or maybe "cartoons aimed at ages 12 to 16" (like Batman the Animated Series and Gargoyles). Sophisticated kids shows.

 

[RandomMe]

But look at all of the original content on Netflix/Hulu/Youtube! (come join us on the Streamtopia forum!).

The one thing I'll agree on is that there is a deficiancy in cartoons aimed at kids who are "older than pre-school" and "younger than adult". It's a separate discussion from Cartoon Network's fate, but we need to rediscover cartoons aimed at kids age 8 to 13 again. Or maybe "cartoons aimed at ages 12 to 16" (like Batman the Animated Series and Gargoyles). Sophisticated kids shows.

As hinted in other threads, the 7-13 demographic doesn't have enough tailor-made shows nowadays. I wonder if the rise of the median age of a CN viewer leads to a new generation of underage Adult Swim viewers, now that it starts at 5pm, which seems to be larger than its heyday when it started at like 10pm. Kids are still awake at 5pm, of course, but fall asleep much later, thanks to smartphones and laptops.

 

[MTAF1976]

Smiling Friends got a HUGE amount of viewers. Like over 300k.

300k is less than what random 7 AM reruns would get 10 years ago. That being the "best" number shows how far cable TV has fallen

 

[Leviathan]

But look at all of the original content on Netflix/Hulu/Youtube! (come join us on the Streamtopia forum!).

The one thing I'll agree on is that there is a deficiancy in cartoons aimed at kids who are "older than pre-school" and "younger than adult". It's a separate discussion from Cartoon Network's fate, but we need to rediscover cartoons aimed at kids age 8 to 13 again. Or maybe "cartoons aimed at ages 12 to 16" (like Batman the Animated Series and Gargoyles). Sophisticated kids shows.

To be honest, I think adult online cartoon fans are more invested in shows like Wylde Pak or StuGo than their actual supposed kids target audience.

I mentioned in General that Skibidi Toilet and The Amazing Digital Circus have warped what kind of cartoons modern kids take to. Unless network execs catch on and start greenlighting shows like those, and fast, they're gonna have a real hard time getting school-aged kids to come back.

 

[RandomMe]

300k is less than what random 7 AM reruns would get 10 years ago. That being the "best" number shows how far cable TV has fallen

Yeah, back then that's when most kids would be awake and would watch TV before going to school.

 

[[Tails swim]]

Yeah, back then that's when most kids would be awake and would watch TV before going to school.

Yeah , that's what I was doing since I do remember watching the tv channel before school

 

[RandomMe]

Yeah , that's what I was doing since I do remember watching the tv channel before school

Same here. It used to be the same around the world.

 

[CyberCubed]

Does CN still play Teen Titans Go for like 20 hours a day? I guess that's why its dead.

 

[RandomMe]

Does CN still play Teen Titans Go for like 20 hours a day? I guess that's why its dead.

Not that much as it was at its apex. It has a more varied schedule last time I checked, even though it's just reruns of a bunch of shows.

 

[RegularMan]

If anything, Nickelodeon would be the first to die considering its overreliance on established, abnormally successful IPs. As well as losing their main live-action factory due to… well-known reasons…

Disney Channel is not going away anytime soon, they’re still releasing cartoons and series on the regular. They’re arguably the one of the big three that has co-existed most successfully with its streaming counterpart. The most they’d do is get rid of XD. Disney has ALSO shut down international feeds and yet we’ve heard nothing about the US channel??? Almost as if that doesn’t matter…?

Maybe the change in presidency of CN will be a wakeup call and inspire them to start putting effort into their content again.

 

[RandomMe]

Maybe the change in presidency of CN will be a wakeup call and inspire them to start putting effort into their content again.

I know it's a slim possibility, but let's hope it happens.

 

[RegularMan]

I really don’t think this is about the cable channel as much as it is the brand in general. When its own SUB-BRANDS are being promoted more than it, that is a sign that *there is a problem.*

We can’t act as if WBD are doing anything to push streaming as the channel’s new home when shows are being removed from streaming en masse, including most of its flagship series TTG, and the original series of properties they are literally trying to revive! Imagine that: it is (or at least was for a time, I don’t know if they’ve added it back yet) easier to find Regular Show on linear TV in the US than on HBO Max! That’s completely backwards and shows that they can’t be bothered. Not to mention how the service still has yet to launch in major markets…

 

[RandomMe]

I really don’t think this is about the cable channel as much as it is the brand in general. When its own SUB-BRANDS are being promoted more than it, that is a sign that *there is a problem.*

We can’t act as if WBD are doing anything to push streaming as the channel’s new home when shows are being removed from streaming en masse, including most of its flagship series TTG, and the original series of properties they are literally trying to revive! Imagine that: it is (or at least was for a time, I don’t know if they’ve added it back yet) easier to find Regular Show on linear TV in the US than on HBO Max! That’s completely backwards and shows that they can’t be bothered. Not to mention how the service still has yet to launch in major markets…

The mismanagement, coupled by the shutdown of the CN Studios building and the downsizing of CN Studios to a label, to an extent where CN Studios produces minimal output, seems to be the cause.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

At this point, there needs to be a new way to do things.

 

[SpecialColorfull]

At this point, there needs to be a new way to do things.

THIS. There needs to be a DEFINITELY new way of doing things. Either laws to help nurture kids shows, or a genuinely groundbreakingly new way of doing things.

 

[RandomMe]

THIS. There needs to be a DEFINITELY new way of doing things. Either laws to help nurture kids shows, or a genuinely groundbreakingly new way of doing things.

I have high hopes for that.

 

[PicardMan]

Maybe one thing that kid's animation could do is get rid of the Hay's Code like rules the medium has. Children's literature has no such restrictions. Take 1977's Bridge to Terabithia for example. Cartoon Network could not create a faithful adaptation without breaking the major taboos of children's cartoons. It contained the words "damn" and "hell." It has death. It discusses religion and other sensitive topics. Kids are probably abandoning kids cartoons because they are so sanitized. With how permissive parents are (when I was at the Demon Slayer movie, there were loads of toddlers), the rules make less and less sense in the modern day. In Japan, Demon Slayer is for kids. Granted, maybe American cartoons going full Demon Slayer is a bit too extreme, but maybe kids' cartoons getting a little edgier is okay. Cartoon Network used to push boundaries with Naruto, Regular Show, and Total Drama Island. Maybe it's time to push boundaries again.