Why is Cartoon Network going through with airing Wolverine and the X-Men, anyway?

[Antiyonder]

And no this is not a thread bashing the show. I'm refering to the reason why Justice League Unlimited ended (from "The Watchtower Weblog"):


As for Cartoon Network, it largely boils down to money. In regards to animated television properties, the companies get their money from licensing and marketing, and Cartoon Network gets more money back from their own homegrown shows than they do shows that are from other studios (or utilize characters owned by other companies). So, even though Cartoon Network and DC Comics are both owned by the same parent company, CN still needs to pay licensing fees to DC to use their characters.

And no, I'm not complaining about the show being over. I'm using it to explain my question. Other instances:

1. Teen Titans is currently weekend only.
2. Fantastic Four has barely finished the episodes it has.
3. I believe Ben10 was made so they could use the "Dial H For Hero" approach without having to get DC Comics involved with the show.

And no, I'm not against their non comic book programming. I'm just curious as to why they're paying to do another comic book based show when they don't makes as much as the animes and/or Cartoon Network originals. Cause it seems even if the show performs well, it probably won't air as often as any other show premiering later this year.

[owner2637]

Uh, I want you to stop listening to DarthGonzo, if he comes here, tell him,
he's not allowed. He's gonna apologies to me for treating me like a two-
year old.

[EscaflownePilot]

I kind of wondered that myself. I mean, in a way, it feels like a big kick in the pants for them to say, "Hey, yeah, we're not going to do Teen Titans and JLU anymore because they cost too much in licensing. Enjoy Ben 10" and then not much later, say, "hey, yeah, here's some Marvel stuff. Enjoy."

Marvel may have much more lenient licensing policies, but even so, there's a small part of me that doesn't set well with this.

[DarthGonzo]

They're probably going through with it because X-Men and Wolverine are apparently still popular. They must feel that it's worth the expense. If they didn't they wouldn't be airing it.

[EscaflownePilot]

I would make the same argument for Superman and Batman, though, to justify JLU's expense.

I'm quite excited for the new series, but there's still a small part of me that feels like it's a bit of a kick in the pants to DCAU fans.

Also, DarthGonzo... you're not allowed in here, dude. Didn't you see the sign on the door? No poo-poo heads allowed. :sweat:
[/sarcasm]

[Antiyonder]

I'm quite excited for the new series, but there's still a small part of me that feels like it's a bit of a kick in the pants to DCAU fans.

My problem is more the fact that even if it does well it will end prematurely or like with JLU the new episodes will air once and be moved to Boomerang.

[Draft]

Hmmm, The X-Men Franchise made $1Billion+ worldwide this decade, plus the somewhat sucess of X-Men Evolution on KWB/CN added with the wolverine and possible magneto movies would make for a catastrpohic popular show.

Plus who thoguht Fantastic Four was gonna succeed anyway?

And we don't know Marvel has CN pay them for usage of characters.

Don't forget, Teen titans was on its last legs because it hit 65, and there is no WB funded DCAU show that has gone past 65 eps in the past 10 years. and JLU wasn't getting the ratings in the demo i thoguht i read, just with older viewers as yourselves.

[Antiyonder]

And we don't know Marvel has CN pay them for usage of characters.

The info I gave states that CN gets more from their own shows than from shows based off existing material. And again they had to pay to use DC characters even though WB owns both CN and DC Comics, so I doubt Marvel would just give their characters away.


Don't forget, Teen titans was on its last legs because it hit 65, and there is no WB funded DCAU show that has gone past 65 eps in the past 10 years.

I was refering to the fact that they don't rerun the episode enough, and 65 episodes do lend themselves to a 5 days a week rerun. Yet, Pokemon Chronicles which only has 22 episodes does air daily. That's of course since anime is cheaper, and I believe aren't as costly as other Non-Cartoon Network originals. That should of course prove Teen Titans isn't anime.

[Conan-san]

Anything with Wolverene gets eaten up reagardless of it's quality cuz he's bloody Wolverene (I dunno, is it equivant to...how...no, I have no comparison).

[bigddan11]

Hmmm, The X-Men Franchise made $1Billion+ worldwide this decade, plus the somewhat sucess of X-Men Evolution on KWB/CN added with the wolverine and possible magneto movies would make for a catastrpohic popular show.

Plus who thoguht Fantastic Four was gonna succeed anyway?

And we don't know Marvel has CN pay them for usage of characters.

Don't forget, Teen titans was on its last legs because it hit 65, and there is no WB funded DCAU show that has gone past 65 eps in the past 10 years. and JLU wasn't getting the ratings in the demo i thoguht i read, just with older viewers as yourselves.

Fantastic Four returns this June. According to sources here at Toon Zone, the earlier showing was only a test run.

As for why they continue with Wolverine and the X-Men, I'd say it deals with ratings and toy sales. If a show is made top sale toys, it isn't always as expensive as those made solely to entertain. Most of JL and JLU was made to entertain, not to sale toys, whereas toy sales increase the money a company gets, so they don't have to sale the distribution rights as high.

Then again, it could be because X-Men Evolution and the Marvel movies have all had decent ratings on CN.

[livingfruitvirus]

I kind of wondered that myself. I mean, in a way, it feels like a big kick in the pants for them to say, "Hey, yeah, we're not going to do Teen Titans and JLU anymore because they cost too much in licensing. Enjoy Ben 10" and then not much later, say, "hey, yeah, here's some Marvel stuff. Enjoy."

Marvel may have much more lenient licensing policies, but even so, there's a small part of me that doesn't set well with this.

Then how about DC quits being asses and charging such licensing fees from their own sister company? I bet this crap doesn't happen at Viacom.

Kyle Baker said it best. DC is in the business of owning properties, not making comics.