I wonder WHY?

[stargirl]

Well, I completely understand that CN isn't as great as it used to be, but what I don't completely grasp is WHY and HOW they got to where they are.
Was it JUST the Nickelodeon ratings-madness, or was it something else deeper than that - did someone just come into CN Studios and take over, etc.?

This is a question that has been on my mind for some time now; just thought I'd leave it out in the open.

[danreyes1]

Many people point the blame to Jamie Kellner's takeover of the network. Adult Swim was created, thereby giving them an excuse to divide the network from an all-ages network into two groups, the adults being occupied at night, while catering to an exclusively 12 and under club the rest of the day. Ratings started becoming a bigger issue than quality.

However, try not to complain. Apparently that's been outlawed around these parts... *shifty eyes*

[Silverstar]

No offense meant to you, but do you know how many "What's wrong with the current CN" threads there have been here? Hundreds, literally hundreds. This topic comes up at least once a week.

There are a number of factors that led to the CN that we have now, but overall, the biggest factor was money. Cartoon Network wasn't making a ton of cash as the Hanna-Barbera Reruns Lightly Sprinkled with Looney Tunes and MGM Toons Channel, so they began introducing original programming such as the Cartoons-Cartoons, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, and eventually Toonami and [adult swim].

It was during this period that someone in charge came to the realization that kids have more buying power and equal more ad revenues than anyone else, so CN began reformatting itself by aiming its' programming at children specifically, whereas before Cartoon Network had been a general channel aimed at animation lovers which was merely safe for children to watch. It was around this point that [as] was created and eventually split from CN to become its' own entity in 2005, and all of the classic cartoons were systematically taken off of the network and were either relocated to Boomerang or simply locked away in the vaults.

Then came the live-action boom on the rival kids' networks: the influx of tweencoms like Lizzie McGuire, Phil of the Future, Hanna Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Drake and Josh, iCarly, and the unstoppable juggernaut that is High School Musical. It was around this point that the big wigs in charge of CN wanted desperately wanted to get a piece of that sweet, sweet candy (i.e., Nick/Disney ratings and money) and thus began mutating CN into what is now with the live-action movies, promises of tokusetsu series down the line, the advent of Goosebumps and the 'live-action sitcom' abomination that everybody loves to hate commonly known as Out of Jimmy's Head.

Someone else could probably elaborate on this better than I, but that's it in a nutshell. As always, it all breaks down to the pursuit of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

[Dr.Pepper]

CN became jealous of Nick and wants to be just like them. That's why it is breaking its promise of all cartoons and making cheap bumpers and low quality shows.

[Racattack!Force]

No offense meant to you, but do you know how many "What's wrong with the current CN" threads there have been here? Hundreds, literally hundreds. This topic comes up at least once a week.

There are a number of factors that led to the CN that we have now, but overall, the biggest factor was money. Cartoon Network wasn't making a ton of cash as the Hanna-Barbera Reruns Lightly Sprinkled with Looney Tunes and MGM Toons Channel, so they began introducing original programming such as the Cartoons-Cartoons, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, and eventually Toonami and [adult swim].

It was during this period that someone in charge came to the realization that kids have more buying power and equal more ad revenues than anyone else, so CN began reformatting itself by aiming its' programming at children specifically, whereas before Cartoon Network had been a general channel aimed at animation lovers which was merely safe for children to watch. It was around this point that [as] was created and eventually split from CN to become its' own entity in 2005, and all of the classic cartoons were systematically taken off of the network and were either relocated to Boomerang or simply locked away in the vaults.

Then came the live-action boom on the rival kids' networks: the influx of tweencoms like Lizzie McGuire, Phil of the Future, Hanna Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Drake and Josh, iCarly, and the unstoppable juggernaut that is High School Musical. It was around this point that the big wigs in charge of CN wanted desperately wanted to get a piece of that sweet, sweet candy (i.e., Nick/Disney ratings and money) and thus began mutating CN into what is now with the live-action movies, promises of tokusetsu series down the line, the advent of Goosebumps and the 'live-action sitcom' abomination that everybody loves to hate commonly known as Out of Jimmy's Head.

Someone else could probably elaborate on this better than I, but that's it in a nutshell. As always, it all breaks down to the pursuit of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Whoa...that actually pretty much sums up the basic thoughts of most of the people on this forum. :sweat:

[Umandsf]

Not to mention enlighten people who stopped watching the channel due to time and not quality and didn't return until a few years later, not knowing what exactly had happened.

Thanks.

[Lavenderpaw]

and the unstoppable juggernaut that is High School Musical

I have to say that Hannah Montana is as popular as HSM.

Guys,it's being made into some gosh awful 3D movie!:shrug:

[Silverstar]

I have to say that Hannah Montana is as popular as HSM.

Guys,it's being made into some gosh awful 3D movie!:shrug:

To me, Hanna Montana is more like The Thing That Wouldn't Die. :o

[Nexonius]

To me, Hanna Montana is more like The Thing That Wouldn't Die. :o



Don't worry, once Disney finally pulls a High School Musicrap TV show out of their Mickey Mouse gloves, that will probably destroy HM. OR, it could be the end of Children's TV as we know it with Nick and Cartoon Network waving their orange and black and white flags to do Disney's bidding.




Back on topic, right now CN is trying to find its image again. As the Writer Strike continues, CN is one of the only networks can actually redeem themselves as CARTOON Network, without live action being their most prized possession.


You see, take it like if you was a nerd in Middle/High School:


Nick is the rebellious Cool Kid On The Block (#1 Kids Network), with their click (Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Barnyard, Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Dora The Explorer, Go Diego Go!, The Wonder Pets! and The Backyardigans), Disney is the Goody Goody Jock with his crew (Hanna Montana, HSM, Raven,Wizards Whatever, Cory In The House, Phineas and Ferb, TENS, and The Replacements), while CN is the other (Nerd), trying to succeed with their crew (Foster's, The Eds, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Gym Partner, Camp Lazlo, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Totally Spies!, Chowder, George Of The Jungle, and Transformers Animated). Meanwhile, Nick and Disney has been "bullying" CN with their success on their shows (Spongebob, iCarly, Hanna Montana, HSM), CN wants to be cool just like them, like trying out bad drugs (live action) with Out Of Jimmy's Head, but they forget one thing: they've been there before CN, and CN just can't beat them at their own game. They have to realize they're The Cartoon Network, not The Nick/Disney Network. It doesn't matter if you're third (Ok, maybe it does, SOMEtimes). But you're supposed to be "The best place for Cartoons" (even though it may be mostly new cartoons), not "G4 and Spike TV for kids". Even though they need it, it's not supposed to be about just ratings. Ratings does NOT have children keep watching your shows, it's the Quality that has children keep watching your shows.

[Umandsf]

Exactly! Why can't these people see these? Too many people thinking that money=success. Maybe that's why I don't know what to study. I'd rather spend my time doing something I enjoy than get paid a lot for something I hate to do...

Okay, not the perfect analogy, but yours was.

[Racattack!Force]

Don't worry, once Disney finally pulls a High School Musicrap TV show out of their Mickey Mouse gloves, that will probably destroy HM. OR, it could be the end of Children's TV as we know it with Nick and Cartoon Network waving their orange and black and white flags to do Disney's bidding.




Back on topic, right now CN is trying to find its image again. As the Writer Strike continues, CN is one of the only networks can actually redeem themselves as CARTOON Network, without live action being their most prized possession.


You see, take it like if you was a nerd in Middle/High School:


Nick is the rebellious Cool Kid On The Block (#1 Kids Network), with their click (Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Barnyard, Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Dora The Explorer, Go Diego Go!, The Wonder Pets! and The Backyardigans), Disney is the Goody Goody Jock with his crew (Hanna Montana, HSM, Raven,Wizards Whatever, Cory In The House, Phineas and Ferb, TENS, and The Replacements), while CN is the other (Nerd), trying to succeed with their crew (Foster's, The Eds, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Gym Partner, Camp Lazlo, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Totally Spies!, Chowder, George Of The Jungle, and Transformers Animated). Meanwhile, Nick and Disney has been "bullying" CN with their success on their shows (Spongebob, iCarly, Hanna Montana, HSM), CN wants to be cool just like them, like trying out bad drugs (live action) with Out Of Jimmy's Head, but they forget one thing: they've been there before CN, and CN just can't beat them at their own game. They have to realize they're The Cartoon Network, not The Nick/Disney Network. It doesn't matter if you're third (Ok, maybe it does, SOMEtimes). But you're supposed to be "The best place for Cartoons" (even though it may be mostly new cartoons), not "G4 and Spike TV for kids". Even though they need it, it's not supposed to be about just ratings. Ratings does NOT have children keep watching your shows, it's the Quality that has children keep watching your shows.

You should be a motivational speaker...that was awesome and I completely agree. :D

[Zach]

Sometime a few years ago, Cartoon Network turned into a ratings-obsessed network. Quality animation began to take a backseat to more important objectives such as beating Nick in the ratings. (At one point, Totally Spies was ubiquitous on the schedule due to ratings.)

Around this same time, CN started canceling its original series and switched Toonami, which was the afternoon action block, to filler for Saturday nights. This decision was made to clear out the afternoon space to create Miguzi, which existed solely to steal Nick and Disney's stellar ratings with girls in the afternoons, a demographic almost non-existent for CN. Granted, Miguzi wasn't terrible, but it paled in comparison to weekday Toonami.

The result of all of this is a network choked full of shoddy, garbage cartoons. The main demographic is and always has been 6-11, but in the past there was plenty of animation that appealed to all age groups. With Adult Swim (which remains about the only good thing about CN) being treated as an entirely different network for ratings purposes, it seems that executives want to treat CN as a small children's channel when animation should be something that transcends boundaries such as age.

All of this is just a roundabout way of saying that executives raped CN for money. There's always reports of new executives coming in, but nothing ever changes.

I still have faith. Things certainly can't get much worse, and maybe kids will wise up and start watching shows that are actually worth a damn.

[Ykwia]

Sometime a few years ago, Cartoon Network turned into a ratings-obsessed network. Quality animation began to take a backseat to more important objectives such as beating Nick in the ratings. (At one point, Totally Spies was ubiquitous on the schedule due to ratings.)

Around this same time, CN started canceling its original series and switched Toonami, which was the afternoon action block, to filler for Saturday nights. This decision was made to clear out the afternoon space to create Miguzi, which existed solely to steal Nick and Disney's stellar ratings with girls in the afternoons, a demographic almost non-existent for CN. Granted, Miguzi wasn't terrible, but it paled in comparison to weekday Toonami.

The result of all of this is a network choked full of shoddy, garbage cartoons. The main demographic is and always has been 6-11, but in the past there was plenty of animation that appealed to all age groups. With Adult Swim (which remains about the only good thing about CN) being treated as an entirely different network for ratings purposes, it seems that executives want to treat CN as a small children's channel when animation should be something that transcends boundaries such as age.

All of this is just a roundabout way of saying that executives raped CN for money. There's always reports of new executives coming in, but nothing ever changes.

I still have faith. Things certainly can't get much worse, and maybe kids will wise up and start watching shows that are actually worth a damn.

The WB?, I'm just taking a guess here. It seems that Nickelodeon is UPN and CN is The WB.

[stargirl]

But if CN is owned by Turner Broadcasting, then aren't they to blame for CN's downfall?

[Ykwia]

Well they just own the networks, you wouldn't blame them for the downfall of TBS, TNT and CourtTV would you?

[Wanted]

CourtTV, yes.

[Net1360]

CourtTV, yes. Court TV is now TruTV. What would CN in the future be called...ATN (All Toon Network)? It's motto:
"Great Cartoons, Less Hype".

[Wanted]

Court TV is now TruTV.Wasn't that obvious...? It's getting really hard to say something around these parts nowadays without having it rehashed right after you state it.

[Zach]

Wasn't that obvious...? It's getting really hard to say something around these parts nowadays without having it rehashed right after you state it.

It's really hard to avoid trolls around here, too.

[.bg]

Well they just own the networks, you wouldn't blame them for the downfall of TBS, TNT and CourtTV would you?
Yes.

TBS - seen it at various stages during trips to the US. The station was at its best in 2002-03, with a balanced mix of comedy, drama, and movies. When they ditched "Superstation" and started pretending it was "very funny" - while STILL showing dramatic movies, natch - the whole thing was ruined and I never watched it again. Except for the occasional Seinfeld rerun.

TNT - used to be shown after closedown on Cartoon Network. It was just like TBS in 2002-03 at launch, but this version of TNT was extremely shortlived. It was scrapped in (IIRC) August 1997 in favour of crappy old movies that even the oldest fogey didn't remember or care about. It was renamed to TCM - Turner Classic Movies - in 2001. I guess their definition of "classic" is very loose. Later in 2001, TCM and Cartoon Network became seperate 24-hour channels due to the end of analogue. Guess which one I immediately deleted from the EPG.

CourtTV - never seen it!