What started the Disney Afternoon's decline?

[Zen Man]

Its a topic thats been debated for quite awhile but what do you think started the Block's gradual decline?

[Blackstar]

Its a topic thats been debated for quite awhile but what do you think started the Block's gradual decline?

I would say that the births of the 24 hour cartoon channels on cable/satellite TV signaled the beginning of the end for the network/syndicated afternoon blocks. After all, why should kids settle for 2-4 hours of cartoons on some local station in the afternoons when they can simply turn it to Cartoon Network or Toon Disney and just leave it there all day and all evening? Now that people can (literally) watch cartoons any time of any given day, kids started tuning in to blocks such as the Disney Afternoon less and less. Gradually, the blocks started to lose viewers and to lose money, and when that starts to happen, no more afternoon blocks.

[The Nameless]

A combination of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and One Saturday Morning.

[Pomegranate]

A combination of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and One Saturday Morning.

And not to mention, mega media mergers:( !

[G. Wen]

It was around this time that the WB cartoons really started taking off, so I say they lost the competition to the WB.

[Peter Paltridge]

Goof Troop was the beginning. Until that point, we all thought Disney Afternoon could do no wrong. Goof Troop was up against Batman; guess which one won. At least that incident got Gargoyles greenlighted.

There was also heavy competition, and it was getting louder. Fox's afternoon lineup was no longer only repeats.

Heh, "renaming it TDA." In the 90's, whenever you saw something reduce its name to its initials you knew it was having trouble. See also: Discovery Zone changing itself to "DZ".

[Lavenderpaw]

Blame it all on Live Action

[Dr.Pepper]

Calling it TDA was just terrible. Also stuff like Nick and CN started to become popular.

[Jeff Harris]

Cable television programming gets blamed for everything wrong on broadcast television, and I think that's kind of wrong. Children's cable programming didn't really blow up on the American television scene until the late '90s, ironically around the time the FCC E/I mandates took over and the age of the mega-mergers took place. Cable just did what broadcast television couldn't do and took a permanent hold on the audience.

That said, I think there were three factors that were involved with the Disney Afternoon's decline:

- The Children's Act of 1990:
The FCC law that not only introduced the TV ratings that clutter our screen but also forced broadcast television networks to air a minimum of three hours of educational programming or else lose their broadcast licenses. It's a very draconian law that seems like like something that came out of Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. Very un-American. Since broadcast networks had, at most, five hours of programming allotted to children's programming. The traditional three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) took at least two hours for news programming, so the remaining three hours was dedicated to educational programming. Well, mostly programs they call "educational." Although it didn't directly affect The Disney Afternoon, the law did affect what local affiliates did with the timeslots where it aired.

- The Disney/ABC Merger:
The only reason why The Disney Afternoon worked is because it was a daily dose of a vast variety of animated programming. They wanted to branch out beyond those borders, which is why shows like Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop also aired on ABC and Aladdin and The Little Mermaid were on CBS. However, the game changed one Tuesday afternoon in 1995 when Disney announced they're buying ABC's parent company, Capital Cities/ABC. Disney programming would become prominent on the Saturday morning lineup. Shows like Mighty Ducks and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles, which would have been exclusively on The Disney Afternoon, were more prominent on ABC. The following season with the rebranded One Saturday Morning lineup, the focus on E/I programming at Disney was strong. Unfortunately, they didn't care about the Disney Afternoon. It was there, but it was almost a non-entity by that point.

- The Fox Kids Explosion:

Batman: The Animated Series. Bobby's World. Merrie Melodies. Animaniacs. Eek! The Cat. Taz-Mania. Spider-Man. X-Men. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. When the Fox Kids Network block was born in fall 1990, it was the most critical blow to The Disney Afternoon. For starters, in most markets, The Disney Afternoon was seen on Fox affiliates. When Fox Kids came on, there wasn't that much of an impact. However, within two years, Fox Kids found its niche and an audience thanks to shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Taz-Mania, Eek! The Cat, and X-Men. When Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers premiered, it was something that hadn't been seen in American culture since, well, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Disney Afternoon shows seemed so derivative of each other (anthromorphic animals in relatively safe adventures) while the Fox Kids shows were unique and fun, something kids never seen before. Fox Kids was huge and The Disney Afternoon was on the outs. When Kids' WB launched their own block in 1995, The Disney Afternoon (rebranded TDA because in a lot of markets, the block wasn't even on in the afternoon) didn't have much of a chance of surviving, so Disney signed a deal with UPN to program their weekday morning lineups under the One Two brand.

[Zen Man]

Cable television programming gets blamed for everything wrong on broadcast television, and I think that's kind of wrong. Children's cable programming didn't really blow up on the American television scene until the late '90s, ironically around the time the FCC E/I mandates took over and the age of the mega-mergers took place. Cable just did what broadcast television couldn't do and took a permanent hold on the audience.

That said, I think there were three factors that were involved with the Disney Afternoon's decline:

- The Children's Act of 1990:
The FCC law that not only introduced the TV ratings that clutter our screen but also forced broadcast television networks to air a minimum of three hours of educational programming or else lose their broadcast licenses. It's a very draconian law that seems like like something that came out of Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. Very un-American. Since broadcast networks had, at most, five hours of programming allotted to children's programming. The traditional three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) took at least two hours for news programming, so the remaining three hours was dedicated to educational programming. Well, mostly programs they call "educational." Although it didn't directly affect The Disney Afternoon, the law did affect what local affiliates did with the timeslots where it aired.

- The Disney/ABC Merger:
The only reason why The Disney Afternoon worked is because it was a daily dose of a vast variety of animated programming. They wanted to branch out beyond those borders, which is why shows like Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop also aired on ABC and Aladdin and The Little Mermaid were on CBS. However, the game changed one Tuesday afternoon in 1995 when Disney announced they're buying ABC's parent company, Capital Cities/ABC. Disney programming would become prominent on the Saturday morning lineup. Shows like Mighty Ducks and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles, which would have been exclusively on The Disney Afternoon, were more prominent on ABC. The following season with the rebranded One Saturday Morning lineup, the focus on E/I programming at Disney was strong. Unfortunately, they didn't care about the Disney Afternoon. It was there, but it was almost a non-entity by that point.

- The Fox Kids Explosion:

Batman: The Animated Series. Bobby's World. Merrie Melodies. Animaniacs. Eek! The Cat. Taz-Mania. Spider-Man. X-Men. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. When the Fox Kids Network block was born in fall 1990, it was the most critical blow to The Disney Afternoon. For starters, in most markets, The Disney Afternoon was seen on Fox affiliates. When Fox Kids came on, there wasn't that much of an impact. However, within two years, Fox Kids found its niche and an audience thanks to shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Taz-Mania, Eek! The Cat, and X-Men. When Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers premiered, it was something that hadn't been seen in American culture since, well, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Disney Afternoon shows seemed so derivative of each other (anthromorphic animals in relatively safe adventures) while the Fox Kids shows were unique and fun, something kids never seen before. Fox Kids was huge and The Disney Afternoon was on the outs. When Kids' WB launched their own block in 1995, The Disney Afternoon (rebranded TDA because in a lot of markets, the block wasn't even on in the afternoon) didn't have much of a chance of surviving, so Disney signed a deal with UPN to program their weekday morning lineups under the One Two brand.

I agree with those three analogies Jeff. The cutoff for me personally was in 1994 after Gargoyles came out that I stopped watching the DA. Most of the later DA offerings (Quack Pack, Timon and Pumba etc.) just didn't interest me like the earlier shows did. Course it didn't help that I was already avidly watching FOX Kids during that time. And while Goof Troop and Bonkers were far from the worst shows they didn't have that same impact that the 'Original Five' did.

[Old Guy]

I would say that the births of the 24 hour cartoon channels on cable/satellite TV signaled the beginning of the end for the network/syndicated afternoon blocks.

I hate that excuse. Kids (like teens, adults, old people) watch whats good. So it doesn't matter if its on network or cable. If its good they'll watch it. And besides people act like cartoon cable channels is something new. Nick and Disney have been around since the 1980s. Heck, the original NickToons (Doug, Rugrats, etc) premiered in 1991.


Cable television programming gets blamed for everything wrong on broadcast television, and I think that's kind of wrong.

THANK YOU!


- The Fox Kids Explosion:

Exactly! Those of us who were around at the time know this to be the reason. I remember back in `91, `92, and early `93 I used to watch Disney Afternoon when I came home from school. But after August/September of 1993 when Power Rangers premiered I became addicted to Fox Kids. And so did my friends. My friends and I watched Fox Kids every afternoon and Saturday morning from 1993 till 1997.

[DarthGonzo]

Exactly! Those of us who were around at the time know this to be the reason. I remember back in `91, `92, and early `93 I used to watch Disney Afternoon when I came home from school. But after August/September of 1993 when Power Rangers premiered I became addicted to Fox Kids. And so did my friends. My friends and I watched Fox Kids every afternoon and Saturday morning from 1993 till 1997.

And those of us who couldn't care less about Power Rangers were watching Animaniacs.

[Old Guy]

And those of us who couldn't care less about Power Rangers were watching Animaniacs.

Exactly.

[Crash]

And those of us who couldn't care less about Power Rangers were watching Animaniacs.

I saw one episode of Animaniacs (King Yacko, I believe) and I never looked back. Plus, a lot of later offerings just didn't look that good.

[dth1971]

The lineups of FOX Kids and Kids WB?

[Ykwia]

That could possibly be it.

[tucsoncoyote]

Well after reading this thread I have to agree with Jeff Harris' commentary on why the Disney Afternoon went into decline (Very well put there Jeff).

I mean I bet no one knows what the most popular show was in 1992 before Disney bought out ABC/Capital cities. (Does anyone want to take a guess?) It's not even a Disney show, but rather, a show that is now starting to make a slow come back.

What I'm referring to is in fact Reboot.


That's right folks, before Disney bought out ABC and turned ABC into Disney's One Saturday Morning line up, ABC's hottest property was in fact (then Mainframe's) Reboot. But Reboot was just half the issue. The other parts that came into play did so later on or shortly there after.

For example, Jeff is right about the E/I ruling. The most Draconian law ever mandated by a bunch of zealous parents who thought TV was "Too Violent" and needed "Educational Values". Gee, how did that happen? Well when that did happen, Disney was forced to figure out a way around the E/I rule, one way or another so that's why right after they bought out ABC (The ABC's are against us!) and killed Reboot (Right at the end of Season 2 no less!) Disney got into the mess and switched things around and the next thing you know you had One Saturday Morning, wihch has since then evolved into ABC Kids'.

Oh it's still 3 hours of E/I but in today's media what constitutes E/I? Mostly live action shows that Disney puts out from the Disney Channel, (Save for maybe a few shows that did fit the E/I mold (*Cough*LiloandStitch*Cough*) But still, when you think about it, Disney today is more about the live action and less about animation than you can imagine, and they call some shows E/I? Gee where does it say that?

But then of course came perhaps the biggest blow, and that was indeed Fox Kids, but then Disney had a few tricks up their sleeve and accquired from Rupert Murdoc and Haim Saban, yep you guessed it.. The Fox Family Channel, and all of the entire Saban library for a whopping 5.2 billion dollars (in fact Haim Saban later admitted personally in a private interview, that he could have bilked Michael Eisner out of an additional Billion if he had tried harder!) But still what happened when Disney got ahold of Fox Family? Yep, off went the Good shows, and on came the Power Rangers, and then later Jetix..which now no longer even exists on ABC Family, but now resides with Toon Disney.

Confusing? it is, but still when you think about it, Disney in a lot of ways changed a lot of television around. They axed deals with CBS, made deals with UPN and Nickelodeon (Disney's Doug, under the One/Too and One Saturday Morning logos) and above all took apart not only the Disney afternoon, but most of Disney animation piece by piece. In short, Jeff Harris' full commentary is perhaps the real answer here, and in fact it's a known given. After all now that we got Power Rangers and Hannah Montana catering to the slim demographics they play on namely 9-14 year olds, and they leave the older demographics of 15+ out of the mix (Save for the Evening Disney Movie), and also cater to the younger under 9 group (Playhouse Disney).

So will Disney Afternoon ever return? Odds say slim to no chance whatsoever. In today's world of Multiiple Media options including Itunes, Disney XD, Disney On Demand, Toon Disney, and the Disney channel and internet broadband, not to mention DVD releases, it's amazing where Disney has gone.

Frankly 2 steps backwards and 3 steps sideways.

But in closing I say Jeff, you got it right. If anything there's the real answer. All three factors coming together to take the Disney Afternoon from Greatness to obscurity..

in 3 easy steps.

:coyote:

[Old Guy]

I mean I bet no one knows what the most popular show was in 1992 before Disney bought out ABC/Capital cities. (Does anyone want to take a guess?) It's not even a Disney show, but rather, a show that is now starting to make a slow come back.

What I'm referring to is in fact Reboot.

That says it all. ;)

[Peter Paltridge]

Well after reading this thread I have to agree with Jeff Harris' commentary on why the Disney Afternoon went into decline (Very well put there Jeff).

I mean I bet no one knows what the most popular show was in 1992 before Disney bought out ABC/Capital cities. (Does anyone want to take a guess?) It's not even a Disney show, but rather, a show that is now starting to make a slow come back.

What I'm referring to is in fact Reboot.
The year you speak of is 1995, not 1992. But you're correct about Reboot getting dumped because of Disney. So was just about everything else on their SatAM plate at the time.

Mainframe, ever sharp, hid a retaliation remark in the final Reboot episode they delivered to ABC. Megabyte's army hadn't been named yet, so they called them the "ABCs" and added "They've turned on us, the treacherous dogs!"

[GregX]

Greg Weisman said in 1997:


3) Shelf space. The Disney Afternoon, as we know it, is dead. The rise of FOX, the WB and UPN ate up almost all of the existing independent stations that aired the Disney Afternoon or (in lieu of the full two hour block) the individual shows that made up The Afternoon. We've known this was coming for awhile. Existing contracts kept the Afternoon alive through the end of this season. But after that it is gone in it's present form.