The Old Cartoon Network

[Masked Rider]

I'm new to this forum so I apologize if this has been talked about before.

Why did Cartoon Network change everything? When I was younger, around 12 or 13, they played all the old cartoons, mostly Hanna-Barbera. This was when I did not get the channel on my cable. Then when my cable company finally got Cartoon Network all of that stuff moved to Boomerang, which they don't offer but they offer a few of the shows on their on demand (I don't get it either?)

So why the change? I loved the old Cartoon Network and I really wish I got Boomerang!

[Space Cadet]

While this has been discussed to death already, I'll try my take on it.

Times change. They can't always play the same schedule over and over again.

While I do wish some more H-B shows could air on CN again, I don't want it to the point where some of the newer stuff is pushed aside.

[Blackstar]

When Cartoon Network was launched back in 1992, it was a 24 hour animation channel designed specifically for fans of cartoons, not for children, per se, but most of the shows featured on the channel were safe enough by today's standards so that kids could could watch them.

Cartoon Network has changed management a couple of times since then and now the current higher ups want for the network to be a KIDS' channel that can compete with the likes of Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, hence the live action programming and the kid-centric spots ("Fall is something that grown-ups invented"). Basically, the problem is that CN is presently being run by suits who only know profits, ratings and shares, not by people who give a crud about animation.

It's sad, I know, but as long as the admen and the suits with dollar signs in their eyes are running CN, this is what we're going to get. The only good news is that thanks to the WGA strike, the live action movement on CN has been slowed down to a crawl.

[Dr.Pepper]

Unfortunatly all good things must come to an end.

[Atoon]

When Cartoon Network was launched back in 1992, it was a 24 hour animation channel designed specifically for fans of cartoons, not for children, per se, but most of the shows featured on the channel were safe enough by today's standards so that kids could could watch them.

I think that Cartoon Network was always targeted for kids. It just that classic cartoons have more appeal in adults, mainly theatricals since they were their original audience.

[Jeff Harris]

I'm new to this forum so I apologize if this has been talked about before.

It's okay. Everybody said their piece on the subject, and I'll shut it down before it devolves into the umpteenth Cartoon Network Sucks thread.

Why did Cartoon Network change everything? When I was younger, around 12 or 13, they played all the old cartoons, mostly Hanna-Barbera. This was when I did not get the channel on my cable. Then when my cable company finally got Cartoon Network all of that stuff moved to Boomerang, which they don't offer but they offer a few of the shows on their on demand (I don't get it either?)

So why the change? I loved the old Cartoon Network and I really wish I got Boomerang!

Three factors:

1) Evolution: People don't believe in evolution, but they know things change. They don't know WHY things change, but it's a natural process. For nearly 16 years, Cartoon Network has been evolving its programming. Some of the changes were popular ones (the creation of Toonami and Adult Swim and the What A Cartoon/Cartoon Cartoon projects which changed Hanna-Barbera into Cartoon Network Studios, for example). Some weren't (the recent live-action acquisitions and more kidcentric shows). The mass exodus of classic cartoons over to Boomerang was one of those changes that wasn't popular.

2) Demographics: The management of Cartoon Network believe that younger audiences wouldn't like older shows of the past, and the ratings reports show there is some relevance to that. However, they're not exactly flocking over to watch the newer shows either. There was actually a couple of periods in recent years was when the highest-rated show on all of Cartoon Network was Tom and Jerry. Scooby-Doo does pretty well too, which is why Cartoon Network does have them on in the late afternoons now. Still, one could imagine if they aired something like Looney Tunes on the network, because they're nowhere on television in the US. Plus, they really want you to get Boomerang, though they barely mention it nor acknowledge its existance.

3) DVD: Time Warner wants you to buy the DVDs. Looney Tunes is more or less exclusively found on DVD these days. Hanna-Barbera properties are also on the versatile format as well. They feel that if you don't have Boomerang, you could at least get the collections on DVD.

I'm cutting this thread short because it'll open up a few wounds and start hostile discussions around these parts. That's one of the reasons I left before, so, that's that.