Imagine If... | Williams Street Were Given Their Own Channel

Originally Posted by Jeff Harris

Actual Events:
In 1994, a group of creators at a small warehouse studio located on Williams Street, blocks away from Cartoon Network's main headquarters at Techwood Drive, created and debuted their first production, Space Ghost Coast To Coast, a sardonic, tongue-in-cheek interview show featuring characters from the 60s Space Ghost series. Over the years, this group, known as Ghost Planet Industries for years until adapting their current nom de guiere Williams Street Productions, had become one of the most important producers for Cartoon Network.

In 1997, Williams Street introduced Toonami, a revamped incarnation of the Super Adventures action cartoon franchise, which not only gave Cartoon Network its highest ratings but also reignited the anime industry in the US. Four years later, Williams Street introduced Adult Swim, a late night programming block that combined adult comedy shows and short with adult-oriented anime franchises, also giving Cartoon Network its highest ratings, but also saving numerous shows including Home Movies and Family Guy, which had become the network's highest rated shows, setting records every month it's been on.

On April 17, 2004, Williams Street reinvented Toonami as a Saturday-only block aimed at teen audiences (it's been almost two years, and Toonami still has a way to go) and launched a third programming franchise, a more girl-friendly action block called Miguzi. In 2005, Cartoon Network spun-off Adult Swim into its own network ala Nick At Nite. Many people expected Cartoon Network to launch Adult Swim as a completely separate network much like they did in the UK with Williams Street's other major franchise, Toonami.

On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network launched Warehouse, a second spinoff network which is completely operated by Mike Lazzo and Williams Street Productions, with a simulcast of the premiere of the relaunched Toonami and Adult Swim Saturday night block on Cartoon Network. The name was inspired by the deceptively simple headquarters of Williams Street. Its target audiences were the 14-35 demos that made up the Adult Swim viewership and the 7-14 demos that made up the Toonami audience. After getting guaranteed coverage on DirecTV and Dish Network, Warehouse became widely available to audiences. Because Warehouse was also ad-supported, cable operators (who make a lot more money in selling local ad space on cable networks) became curious about the network and also began to carry the network.

Warehouse has a lineup that consists of classic and modern action franchises in the daytime, a healthy mix of teen-friendly comedy and action in primetime, and adult-oriented properties late nights. To save money, Warehouse simulcasts Cartoon Network's initial airings of Adult Swim on weeknights and Toonami on Saturdays. Warehouse also airs exclusive shows that won't be found on Cartoon Network. Since it's ad-supported, Warehouse (which encompasses the management and operations of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network) could afford to acquire more outside programming and develop more original programming. In fact, Warehouse's creation was the inspiration for Cartoon Network to co-produce numerous original anime projects, all of which will air on Toonami on Cartoon Network and later on Warehouse.

Tween and teen-friendly programming makes up the programming of the daytime hours from 6 AM to 7 PM in the East, and because Williams Street controls all aspects of operation, they decide what airs in that period. Even though it's only been a little over a year since its creation, Warehouse has become a unique success story for Cartoon Network, so much that Cartoon Network is planning on expanding the brand internationally, first by rebranding Toonami UK as Warehouse UK by the end of 2005. Not bad for a network that started out in a small storage space.

Back to reality: Yeah . . . reality bites. Toonami's a memory on most continents. And the "separation" of Adult Swim from Cartoon Network is only on paper. Adult Swim is a part of Cartoon Network, the part that the network enjoys financially, and there's no way Cartoon Network is going to create a truly separate Adult Swim network. The current climate of Cartoon Network is such a deviation than the environment that launched Boomerang, the network's only spinoff network stateside (many other international locales, in addition to Boomerang, have localized spinoffs, including CN Too, Cartoonito, and POGO). A network like Warehouse would be a dream come true, but that's all it'll be under the current management of Cartoon Network. And they're more interested in live-action these days.

What's next?