1. No fewer than 26 episodes of animated series per season.
The idea of a series having 13 episodes per season had always been an odd one to me. Thirteen episodes mean that they're going to air once and repeat at least three more times throughout the year. There's no freshness in that, especially when competing outlets are offering more episodes and more shows over the remaining 39 weeks when reruns are on. Broadcasters usually break up episode orders by months, but that doesn't really help much. They could begin in mid-September, air a few weeks into October, show a couple of weeks of reruns, air a few episodes in November, take December and January off, air a few in February, air repeats in March and April, and finish off the season in May, airing nothing but repeats. That's a scenario most domestically-produced shows have operated with since the 1960s.
Here's a better scenario.
Begin a show in mid-September, as usual. Air repeats the weekend after Thanksgiving, maybe back-to-back airings or a viewer's choice marathon (time to see if the show has become successful by then), return to new episodes in December, air repeats for three straight weeks starting the weekend before Christmas (by then, 13 episodes would have aired, and a show's renewal could be known by then and the initial second season could at least be in the planning stages), return in late January, keep going until mid-March for about four weeks of repeats, then finish up the season by mid-May. Twenty-six episodes of one show. It's not 65 episodes per season, but rather 26, a good round number that could help the show in syndication one day. A first-season DVD collection right before the second season begins (or smaller, individual volumes, the first of which could be released right before the holidays, which is always better than an empty box) would help increase interest in the series, especially if the show connects with the viewers.
2. Keep broadcast repeats ON broadcast television.
I don't know when it began, but I think I can blame ABC or Fox for it. Broadcast shows are initially shown on broadcast television. After it airs, it usually repeats throughout the year, particularly in the weeks leading to the holiday season, weeks after Easter, and the summer months. Nowadays, you could only find a handful of broadcast reruns on broadcast television, but they're either high-profile popular comedies or non-serialized dramas (i.e. episodes with no connection with each other and could be ran out of order). The bulk of them are on cable only, which is sad, especially if you don't have cable.
I can understand the need to make money during the slow months. Television originally existed so people could buy televisions. Ads make the television industry exist. I fail to see how cheaply-made reality shows with D-list celebrities and regular folks embarassing themselves helps them make money. There's an oversatuation of reality programming on broadcast television, one of the reasons this past season was considered one of the lowest-rated seasons in television history. See, nobody's watching reality shows either. Even the venerable karaoke-fest known as American Idol had a significant dip this season, and they had the gall to blame the writer's strike (which ended weeks after the "main" competition began) for the drop. People like scripted programming, even reruns of these shows. They should remain availiable on-air, not just online, for viewers to enjoy. You know, people that actually look at television.
So what if the broadcast networks don't want to air them on their networks? Simple. Air them on digital subchannels, those "more channels" they've been promoting in the DTV transition ads. Channels they haven't exactly embraced. They really should, you know.
3. Utilize the entire library on digital TELEVISION as well as broadband.
NBC Universal, CBS Corporation, ABC Studios, 20th Century Fox Television, and Warner Bros. Entertainment have tens of thousands of hours of entertainment at their fingertips. They also have interests in broadcast networks, channels that could easily expand in the upcoming digital era. With the promise of "more channels," you'd think they'd be more anxious about new outlets to showcase their libraries. NBC and CBS currently show some of their older library shows on their webpages. NBC Universal and Fox partnered up to create Hulu which has their library of shows. Warner Bros. recently relaunched The WB and Kids' WB! as digital channels. Both Hulu and The WB networks show titles not owned by their home studios, including shows from Sony Pictures Television, which doesn't have an ownership a broadcast network.
Instead of looking at them at a screen that's twitchy at best, perhaps it would be wise to present those shows on the medium they were created for: television. Each network could easily create a "classics" digital subchannel where they could recreate classic lineups or bring back old favorites. They could even work with studios not owned by them to create those channels. It could bring a strange yet familiar feeling to the television industry.
Up next, Presentation.