Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #141

Originally Posted on 05/01/2006 by Jeff Harris

Fox Trot: TM and © 2006 Bill Amend. All Rights Reserved.

You know, it's funny.

There has never been a period in modern history that animation fans of all grades and types have had a universally-agreed opinion about Cartoon Network. Anime fans, classic animation fans, animators, animation critics, some cable and satellite operators, and most unaffiliated animation companies agree that the network's current need to attract the minds, and wallets of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel viewers by abandoning their core audiences and original mission statement is not only stupid, but also self-destructive. However, there are some that wonder why older viewers of Cartoon Network, like the readers of this site and the idiot who wrote all of this, are so vocal about their disdain? Afterall, as those critics of the critics say, we're way too old to be watching Cartoon Network.

Says who?

The mission statement of Cartoon Network on day one was to attract all animation fans, young and old. Hell, on the official Adult Swim site, the following statement can be found in the FAQ which explains WHY they created the blocknet in the first place:

Cartoon Network reaches fans of all ages. One-third of our viewing audience is over 18, so it makes sense to provide programming that is created specifically for a more mature audience. Cartoon Network is watched by more adults (18 - 34) than E! Entertainment, USA, Discovery, TV Land, CNBC, A&E and VH1, to name a few. Our research clearly shows that mature audiences are very interested in viewing adult oriented animation, so we have provided that outlet during a time when children are least likely to be viewing.

So, as you can see, Cartoon Network acknowledged the fact that 1/3 of their total viewership, 33.33%, are older folks like you and me. Adult Swim brought in a lot of older viewers to Cartoon Network as have the weekday afternoon Toonami block back in the day. The problem with the current management is that they don't need older viewers watching Cartoon Network. They want kids and only kids. That's why they "split" off Adult Swim a year ago from the rest of Cartoon Network (and now there's a rumor now that they're trying to move Adult Swim from CN to TBS in a couple of years so Cartoon Network could be placed on Family Tiers on cable and satellite). That's why they moved older animation properties that skewed towards those older than 34 like The Flintstones, Looney Tunes, and other older properties to Boomerang, which I can remind most folks is NOT on many cable systems (Nicktoons Network is on thrice as many cable systems as Boomerang).

Older audiences are being shown the door while the younger audiences they're trying to reach just aren't coming as strong as they want them. Sure, there have been ratings growth, but ratingswise, Nick beats Cartoon Network 3 to 1 and Disney Channel beats them 2 to 1. Look at the highest rated cable shows any given week, and you'll see that they're almost dominated by Nickelodeon's live-action shows. I mean Nickelodeon's ANIMATED programs. Guess that one week with the Drake and Josh movie was a fluke since Spongebob is still cable's highest-rated kid-vid series, live-action and animated. Also, consider the strange but true fact that, um, more adults watch Spongebob than kids. And yet, Cartoon Network feels that, suddenly live-action is the answer to all that ails them.

Yes, some of their live-action movies have done well, most notably the hacked up version of Dumb and Dumber they aired (though, to be fair, a good majority of viewers were watching to see how the network was going to treat the film). However, the success of one live-action presentation doesn't mean that they're all going to do well. Take Zixx for example. Cartoon Network's first live-action/animation hybrid acquisition has struggled in the ratings since it premiered in January. In fact, the series hasn't been on the past couple of weeks and seemingly replaced by Totally Spies, the popular French animated series.

Have they learned their lesson? Hell no! They're still pushing the live-action agenda all over the world. They're still pushing the same five shows to a public that could care less, despite the fact that for a long stretch, Tom and Jerry was the highest-rated series on Cartoon Network.

Why do I care? To be honest, I don't anymore. There's going to be a period in time when the traditional cable network model is outmoded and extinct, and that period is coming sooner rather than later. Last week's announcement of the launch of Toonami Jetstream, as well as the recent launches of Adult Swim Fix, Comedy Central's Motherload, Nickelodeon's Turbo-Nick, VH1's V-Spot, MTV's Overdrive, and Warner Bros' In2TV are proof that networks are thinking outside the cable box in providing programming to audiences. However, since the technology is not availiable to all and freer technologies aren't availiable to the masses, cable is still needed.

I'm just sick of the mentality that cartoons are supposed to be for kids. Like I said before, the reason Spongebob Squarepants and Fairly Oddparents are constantly in the top 15 cable shows ratings is NOT because of kids, but rather folks like me. Those shows can be appreciated by older audiences because it's not written specifically for kids, as were the original MGM, Popeye, and Looney Tunes. That's something a lot of the people at Cartoon Network have failed to realize with their modern shows and current misdirection.

Sooner or later, Cartoon Network is going to realize that people don't want to just watch shows in a timeslot when most working folks are supposed to be asleep.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Creator/Webmaster
May 1, 2006