Now that Streaming isnt doing so hot... Broadcast Cartoons for kids? (THAT ISNT PBS KIDS)

[Francisque]

Streaming isn't dead, if anything is healthier than ever, and it isn't going to disappear.
Even services like Pluto TV are still delivered by streaming

It's just that people decide to have less streaming services (me included).

 

[aegisrawks]

Again I did not say streaming is going to dissapear. But it is obvious at this point that kids stuff has a hard time actually being succesful on the platforms. What I propose is a media mix of airing stuff on broadcast and then having streaming. It's a thing they havent tried and it would be worth a shot.

AGAIN. This isnt even for me, I have Netflix and HBO Max. I say this for the people who dont have that luxury.

 

[Silverstar]

Again I did not say streaming is going to dissapear. But it is obvious at this point that kids stuff has a hard time actually being succesful on the platforms. What I propose is a media mix of airing stuff on broadcast and then having streaming. It's a thing they havent tried and it would be worth a shot.

AGAIN. This isnt even for me, I have Netflix and HBO Max. I say this for the people who dont have that luxury.

And again it'd be an uphill climb, you'd have to convince the networks that investing in such a thing would be financially worth their while. The Alphabet Networks lost their audience for AM blocks a loooong time ago.

Currently local and syndicated news and sports do too well ratings-wise; the local affiliates aren't going to give them up. It would end up being a situation where channel WJAZ would air the network cartoon block at 6:30 AM and station WBLT would air it at 12:30 PM or 1PM in the afternoon and WQED would air it on Sunday morning, then the block would have a hard time finding an audience. Blocks like the Alphabet Network stuff, Fox Kids, Kids' WB!, 4KidsTV, Qubo and Toonzai ended because they were starting to lose their respective networks money, so their parent companies like Tribune and Sinclair suggested they put a stop to them.

Also, I know you and @SilentYoda weren't thrilled by @Goldstar! and myself bringing this up, but while cartoons are indeed for everyone, there's still a sizable chunk of the populace that doesn't watch cartoons unless it's with their kids, and kids abandoned broadcast AM blocks a while back. A vast number of adults meanwhile prefer to watch news and sports in the morning or just sleep in. Networks aren't going to invest in such a venture unless they think a substantial profit can be made from it. (Before anyone says it, I'm well aware of MeTV, but MeTV isn't a major broadcast network; it's a step above syndication at best.)

Sorry, but broadcast network cartoon blocks are a product of a bygone era; the audience and money for them just aren't there. We're not going to see a magical return to broadcast network cartoon blocks just because of nostalgia and streaming experiencing a few stumbling blocks; what's happening with HBO Max and Netflix right now is only temporary; cable struggled at the beginning too but it didn't die out as a result. (Cable's been slowly killing itself via other factors, but that's a different discussion altogether.)

And @aegisrawks, your concern for the so-called downtrodden is admirable, but "the people who don't have the luxury" of cable or the internet aren't as numerous as you seem to think, at least there aren't enough of them to matter to the Powers That Be who could make such a thing happen. Like Goldstar pointed out, most of the people who don't have either don't have them by choice.

 

[aegisrawks]

Well. I appreciate the information. It is true. But I will never ever give up the fight. Also you say "By choice" but kids dont really have a choice, its their parents that do and if they dont want any entertainment other than over the air tv then its the kids who suffer.

 

[Goldstar!]

Well. I appreciate the information. It is true. But I will never ever give up the fight. Also you say "By choice" but kids dont really have a choice, its their parents that do and if they dont want any entertainment other than over the air tv then its the kids who suffer.

Sure, but what parent would actually do that? Anyone who has ever lived with a child knows that you need to have something around to distract them in order to get anything done. Personally, I don't know anyone who has no home entertainment of any kind, and with so many options, there's no reason for anyone to live like that unless they choose to. In any case, the number of households that are stuck in the Stone Age without cable or internet are of no interest to networks because they want to attract paying consumers and those aforementioned households couldn't afford to buy stuff beyond necessities.

Heck, you can still borrow DVDs from the library and that's free. For that matter, public libraries offer free internet access, so there's no real reason for anyone to live in a log cabin these days, again unless it's by personal choice.

 

[Moe]

Also, I know you and @SilentYoda weren't thrilled by @Goldstar! and myself bringing this up, but while cartoons are indeed for everyone, there's still a sizable chunk of the populace that doesn't watch cartoons unless it's with their kids, and kids abandoned broadcast AM blocks a while back. A vast number of adults meanwhile prefer to watch news and sports in the morning or just sleep in. Networks aren't going to invest in such a venture unless they think a substantial profit can be made from it. (Before anyone says it, I'm well aware of MeTV, but MeTV isn't a major broadcast network; it's a step above syndication at best.)

I'm not upset over your brothers' responses and I know that your responses are realistic about original kid blocks aren't going come back to major networks, and I admitted that I was more fantastic in here because of my nostalgia. I went to form the joke based on your post about streaming is the future, so let dump the TV antenna, cable and satellite dish in the trash, but I didn't means that is serious, so it is just like cartoon with humors. Hey brothers, please don't throw me in dumpster, lol.

I want to remind about #15 is valid and there is better alternative for people who are unable to stream due to poor to no internet infrastructure are creation of channels that is designed to be recorded. Have Disney branded channel to air all old TV shows - one episode per day during weekday and collection of movies on weekend. TV series with fewer episodes will air differently on Mon-Fri, or Mon, Wed, or Tues, Thurs, and Fri, or Mon, Wed, Fri, etc. It would enable the viewers to enjoy the contents and record it if they have no accessible to internet that is necessary to run the streaming service. Sadly, paid TV services are utilized poorly. DVD may be good idea but not all networks release DVD, exception of handful of popular shows, so want to watch Recess? No DVD but there is one way to watch is Disney+. I do think that Netflix tried the test to run the live channel on Dish years ago that is useful for viewers with no internet access. At minimum, access should be provided if they have no internet access due to location. Just want to share my view that everyone deserve to be served.

MeTV is TVLand-style with over millions of viewers, so they aren't part of major networks, anyway. Eventually, TVLand fell out of retro format and start to lose the cause, so MeTV is best replacement for TVLand. There are several digital subchannels are TVLand-style like Cozi, GetTV, Laff, Charge!, Comet, Antenna TV, Rewind TV and others, but Cozi is becoming more re-run of 2000s shows after Weigel (MeTV, H&I, Decades), GetTV, Charge! and Comet snitched retro shows from Cozi.

Weigel and CBS partnered to create a new channel - Start TV and I wouldn't surprise if WBD come to Weigel and ask Weigel to launch a new digital subchannel to air older cartoons, especially from H-B, Ruby-Spears and WB with possibility to ask Universal and Disney to join with them, so it would be designed to run as digital subchannel and cable channels like Start TV and Story Television.

 

[Silverstar]

I'm not upset over your brothers' responses and I know that your responses are realistic about original kid blocks aren't going come back to major networks, and I admitted that I was more fantastic in here because of my nostalgia. I went to form the joke based on your post about streaming is the future, so let dump the TV antenna, cable and satellite dish in the trash, but I didn't means that is serious, so it is just like cartoon with humors. Hey brothers, please don't throw me in dumpster, lol.

I want to remind about #15 is valid and there is better alternative for people who are unable to stream due to poor to no internet infrastructure are creation of channels that is designed to be recorded. Have Disney branded channel to air all old TV shows - one episode per day during weekday and collection of movies on weekend. TV series with fewer episodes will air differently on Mon-Fri, or Mon, Wed, or Tues, Thurs, and Fri, or Mon, Wed, Fri, etc. It would enable the viewers to enjoy the contents and record it if they have no accessible to internet that is necessary to run the streaming service. Sadly, paid TV services are utilized poorly. DVD may be good idea but not all networks release DVD, exception of handful of popular shows, so want to watch Recess? No DVD but there is one way to watch is Disney+. I do think that Netflix tried the test to run the live channel on Dish years ago that is useful for viewers with no internet access. At minimum, access should be provided if they have no internet access due to location. Just want to share my view that everyone deserve to be served.

MeTV is TVLand-style with over millions of viewers, so they aren't part of major networks, anyway. Eventually, TVLand fell out of retro format and start to lose the cause, so MeTV is best replacement for TVLand. There are several digital subchannels are TVLand-style like Cozi, GetTV, Laff, Charge!, Comet, Antenna TV, Rewind TV and others, but Cozi is becoming more re-run of 2000s shows after Weigel (MeTV, H&I, Decades), GetTV, Charge! and Comet snitched retro shows from Cozi.

Weigel and CBS partnered to create a new channel - Start TV and I wouldn't surprise if WBD come to Weigel and ask Weigel to launch a new digital subchannel to air older cartoons, especially from H-B, Ruby-Spears and WB with possibility to ask Universal and Disney to join with them, so it would be designed to run as digital subchannel and cable channels like Start TV and Story Television.

No worries. I wasn't upset about the joke. I thought it was funny!

And you guys make some good counterpoints as well. S'all good.

 

[Goldstar!]

Same here. I'm not such a Stiffly Stifferson that I can't enjoy a joke at my own expense. I'm a comedian/comedy writer (who hopes to one day get paid for doing so!), and I wouldn't be much of one if I lacked a sense of humor. And like @Silverstar already said, you guys made some decent counterpoints. I'm certainly not against the idea of broadcast network producing their own blocks for the young and the young at heart, if only there was a big enough audience for it to happen. Kudos.

 

[LinusFan303]

Repeating myself , a little, I'm against the idea of Over the air having cartoons on it. Though I'd prefer weekday afternoons more than Saturday Morning. I think networks should still have soaps and game shows. It'd bee cool if local TV stations made their own talk shows or had children's shows with hosts. That'd be better than what we have now. Where it's 3pm the news is on, it's 4pm the news is on, or in the real case it's 4pm the political ads are on.... the news is the filler. I was pointing out the marketplace prefers us to have NBC News Daily instead of Days of our Lives and so you can watch that on Peacock, the marketplace says that local news is the only thing that makes local TV money, and that's realism not that I'm in the view.

Cable kids/family networks became a good idea because you can watch without having to wait for 7am on Saturday or 3-5pm on Weekdays. Uh oh, there's breaking news on Saturday morning, welp you missed a week, or your in the "lesser" time zones, sorry bro, college football is on at 10am and you have to deal with it. I like that Nickelodeon does Friday night cartoons, it's a comfier to me. Streaming is fine too.

Also repeating myself, I wish we had digital television like the UK and Australia, where you can watch children's channels or programming OTA. Or have PBS have enough funding to have two channels like the BBC has CBebbies and CBBC you can have different age ranges taken care off at the same time, PBS does what the P in their name means serves the Public and it'd be nice if it was more funded.

 

[JMTV]

I understand what you're coming from, but just because streaming have experiencing bumps in the road, that doesn't automatically mean that the companies are going back to broadcast networks to air cartoons.

Times change. What seems popular today will not be popular tomorrow. Cable replaced Saturday morning blocks, and internet replaced cable.

Before anyone says, yes, I acknowledged that MeTV has its own cartoon block, but that's just the exception rather than the rule and MeTV is a classic broadcast network for classic shows.

Let's face it, kids these days are not watching TV anymore. YouTube, Fortnite, Netflix, TikTok, Roblox, and Minecraft are kids go-to platforms now rather than television. Those platforms give kids the freedom to watch whenever rather than being glued to the TV screen.

Saturday morning cartoons was a great experience for its time, but it's not something it could be replicated today. FTC, CTA, and the broadcast network's affiliates are not interested in cartoons. Sports, news, and infomercials are their biggest money makers now.

Zaslav and Netflix's wrongdoings are not going to make companies going back to the days of cable and broadcast networks airing cartoons. It's just not possible. Streaming is still a fairly new thing and companies are trying to find ways to make them profitable since they are experiencing losses recently.

Maybe it's just me growing up on cable networks and not broadcast cartoon blocks, but it's not something I want it to be brought back either.

However, here's something what they could do as @LinusFan303 suggested: make digital extra channels like UK and Australia did, but make it for kids. That idea could work and I wish the big three kids companies can actually took notes to that.

So that's my take on it.

 

[Moe]

My #2 post is just nostalgic but it isn't realistic.

Let go back to reality, none of major broadcast networks want cartoon blocks and they want to rid of E/I shows that require the congressional action to modify or repeal CTA entirely, and FCC doesn't have authority to end the E/I or reduce the minimum hours on main channels, however they do have authority to end the E/I requirement for digital subchannels that where requirement was added during GWB Admin in 2000s since CTA didn't mention the digital subchannels, but simulcast of main network that run on digital subchannel isn't waived.

CTA was relevant in 1990 at time when this law was passed, but it is no longer relevant today because most kids don't watch E/I shows at all. I'm all for repeal of CTA but there is a catch, I don't want TV stations to modify the digital subchannels at all, so schedule must be match to schedule that set by networks who own and operate the channel. Some TV stations modified MeTV to add news, sports and religion service, and it did anger a lot of MeTV fans after saw shows got cut out and removed to make a room for unwanted shows that assigned by TV stations. Nobody like to see TV stations mess with schedule that originally set by network owner, in case, Weigel for MeTV. TV station owned by University of Alabama messed Cozi up and Cozi isn't demographic target on this station because it is intended for college students since most of them prefer MTV, reality shows, teen shows and young adult shows, not retro channel that is intended for older adults. Previously, they used This TV but after MGM sold This TV to Byron Allen, so he overhauled This TV and banned broadcasters from modify their TV schedule and they swapped with Cozi because NBCUniversal allows them to modify the schedule.

Cartoons on MeTV isn't for kids but it is classic shows for all ages and it is more of nostalgia. Flintstones and Jetsons were primetime shows for adults and kids alike in 1960s before Saturday morning cartoon became a thing.

Many years ago, major networks used to syndicate old TV shows outside of primetime but not anymore after MeTV became a matter.

Saturday morning cartoons was a great experience for its time, but it's not something it could be replicated today. FCC, CTA, and the broadcast network's affiliates are not interested in cartoons. Sports, news, and infomercials are their biggest money makers now.

Just helped to fix it.

FCC and CTA has no opinion on non-E/I shows as long as minimum 3 hours of E/I shows are met.

Zaslav and Netflix's wrongdoings are not going to make companies going back to the days of cable and broadcast networks airing cartoons. It's just not possible. Streaming is still a fairly new thing and companies are trying to find ways to make them profitable since they are experiencing losses recently.

Right, if streaming service is unprofitable, Zaslav just reduce the number of contents on streaming service and rely on cable channels for now, but it may no longer matter if cable TV dies, so Zaslav can follow Peacock's routine with affordable price and much less contents.

As for Netflix, they would rely on cheaper option to acquire the shows and much less with original series, and Netflix could remove original series at their discretion.

It is likely to see a multiple tiers of streaming service if cable TV dies and license out doesn't work.

Maybe it's just me growing up on cable networks and not broadcast cartoon blocks, but it's not something I want it to be brought back either.

Oh wow, I grew up with premium version of Disney, cartoon shows on broadcast channels, USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel (SYFY), TBS, TNT and eventually, Nick. CN was 100% rerun channel.

However, here's something what they could do as @LinusFan303 suggested: make digital extra channels like UK and Australia did, but make it for kids. That idea could work and I wish the big three kids companies can actually took notes to that.

Good idea, there were attempted to run the kid channels on digital subchannels but it was failed and shut down eventually.

Most digital subchannels are going to be classic shows for adults.

 

[JMTV]

Good idea, there were attempted to run the kid channels on digital subchannels but it was failed and shut down eventually.

Most digital subchannels are going to be classic shows for adults.

Okay, that's a fair point.

 

[Petran Markou]

this would also require many toy advertisements.
In Europe one of the main reasons broadcasters stopped investing in kids cartoons on TV and replaced them with infomercials, gossip, documentaries, news etc were stricter regulations regarding toy ads.
Eg it was not allowed to put ads in the middle of the episode anymore during morning block hours. Which ironically is exactly what YouTube does with kid viewers nowadays because as a private platform it has its own regulations.

In fact today broadcasters prefer to show a Disney movie in the evening hours because they allow toy ads to be inserted during this time

The demographics in the morning zone shifted to older audiences, without worrying about ads regulations

 

[Alexsketchy2004]

Kids barely watch Television nowadays

This would be a very bad idea

 

[Antiyonder]

Well one thing that would help is that animation fans overall need to be ambitious. Ranting about how the medium is given the shaft is healthy and productive for blowing off steam, it isn't the thing that convinces the people at top to give animation a chance.

Much like how Family Guy has been back on the air for a long time due to DVD sales, and Young Justice getting two more seasons due to heavy views, fans in general need to be ready to binge streaming services (Not just the heavy freebies like Tubi or Crackle, but also some actual YT channels*) for example.

Purchase as many available DVDs as you can afford without jeopardizing money for necessities. As well as any merch relating to it. Some old Disney Afternoon comics were collected in the Disney Adventures: Disney Afternoon - Just Us Justice Duck".

Gargoyles is making a second comeback through comics, including trade paperback reprints of SLG's run and even the non-canonical Marvel series. Heck, I'm buying both even though I have the original SLG trades and the Marvel issues. Going to give my brother the older TPBs, and donate the Marvel issues at the library.

Been getting MLP comics myself monthly. Even the occasional mini released.

*Disney even uploading episodes of Tangled and DuckTales 2017.

 

[Ace]

I feel like they could try something like a broadcast television channel but on your smartphone and ad supported via a stream. (I know Pluto TV already has some stuff similar to this.)

Could be a free alternative to the on-demand streaming platforms and give access to a larger variety of content for free and it would be a great launching board for content on streaming platforms to reach a wider audience.

Also Broadcast TV hasn't really tapered off as badly as cable. It's still pretty well watched.

 

[aegisrawks]

I will probably be fighting this fight until Broadcast TV ceases to be. I will never change my mind.

 

[Moe]

I will probably be fighting this fight until Broadcast TV ceases to be. I will never change my mind.

WWE Match: You vs. Streaming Service

I'm rooting for you!!!

 

[Looney Turtles]

I wouldn't mind an over-the-air network similar to the likes of MeTV but for just cartoons.

But realistically, the current cartoons showings on MeTV is probably the best we're going to get. We have Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Pink Panther, Betty Boop, Droopy and The Inspector all airing when it comes to short films series. And then we have The Flintstones and The Jetsons too. That's actually quite a bit when you think about it, especially for modern television.

 

[wiley207]

MeTV aired banned cartoons that didn't air on CN and Boomerang in 1990s and 2000s, and ABC/CBS in 1970s to 2000 (they banned violent cartoons).

Last time I saw objectionable cartoon shorts were on Nick in 1990s, especially involved with Native Indians.

Indeed. MeTV showed "Bushy Hare" (1950), a Bugs Bunny short that prior had last aired on Nickelodeon due to the stereotypical "Nature Boy". Of course, Cartoon Network was to air it as part of the 2001 "June Bugs" marathon, but of course it became one of the twelve Bugs cartoons to be pulled from the marathon due to un-PC content.
MeTV has also shown "Senorella and the Glass Huarache," a cartoon that I don't think aired on CN or Boomerang in the USA at all (but has played on Nickelodeon quite a few times in the 90s) due to the Mexican caricatures.
A similar case is that MeTV also showed "Norman Normal," another cartoon that never aired on CN or Boomerang in the USA, but for a different reason: it was geared towards more mature audiences, and thus is wildly out of place with the rest of the Looney Tunes fare that's often marketed towards kids and family audiences. Nick at Nite showed it a few times during their Looney Tunes block (because of course, Nick at Nite was geared towards older viewers). This is why the cartoon became incredibly rare between its' original theatrical run in 1968 and being released on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6" DVD set forty years later.