The Fate/Future of Cartoon Network?

Question

There is a fall from grace for Cartoon Network, whose first 15 years plunges from universal acclaim with Dexter's Lab, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack, to total comdemnation with The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres, its new programming, and the Boston Bomb Scare of early 2007. So, Is the 2000's at best, turbulent for Cartoon Network and its core viewership? Is Cartoon Network almost destroyed by internal problems? Is Cartoon Network unable to overcome the losses incurred by The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie, its new programming, and the Boston Bomb Scare of early 2007? Is Cartoon Network REALLY in dire need of new leadership and new direction? What or who will be the savior of Cartoon Network and its core viewership? What or who will do it for CN and its fans? What can we REALLY do to save CN and its core viewership from the brink of disaster in the darkest hour of CN's History? Well, What is your answer?

Answer 1

Hmmm. I think you version of Cartoon Network's history is a little on the short side. You've basicly listed three shows- all of which I happen to like but only two of which came out around the same time - then named two movies - which came out many years apart - and one rather ill conceived publicity stunt associated with one of those movies. I just don't think this is enough to indicate any kind of a trend. If you really want to make a judgement about where CN has been and whether it's going in the right direction, you need to take into account things like the network's origins in old Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, some of the less sucessful earlier original programming, the influx of anime, the success of Teen Titans, the beginings and development of Adult Swim, the seemingly endless showings of Ed, Edd, and Eddy, the recent introduction of live-action movies, and so on. While you don't necessarily need to list every change at CN year by year, your very truncated history of the channel is not enough to make any kind of judgements.

That being said, I do feel that CN is at something of a crossroads. On the one hand, there are shows being produced that I really enjoy, such as "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and "The Venture Bros." Jumping onto the anime phenomenon early seems to have served the network well. Despite a somewhat varied quality of programming, Adult Swim does satisfy a very underserved market and was instrumental in reviving both "Futurama" and "Family Guy". On the other hand, there have been missteps and not all of them have been corrected yet. Of course some shows are not going to be as successful as others, but some bigger moves the company has taken seem pretty odd to me. I cannot understand the apparently fanatical devotion CN has had to "Ed, Edd, and Eddy", which was an okay cartoon at best that nevertheless ran at leas four times a day for years. Certain concepts, such as the preschool programming block, seem to have been launched to much fanfare, then swiftly abandoned. But the most disturbing thing is that CN seems very much in danger of losing its identity. The highly questionable choice to air live action film with little or nothing to do with cartoons would seem to point to someone wanting the network to become more generic, which I think would be a wrong move. You can see a similar idetity crisis over on Boomerang, which started out showing the Hanna-Barbera cartoons CN proper no longer runs, then very nearly turned into the CN preschool channel, and now just runs anything CN has that's more than a few years old.

So does CN need a new direction? Not necessarily a completely new one. There are still good things going on at CN and this is far from its "darkest hour". But CN does need someone with a strong clear vision of what the channel should be to call the shots and tell the people pushing live action flicks to get their own channel. Cartoon Network's best chance for survival is to remain the Cartoon Network.

Answer 2

Cartoon Network is actually a financially solvent channell. What we are seeing is a better understanding of how it's demographic appeal has broken down. They continue to make new series, usually with limited runs of three to five years. "New" shows like Ben 10 and KND have done very well for the network. Yes, these are very different from the original series seen back when the show first started. That is partially because they were still trying to work out the demographic breakdowns for certain time blocks. While Samuri Jack is still an awesome series, it was not meant for a younger (10 and under) audience, It attracted older kids and adults and showed CN that they could program, in time appropriate blocks, animation for teens and adults. What we see now is a network that has gotten the schedule in place and is now working on the content. Anime has taken a large chunk of the adult blocks and proven very sucessful. Since very little animation in this country is made for older veiwers, it is much less exspensive (and with the anime fan base in the US so strong, a much smaller risk) to invest in an already completed series than to produce an entirely new series directed at one of the toughest demographic groups in the media industry. Pumping all funds for new series into kids shows could, because of merchandising opportunities and kids willingness to watch re-runs, is financially more sound. Animation is NOT cheap to make and needs a huge amount of production time...any major producer will put it's money into a series with a bigger chance of commercial success over critical acclaim.

That being said, CN does take risks. Afro Samuri and Boondocks were adult oriented series that, while they developed strong fan bases, would never achieve the level of marketing god that shows like Powder Puff girls ever could. Early adult animated shows like HBO's Spawn experienced the same thing. If you want more original, adult oriented animation, it needs to become commercially appealing...meaning there needs to be the ability to merchandise the hell out of it..and adult fans just don't tend to work that way.