Does another company need to step up to the plate?

M

Miss Mermaid

New member
The current mentality of Cartoon Network isn't about to change so let's not further discuss "how much better things could be if they would get their act together". Instead I suggest we throw around ideas for a new 24/7 animation network not from Turner, Nick or Disney (and no not an anime channel but anime could be included as well as foreign animation from every part of the world depending on who controls this network).

Plenty of companies have access to a LOT of cartoons and perhaps some could work together.

I'd even dare to consider something as unlikely as Teletoon US. That actually has a lot of potential. At least for getting more Canadian animation shown in the US.
 
The thing is, most cartoons are owned by conglomerates, and Viacom, WB/Turner, and Disney are the three most animation-centric ones. Sony could launch Animax but that's not happening any time soon and doesn't sound like what you want. NBC/Universal and FOX don't have that much they could air. I think Comcast wanted to launch an independent animation channel a while back but nothing came of it. If anything, maybe Starz or one of the premium packages could add an animation channel. It'd mostly be movies and acquisitions but maybe with a few original series.
 
You're being rather pessimistic about this. The greatest difficulty isn't content but bandwidth. Of course in digital tiers that wont be an issue like it is now.

Starz Media could definently step up to the plate but as you said it'd be mostly aquisitions. Nothing wrong with that though.

But I might also drop a few other names into the pot.

Cookie Jar, Entertainment Right, BCI/FUNimation (through Navarre), D.I.C., Nelvana/Chorus (Vortex) and once again Teletoon. As well as Sony of course and Animax doesn't have to be anime.
 
I thought that DiC, Nelvana and a company that Universal now owns were creating something called KidsCo.

NBC Universal would be my first choice to start a new cartoon channel (I personally would toss in live action movies and shows too, but that's not what this thread is about). Imagine New Woody Woodpecker Show, The Woody Woodpecker Show and other Walter Lantz shorts, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Earthworm Jim, Land Before Time, Curious George, Fievel's American Tails, Back to the Future, Exosquad under one roof. Of course acquisitions like Rocky and Bullwinkle, X-Men: The Animated Series, etc. would be made.

Sony could do a good job too.
 
Well KidsCo already sounds like a pretty decent solution though I can't imagine that channel having animation for "all ages" and that would be my preference.

NBC Universal does sound like a pretty good choice as well. And I'd personally LOVE to see Earthworm Jim's cartoon again.
 
There already is a FUNimation Channel.

How much good stuff did DIC and Nelvana do anyway?

Don't know what Cookie Jar and Entertainment Right are.

Teletoon in Canada airs a significant number of cartoons airing on other networks in the US.
 
1) FUNimation channel is nothing special. This would be a Navarre run network (or pehraps BCI run) that could rebuild the FUNimation channel into something worth while and in turn get it more broadcasting deals.

2) Can't say much for Nelvana but D.I.C. made plenty of cartoons that lots of cartoons lovers enjoyed (and plenty that were just plain awful).

3) Cookie Jar is another Canadian company that develops and produces shows. Entertainment Rights is a company that holds a lot of content including the new Wolverine and the X-Men series.

4) Yes Teletoon does play a lot of cartoons that already air here. But they also play plenty that don't.

What you should keep in mind is these companies could and would get content from other companies that they are on good terms with. Not even one of them could "go it alone" without having a line-up that's quite pathetic.

Here's another one though I hate to admit it...

4kids

They definently could make it happen whether or not that's a good thing but I would imagine they wouldn't bother with anything beyond Y7-FV and that would be far too limiting.
 
What does Navarre do that FUNimation doesn't, exactly? If FUNimation was picked up by more providers, I'm sure they'd make more of an effort to get outside series. Besides, any network that airs Fruits Basket and Kodocha is good in my book.

The best chance of a new animation network like this working would be a partnership between several of these companies. Having one studio in the center would shift focus too much towards that studios shows, which seem to be rather limited and we'd get a lot of repeats.
 
To answer this thread's question, I must say "yes", because there are limited choices in programming on the three main children's networks(CN, Nick and Disney Channel) and not many networks in the USA are interested in airing cartoons or youth/family entertainment in general. They don't take risks with programming anymore like they used to in the past and that's what's harming the American animation and family entertainment industries as a whole. I wish USA Network's youth/animation-oriented programming block were actually still on the air to this day, because CN airs too much of Goosebumps, other LA crap and their originals, while Nick doesn't give acquisitions a chance to find an audience on their own network and Disney doesn't want to make anymore original cartoons.

I wouldn't want anymore kids-only networks being made, because they tend to run the same programming a dozen times a day if it gets good ratings, third-party programming probably wouldn't stand a chance of staying on the air for more than 2 weeks unless it's as popular as a Nick or Disney Channel sitcom and children are also kind of hard to please these days.

Those are some possible ways I could think of saving USA's animation and youth/family entertainment industries:

1. NBC Universal brings back USA Network's youth/animation-oriented programming block or just launches an entirely new TV venue for all age groups. I think they've a huge catalog of youth/family-oriented shows, so they would probably be enough for a 24/7 network.

2. YTV and Teletoon were both launched in the USA.

3. Navarre, Geneon, ADV or other like-minded companies pick up TV rights to some non-anime titles, like Class of the Titans and some Aardman properties.

4. Sony and Comcast launches Animax in the USA and it wouldn't play only anime titles.

5. Entertainment Rights launches a new TV venue for all ages. They've a huge library of media properties, including the Classic Media and Filmation properties.

6. KidsCo were converted into an all-ages network. I don't like having another kids-only network.

7. Viacom actually developed a liking for third-party programming, esp. anime!

8. Disney actually continued crafting quality original animated works, rather than rely on Pixar, Studio Ghibli and other outside parties all the time for animated content.

9. WB finally got along with Turner.

10. 4Kids were either finally driven out of business for good or were absorbed by the likes of Funi or Comcast.

11. Cable and satellite TV companies started picking up newly-made TV venues aimed towards all ages or a specific group of people.
 
Teletoon was pretty much started by Cookie Jar and Nelvana and a good deal of its programming is not found in the US simply because the majority of its programming is CanCon...now the crazy thing is that Chorus entertainment, who owns Nelvana now, also owns shares of Teletoon ALONGSIDE Astral Media its biggest competitor (from what I can tell) and Chorus also runs YTV.

So in effect Chorus could realistically combine both YTV and Teletoon's programming, weeding out anything that already air on other networks, and create a new network for the US, maybe one with mostly animation, all animation, or a mix.

Nelvana's been trying to break into the US market for years and nobody is really giving them much of a chance (6Teen on Nick and Di-gata on 4Kids were both poorly handled) even though plenty of their massive catalog get sold all around the world... this could be a solution.
 
I'm still holding out some hope that the internet will save Cartoon Network and animation as a whole. In fact the internet is eventually going to overtake the current network TV and Cable model when the Set-Top BOxes begin to flood the market. Cable and Network TV as a whole will not exist in its current form in another ten years and the internet is going to be responsible for it.

THough Cartoon Network is screwing up on its cable venture the people running the website is doing something serious with their website, especially with Jetstream. If those people could still run the website and keep it Cartoon only then I think that it has a chance of absorbing the library and of course adding new shows, and then hopefully the great divide will be satisfied. Old Cartoon Network is left to its devises while the internet version of Cartoon Network would be left to pick up the pieces before 2001.
 
The propsect of of a Teletoon/YTV hybrid does sound promising. I'm literally drooling at the thought of having Bionix in the US if it's possible. Of course it wouldn't have the same shows as they're pretty much all on CN/AS.
 
Um, wouldn't focusing on American shows and not acquisitions help out the American animation industry? If anything, CN focusing on their original shows and Nick/Disney (which Disney does have animation currently and more series on the way, making your statement false) not giving acquisitions a chance means there's more reason to make American animation, otherwise they'd just air an already made show for cheap instead of making one themselves.

Seems like a plan to me.
 
Anybody seen Voom/Rainbow Media's Animania HD channel? That's a pretty interesting "alternative" animation channel. While I'd like to see it make a bigger mainstream splash and give the big boys a better run for their money, it does seem to offer a lot of Canadian and European programming (it practically is Teletoon US in that respect), some classic stuff like Pink Panther/Mr. Magoo/Felix the Cat, and sometimes even some offerings for older audiences like Samurai 7.

I think it's got potential, and could be really good with a little more effort; but unfortunately only Dish Network HD subscribers can currently get it.
 
I have DirecTV, not Dish Network, so I've only heard of Animania. However, judging by the way you described the channel, it sounds as if it runs commercial free like Boomerang does, and if that's the case, it only makes it's money through viewer subscriptions. Unfortunately, the only real way for Animania to become available in more markets would be for it to become ad supported, so that more cable/satellite providers would be willing to pick it up.
 
Yes.

Another company needs to step up to the plate to present a "fourth voice" in animated entertainment. The "big three" (Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network) has held a stranglehold over the last couple of decades that no one can compete, and no one has dared to create something to be on equal footing with them. There has to be a "fourth voice" because the world, not just Americans, are growing bored with the current choices.

And before I get harped on by otaku, The Anime Network and FUNimation Channel are not even a blip on the American consciousness. Perhaps if they, I don't know, merged their resources or having someone bigger like Sony or Liberty Entertainment buying one or both of them out, they could become someone to notice, but until they do, they're just taking up space looking for an audience.

The "fourth voice" needs two resources right off the bat: Global Financial Clout and Content.

Right now, there are three companies that have the Global Financial Clout to launch a "fourth voice" in the US:

- Liberty Entertainment (formerly Liberty Media, owners of Starz Entertainment Networks, Starz Media, and soon a controlling stake in DirecTV)

- Sony Pictures Entertainment (owners of a vast library of titles [including partial ownership in classic MGM/UA characters like The Pink Panther] and an established worldwide brand in Animax)

- NBC Universal (owner of NBC, Universal Media Studios, numerous outlets like Sci-Fi and USA, and currently empire-building worldwide, including buying SparrowHawk Holdings, the major investor in the DiC/Corus joint venture KidsCo)

Of those companies, I think NBC Universal is poised to be the one to actually launch a new network Stateside. They're already partners in a pair of kid-friendly endeavors globally, qubo and KidsCo. They've worked to develop relationships with multiple outside companies as well as investing funds on newer animated productions globally and domestically. Now, considering qubo is aimed towards a largely preschool audience, you'd think that NBC-UNI would want to find greater fame and fortune in creating their own network aimed towards youngsters, tweens, teens, and others. NBC-UNI can easily acquire programming, plus they have their own library of titles from the NBC Studios eras as well as Universal's library of animated and kid-friendly titles (including classic Walter Lantz titles) and the facilities to develop new productions.

I feel that they'll launch their own kid's network in the US sometime in the next decade when the digital era begins.

As much as you need Clout, you also need Content. Content is king, as we're often told. These companies will likely be the new kingmakers in the coming decade:

- Entertainment Rights (global entertainment company with ownership in nearly everything not owned by WB, Nick, or Disney from Rudolph to Bullwinkle to Underdog to VeggieTales to Turok to The Lone Ranger and is already a partner in qubo and providing programming to KidsCo).

- Corus Entertainment (owners of Nelvana and the YTV brand and co-owners of the Teletoon brand, also one of the partners in qubo AND KidsCo).

- DiC Entertainment (currently the largest independent animation studio in the US and a partner in KidsCo, co-owned by a company that also owns a stake in MGM).

Notice the ties that bind all of these parties. Entertainment Rights and Corus are partners with NBC Universal in the qubo preschool channel. Corus and DiC are partners on KidsCo with NBC Universal (who has taken SparrowHawk's stake). Together, these three independent companies could provide thousands of hours of animated programming to any network, and with NBC Universal's addition of thousands of more hours, a network could be launched yesterday.

Like I mentioned, NBC is empire-building globally. They're acquiring properties and networks left and right around the world as well as creating new networks every year. In the past two years, NBC Universal launched Sleuth and Chiller stateside, meaning they have in their arsenal:

- a broadcast network (NBC)
- a Spanish-language broadcast network (Telemundo)
- an general entertainment cable channel (USA)
- a Spanish-language general entertainment channel (MUN2)
- a cable news channel (MSNBC)
- a financial channel (CNBC)
- a shopping channel (Shop NBC)
- a sci-fi/genre channel (Sci-Fi)
- a lifestyle channel (Bravo)
- a digital preschool channel (qubo)
- a digital mystery/suspense channel (Sleuth)
- a digital horror/thriller channel (Chiller)
- a women's interest channel (the recently acquired Oxygen)

A kids channel is the only logical next step, and I feel that it's one NBC Universal is willing to make in the next couple of years. I think NBC Universal bought SparrowHawk to make the other couple of KidsCo partners feel comfortable about launching an network in the US. Before, the partners said they wouldn't enter the US market because DiC has a partnership with CBS (and Nelvana, which is a partner in qubo, has a deal with NBC, but they didn't say anything public about that). Now, I think the KidsCo partnership will have the confidence to launch in the US, because then, and only then, they would have the respect they deserve to even dare to compete with "the big three."
 
I don't think there's ever going to be another 24/7 animation channel. With live action being all the rage and the animated shows slowly lacking in quality and falling by the wayside I can't see anyone taking the chance to program a channel with 100% animation. If a new kids channel ends up appearing, no doubt it will show lots of live action to compete with Nick and Disney.
 
Teh best case scenario would be if a group of third party or independant companies would get together and form a new animation channel devoted to restoring classic cartoons, and maybe a few more current ones. I swear that I once saw an ad for a channel that had everything we're looking for. Unless it was a student project or something. It had cartoons from the 80's, banned classics, anime... but it never went anywhere. Unless, once again that was a student project.

4Kids having a cable channel? They don't have enough money to run the SatAm block they have now. I would love to see them try, but then we'd see animes cut down to what's supposedly acceptable, and none of us would watch it. The president thinks anime is kids stuff, and adults should learn to be cat fanciers (what 4Sight would have become). So we wouldn't have an adult swim-esque block of uncut versions of Shaman King, Ultimate Muscle, or anything like that.

DIC, well, if they had a channel called "Dic 80's" we'd be happy, but they'd fill the network with newer shows (which, face it, are mostly terrible. Especially the animation). Nelvana would be interresting, though. I would have killed to have Teletoon in the late 90's, early 00's. They reran Dog City for quite a time then. Be cool if this was the case.

Unless a big conglomerate decides that some people prefer animation on a whole over the other options, and realises that they don't have to be a kid's channel, we have to make due with the internet, DVD's and the small amount of cartoons available on TV as it is.
 
Well, broadening horizons to include shows from all over the world, as opposed to just American and few specific genres of Japanese cartoons, would give people exposure to more influences, and more influences could mean higher quality American animation.
 
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