So, something happened on Saturday that was kind of a big deal!
CW cancelled its Vortexx animation block.
[IMG][/IMG]
Vortexx basically ran repeat episodes of action/superhero cartoons from Cartoon Network and Saban Int. like Justice League Unlimited, Yu-gioh, DBZ, Sonic X, etc. Since, the CW was the last major/major-ish network to run a Saturday morning cartoon block, and since they’re not doing it anymore, it means that there will no longer be any Saturday morning cartoons on major network television.
So, how did it come to this?
There’s actually a fascinating history about how it got to this point, with facets that the media isn’t quite covering, and it’s giving me thesis teas . . . hmm
In a big nutshell . . .
That's just the Way it is. Things will Never Be the Same . . .
1) The most obvious reason is the proliferation of cable subscription TV and channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and the Hub, steadily luring children’s eyeballs and advertising dollars away from network television. Cable TV networks aren’t beholden to the same types of programming and advertising standards that network TV is held to.
I Wanna Talk to the Mayor, to the Governor, to the Mutha-****ing President . . .
2) The George H.W. Bush administration and the Children’s Television Act of 1990. Bush I was in office during the 101st Congress, when the democrats held the majority in both the House and Senate. The dems got that Act passed which mandated how much educational programming the networks had to air and began regulating advertising to kids (what kind, how much). The US economy was still in recession and Bush didn’t have the juice to repeal it. A similar act was proposed during the 80’s, but Ronald Reagan put the smack down on it because it flew in the face of his free market/deregulation policies. Bush I got voted out. Bill Clinton got elected, and he didn’t change anything.
I'm going in Circles, Circles, Round and Round . . .
3) So, the cable networks started gaining more traction, and little by little the government continued regulating Saturday morning’s bread and butter (junk food and toy advertising aimed at kids). As media networks began to consolidate into major corporations (VIACOM, Disney, NBC/Comcast, Time Warner, etc) with their own cable presence, Saturday morning cartoons became less and less lucrative. One by one, the networks dropped out of the game, until there was one major Saturday morning player left standing. CW/WB Kids was still airing original programming on its Saturday morning block, and because it was a Time Warner property, it would rebroadcast content from Cartoon Network. But all of that ended in 2007, which was the year that Saturday morning really died
Can you Pay my Bills . . .
4) Kellogg’s, purveyor of sugary cereals like Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Crispies, etc., pulled out of WB Kids. Kellogg’s was the last major sponsor of the block, so Time Warner pulled the plug on it and licensed the airtime out to “4Kids,” a company that didn’t really produce content. Rather, it licensed the broadcasting rights to shows from Japan, Russia, etc. I don’t know what happened to 4Kids. The content was pretty ishty and the block was eventually taken over by Saban, who changed it to Vortexx
You're the One I want . . . You're the One I need . . .
Now, on the one hand, the death of Saturday morning cartoons on network TV may seem insignificant, but, at the end of the day, it’s culture and an art form, one that, until recently, was very democratic and accessible to the masses regardless of whether or not you could afford a cable subscription or high speed internet. Cartoons will still be available without a paid subscription via networks like PBS Kids and Qubo, which air some quality educational shows, but the superhero, action, super silly cartoons that told great stories but had no redeemable, educational value, which used to air on network television, are now a thing of the past. That’s one less luxury available to poor kids, and to me, that’s pretty damn sad .
Aww, that's like a staple of childhood, though. The very cartoons that kids without cable and internet won't be able to watch anymore portrayed the Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of cereal type of thing, and it's something many kids looked forward to on weekends.
Well, at least kids with cable and internet will be able to have that, but Still sad to see.
It's interesting, though - in Japan, cartoons are like prime time, major network audience pullers, and here they're slowly becoming non-factors (at least on major networks). Cultural differences such as those are really interesting to me.
Aww, that's like a staple of childhood, though. The very cartoons that kids without cable and internet won't be able to watch anymore portrayed the Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of cereal type of thing, and it's something many kids looked forward to on weekends.
Well, at least kids with cable and internet will be able to have that, but Still sad to see.
It's interesting, though - in Japan, cartoons are like prime time, major network audience pullers, and here they're slowly becoming non-factors (at least on major networks). Cultural differences such as those are really interesting to me.
Yeah, cartoons made me the voracious reader I am today. When the Batman episode went off, I wanted to know what happened next. So, I started reading comics, then periodicals, then novels, historical non-fiction etc., etc.
There's so much more for kids to watch cartoons now like Netflix, youtube & whatnot. We didn't have that back then. I lived for Saturday morning cartoons & after school cartoons.
.
Still sad to see.
welp I guess he'll have to stick to pbs kids 
