Bloomberg article on CN's future

[Corwin Haught]

Cartoon Network’s Last Gasp

The irreverent animation factory once cranked out hits, talent and profits. But with David Zaslav’s retreat from streaming kids programming, the future of the network is in question.

www.bloomberg.com

Good stuff here, but the article omits the secular decline of 6-11 series animation across both cable and streaming (at one point the article says animation is doing fine, citing features, Cocomelon, Bluey and anime), but CN had been effectively pigeonholed into that demographic by that point, as the article acknowledges.

 

[Francisque]

The future for CN looks bleaker and bleaker

Not complete annihilation of course, but nothing exciting is coming out of that department anymore

I used to be somehow "positive" some time ago, now...

Probably working like Disney Channel on Disney+ currently is? A "nostalgia block"

 

[Edward Joseph]

Let's face it: Cartoon Network (and Nickelodeon and Disney Channel) are going downhill because TV is going downhill. People are more likely just to watch something on the internet or on streaming than TV.

TV is basically mostly a lost cause at this point. A real shame.

 

[harry580]

so, what's the future of animation for 6-11?, are we going to keep losing that to sites like YouTube (what would happen if that lead to more people being exposed more for meeting up with fans like dr disrespect, edp445, John bob & cosmodore did)

and also mejo, streaming is on a tv too so

 

[cartoonnetworkpoke]

Well if this is the end I hope hollywood achieves it's goal of trying to stream everything. Interesting to see how that goes ffs. This decade has sucked so much. Would rather stay in 2006 forever at this point.

 

[Daikun]

Along with Barney, the company is also developing a reboot of The Powerpuff Girls and shooting spinoffs of Adventure Time and Regular Show.

So I guess the PPG reboot isn't canned? That's good to hear. I've been a bit worried since it's been radio silent while we've been getting updates mainly on Foster's Funtime.

 

[DeanBurrito25]

I didn't see much in this article that most of us in the forum didn't know already, being privy to the animation industry and all. What's there to say here that hasn't been said already? It is a miracle that Cartoon Network has endured even through mergers predating Discovery (AT&T, Time Warner).

Also, this is irrelevant, but this illustration made for the article sure is...an illustration, all right.

 

[Edward Joseph]

...............

Wut?

 

[Daikun]

Also, this is irrelevant, but this illustration made for the article sure is...an illustration, all right.

If you scroll further down (you'll have to turn off adblock to be able to read the whole thing), there are several illustrations made for this article.

 

[harry580]

that illustration is just omgwtfbbq right there

Johnny bravo is like: YEAH IM FREE!, FREEFALLING!

 

[DeanBurrito25]

If you scroll further down (you'll have to turn off adblock to be able to read the whole thing), there are several illustrations made for this article.

I did see those upon reading the rest of the article – none of them quite as jarring as the first.

 

[Edward Joseph]

that illustration is just omgwtfbbq right there

Johnny bravo is like: YEAH IM FREE!, FREEFALLING!

He looks like he's in his eighties.

Steven Universe looks like a middle-aged man.

I did see those upon reading the rest of the article – none of them quite as jarring as the first.

Agreed. They look a lot better:

 

[harry580]

so, what the future of Cartoon Network & animation for 6-11 demographic?, is it going to be like how Nintendo went through the 2010s iPhone games era?

 

[cartoonnetworkpoke]

so, what the future of Cartoon Network & animation for 6-11 demographic?, is it going to be like how Nintendo went through the 2010s iPhone games era?

3ds still sold well haha. I mean at least CN is doing better overseas . Maybe if social media bans for young kids go through then they can start watching CN Again lol

 

[Elijah Abrams]

They’re just going to rebrand for an all-ages demographic (a cartoon "psychographic", like they did in the beginning) in the future. That is all.

 

[RegularCapital]

that illustration is just omgwtfbbq right there

Johnny bravo is like: YEAH IM FREE!, FREEFALLING!

Johnny Bravo is in the "Zone Where Normal Things Don't Happen Very Often".

 

[Francisque]

Let's face it: Cartoon Network (and Nickelodeon and Disney Channel) are going downhill because TV is going downhill. People are more likely just to watch something on the internet or on streaming than TV.

TV is basically mostly a lost cause at this point. A real shame.

And, at the same time, many children tend to skip content intended for them, moving to "older-skewed" content

I've noticed that more and more, although it's not a complete fact

They’re just going to rebrand for an all-ages demographic (a cartoon "psychographic", like they did in the beginning) in the future. That is all.

Not so sure

As time moves on, even older people will switch to streaming services, and they are already

I feel like they might want to just promote and expand Adult Swim even more making no branding adjustment

Johnny Bravo is in the "Zone Where Normal Things Don't Happen Very Often".

And that's why AI is bad (not completely of course, but you get my point)

The image looks as scary as hell

 

[Corwin Haught]

that illustration is just omgwtfbbq right there

Johnny bravo is like: YEAH IM FREE!, FREEFALLING!

Why are Finn and Jake and Ice King there given they have several shows (and a movie) either airing, in development, or having begun production? The same with Gumball and Mordeicai/Rigby.

So I guess the PPG reboot isn't canned? That's good to hear. I've been a bit worried since it's been radio silent while we've been getting updates mainly on Foster's Funtime.

It's probably being saved in CN's back pocket or outright in development hell.

 

[Perla Magica]

I didn't see much in this article that most of us in the forum didn't know already, being privy to the animation industry and all. What's there to say here that hasn't been said already? It is a miracle that Cartoon Network has endured even through mergers predating Discovery (AT&T, Time Warner).

Also, this is irrelevant, but this illustration made for the article sure is...an illustration, all right.

This is probably the ugliest illustration of CN characters I've seen.

 

[cartoonnetworkpoke]

Maybe I'm overrating but maybe that fox wb merger should've gone through in 2014. All the CN stuff would've been promoted and better handled on Hulu as compared to HBO Max.