Sinclair To Launch 'KidsClick' Multiplatform Programming Block For Children

[Takao]

The block's Wikipedia article features an ever growing list of local stations featuring the block. Be sure to add any you know.

 

[Red Arrow]

No wonder I never understood what syndication is. Does every city in the US have its own CW and FOX?!

 

[Mandouga]

Syndication is when a local TV station picks up a TV show from a distributor outside the major networks. The station can even be a network affiliate airing the show outside of the network's schedule.

 

[Takao]

Here's the full 30 second version of that kids-oriented ad:

That's definitely RoboCop: Alpha Commando.

No wonder I never understood what syndication is. Does every city in the US have its own CW and FOX?!

In the early days of television, the only way to get channels was through an antenna. The antenna would catch the signal from a broadcast transmitter. These transmitters have limited range. Since the US is a large country with a big population, there were plenty of transmitters that formed into loads of individual local stations.

To have higher end national programming, most of these individual stations affiliated with a larger network (ABC, CBS, NBC, with FOX and The CW coming much later), whose content would often take up most of the morning and prime time schedule. To fill the rest of the broadcast day, the individual stations would either produce their own content, or purchase programs from the syndication market. Up until the mid/late 90s and the rise of cable, the syndication market was ripe for first run content. Shows like Transformers debuted there. Nowadays, first run syndicated programs mainly consist of talk shows, game shows and court shows. However, it's mainly off network reruns that dominate the business. Because of this model, shows will often be on different network affiliates in different markets. For example, when I was a kid, Sailor Moon and Beast Wars were on WUTV, Buffalo's FOX affiliate, but in NYC, the show could've been on an affiliate with any other network. The time slots syndicated shows get are not guaranteed either. The local channel can run them whenever they want (as long as it doesn't interfere with network programming).

In a lot of other countries, the networks typically own almost every individual station that runs their content and usually have a standardized schedule, just with local versions of shows swapped in. The US government has restrictions on how many channels a network can own, so you see a lot of companies operate the individual stations. Sinclair is one of, if not the, largest operator of these local stations in the US. For KidsClick, the national partner is ThisTV, but they're also running it on their various local stations. The time slots and network affiliate vary per market, so it's kind of syndicated.

 

[Gold Guy]

Here's the full 30 second version of that kids-oriented ad:

That's definitely RoboCop: Alpha Commando.

I love how that promo has a TV-14 bug.

 

[Takao]

That's just the channel's number.

 

[Dudley]

This is sort of cool, but kind of unnecessary since most if not all these shows are available on a streaming service. Not to mention Saturday morning cartoons died out for a reason. Why get up early to see a cartoon when you can watch it on demand or on a SVOD service anytime you want?
Looking forward to Zak Storm the most. I've seen clips online and it seems better than Miraculous in the writing department.

 

[Mandouga]

Some people want to surprised, maybe? Besides, Robocop: Alpha Commando hasn't been seen since it originally aired, and which, according to the Fan TV website, is currently not streaming anywhere.

No offense, Dudley but I really don't agree with the whole "unnecessary" claim. There are some people out there who both stream and watch on live TV (on their actual TVs, even), which, TBCH, are two different experiences. Besides, the people behind this block plan to also make the shows they have available online (web, mobile devices, and "OTT" devices), which I assume will be free of charge (yeah, yeah, with ads, I know, but still), unlike, say, Netflix. Yahoo View? Their selection is...kind of limited at the moment, and Amazon Video is just getting started with the whole "free" thing (they have every animated series and TV special from Hearst Entertainment available, except for Phantom 2040, which isn't available at all, not even as part of their subscription service).

(sigh) And people think I focus on the negative...

Personally, I hope this block will, at the very least, last longer than The Vortexx did. With all due respect, this isn't the place for the whole "Saturday mornings are dead" talk, and even if this block doesn't last all that long, it's like the old saying goes: "It's better to have tried and lost, than to have never tried at all", and again, I'm hoping that this will go places. I won't be watching every show on the block, but I plan to support it the best I can. That said however, I do hope they put more effort into this block, than Saban Brands did with their Vortexx block. Personally, (and with all due respect to them), I don't think Saban Brands really even tried...

As for Robocop: Alpha Commando, I really would have liked to have seen the older animated show on here, but it won't be a dealbreaker for me...

 

[Sunnydee]

That said however, I do hope they put more effort into this block, than Saban Brands did with their Vortexx block. Personally, (and with all due respect to them), I don't think Saban Brands really even tried...

That was a great post and I agree with a lot of it. I thought this quote was one of the more interesting points. Vortexx pretty much fell apart shortly after it started, it felt like. Which might be important because a person from that block is running this block.

I think Vortexx did a good job of picking up the right shows early on though. They picked up a lot of popular ones. But their problem was just that the network didn't support the block. If this block receives support from Sinclair, it could be as promising as Vortexx was early on.

But Kids Click will still need quality new shows which Vortexx never really delivered on. Hopefully Zak Storm and Scary Larry are a step in that direction

 

[Takao]

Seems the Sinclair stations ran an interview with Dern today: http://foxrochester.com/news/good-day-rochester/kidsclick-coming-to-cw-rochester-starting-july-1

 

[Takao]

 

[Sunnydee]

Looks like there's a schedule change. Sonic X is out and Super 4 is in on weekends.

From the KidsClick Facebook Page

Personally, I think this improves the schedule a lot! And this means they've got two new series premiering on weekends, which is cool!

 

[New Looney Tunes]

http://kidsclicktv.com/thatjustwentlive
On there Facebook page, they announced
A fully functional mobile app and on demand
viewing later this summer

 

[Sunnydee]

http://kidsclicktv.com/thatjustwentlive
On there Facebook page, they announced
A fully functional mobile app and on demand
viewing later this summer

Cool! Also, in the schedule from that website that you linked to, Sonic X has been replaced by RoboCop Alpha Commando on weekdays and by Super 4 on weekends.

So they're not airing Sonic X at all right now.

 

[superkeegan9100]

So they're not airing Sonic X at all right now.

They probably realized that the show has been airing reruns nonstop for years.

 

[Sunnydee]

On twitter, I saw that NickandMore (I'm sure others picked up on this too, I just saw it there) noted that on the schedule Max Steel and Rocket Monkeys will both be starting with season 2. Disney XD and Nickelodeon didn't air those episodes.

That would mean that Max Steel, Rocket Monkeys, Super 4, Angry Birds, and Scary Larry will all be showing new episodes (to US television) on this block, I believe.

If that's right, that's pretty impressive for a new block!

 

[Takao]

Maybe they're holding Zak Storm, Transformers Prime and Sonic X for the fall?

 

[Nodog]

I haven't seen about 99% of the cartoons on the schedule, so I don't really know what to say about it. One of the things I do have to say though, is that I think the selection of shows is kind of odd.

Also, I do not get ThisTV on my provider, so I'll be missing out on the block.

 

[Mandouga]

Robocop: Alpha Commando isn't really that bad of a show, although again, it would have been nice to have seen the previous "Robocop: The Animated Series" from 1988. IMHO, I think that anyone who criticizes this show (or the other show, for that matter) is just disappointed that the show isn't the R-rated, ultraviolent, cerebral gore-fest that the original movies (especially the 1987 original) are, but that's just me...

Also, "Robocop: Alpha Commando returns tomorrow". Well, that's a new one on me. That's the kind of message you typically hear when a show has to be pre-empted for a TV special or something...

 

[DeanBurrito25]

I was flipping through my TV this morning (I've got a Leaf antenna so no cable for me) when I saw Pac Man and The Ghostly Adventures on my local This TV affiliate. It caught me completely off guard until I saw the KidsClick bumper and I remembered reading a press release about it on Nick and More's Twitter. Needless to say, it's pretty cool to see an actual cartoon airing on a Saturday Morning on broadcast TV like that in the year 2017, even if the programming library isn't that stellar. Gotta start somewhere, I suppose.

The only other channel I'm aware of that airs readily available kids programming on the daily like that is the new 24/7 PBS Kids sub-network that launched earlier this year that occasionally airs PBS cartoons, but that's it.

Still, I wonder how much longevity KidsClick will actually have.