Why does CN keep doing Teen Titans Go marathons?

[Dudley]

But the other two huge marathons had different reasons for working:

One was broken up by the premiere of the NBTS special and some OK KO here and there.

The other was only four days and during Thanksgiving time, when very few people watch TV anyway. Sure, you could say the same about Christmas, but that only applies to the first two days or so.

With this, I'm quite honestly convinced that even the most die-hard TTG fans will stop watching midway through because it's just that long and that continuous.

I don’t think most people will sit through long marathons regardless what the show is. Mostly because people have other things to do.
I’m reminded of how a friend on YouTube did a livestream of most of his videos on his channel. All the content equaled up to a a few hours which he then looped. He did it each Saturday, and over time the loop grew longer and longer, until one time it lasted almost a whole week. During certain peak moments (depending on the time of the day), 2,000 people would tune in, but at its lowest it would be 200 viewers (late at night).
This anecdote is to make you aware that not everyone is going to sit through a whole marathon. Most people will tune in and then leave after maybe an hour or teo, but the point is that they’ll all do so at different times.


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[Checkerboard]

Looking back, when I was a kid watching CN in the mid-90s, there were indeed dozens of shows I couldn't get enough and I watched anytime they were on by randomly tuning in. I definitely saw some episodes more than once, because I remember them more than others, and didn't mind. But at the same time I didn't really have much of a choice in the sense there was practically no internet (barely dial up I didn't know how to use) and no epg (I'm not even sure we had it on our service and I was glad at the time I knew how to use the remote to find CN in the sea of channels we had) and therefore I really had no way of knowing what episode was coming or on. It was a surprise. So what was airing, if I liked it, I watched. But even the shows I loved I almost never sat through the whole day when they were on for longer than one or two slots in a row. SuperChunk ran for 3 hours and that was the maximum I was able to endure in terms of one show giving me enough of it for some time. Even I then started to get bored and switched to something else - although the nature of the block at least made the marathons engaging. The only one time I actually sat in front of the TV the whole day because of a single show was during a Centurions (farewell?) marathon. Otherwise I watched CN several hours a day only because in those countless hours I dedicated to it there were countless shows which prevented me from being bored. Seeing 10+ different shows in 3-5 hours is better than seeing just one.

To be also a bit fair, and put things into perspective, check out this. Already back in 1994 CN aired almost nothing but Flintstones for 2 months with 4 days being purely all Flintstones shows and films they had:


In 1994 there was also 24 hours of Bugs Bunny.

In 1995 it was 25 hours of Scooby-Doo:


Around the 2000s it was Scooby/Courage for 1 week in evenings:


There was also Scooby for one day in the 2000s:


And for 2 full days in 2009:


So as you can see such stunts aren't really new. It's just that back then CN still had more shows on rotation or in production than now so these marathons were less apparent and less annoying. Not to mention, outside of said marathons, shows in general weren't shoved down people's throats all the time for no proper reason and most of the shows were equal in terms of treatment. There wasn't really a single one that could be considered the face of CN since variety was still a thing.

Also, I have to agree the analysis @ThrowawayNumber1 made, because it makes complete sense in combination to what I mentioned earlier.

 

[ThisGuy24]

Let me take a crack at it. Look I will say that TTG is popular but not to where it deserves these marathons or take up most of the schedule like it does. As I said before, other shows on CN took a backseat to TTG which is why it became popular and the aggressive advertising it had. If AT, RS, Gumball, SU, and even Clarence were given the opportunities that TTG gets, it would literally just be a regular show on CN that people enjoy watching from time to time.

 

[Toon4Thought]

Let me take a crack at it. Look I will say that TTG is popular but not to where it deserves these marathons or take up most of the schedule like it does. As I said before, other shows on CN took a backseat to TTG which is why it became popular and the aggressive advertising it had. If AT, RS, Gumball, SU, and even Clarence were given the opportunities that TTG gets, it would literally just be a regular show on CN that people enjoy watching from time to time.

Well, in this thread I'm specifically asking why they overplay it to this particular extreme, particularly with this holiday marathon.

 

[ThisGuy24]

Well, in this thread I'm specifically asking why they overplay it to this particular extreme, particularly with this holiday marathon.

Yes I know. I'm saying because the show does a decent amount in ratings is for the overplaying it gets and it's just easy for them to play that then just play something on the schedule.

 

[Daikun]

Why doesn't CN just air it 24/7/365 already? We all know they want to.

 

[Checkerboard]

One other reason that hasn't been brought up, and there's no concrete proof for, is the following. TimeWarner/AT&T is pressing Miller to get people to use the app, because the app numbers are not as high as they would want. So they're putting premieres on the app, doing free app weekends and oversaturating the live feed with the show people hate the most in order to get the app numbers they've internally set for themselves. With AT&T being in charge and being about mobile/on demand I don't think it's far-fetched to imagine. Perhaps they even gave Miller a specific number to reach within a certain timeframe and if she won't she'll get fired for failing to meet goals - which, if the case, would really explain it since she would be doing literally anything to comply and thus save her post. In other words we might have a new CN president soon.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

With Teen Titans Go, there are many departments that it affects. The most obvious.being their "Cartoon Network: Channel" department. It affects that quite a bit. But, with it's connection to DC (owned by Time Warner), it also serves as a reminder for their other DC shows, such as all of the ones on the CW, and that short lived one on NBC. That's not even including the upcoming Teen Titans live action adaption coming soon. Cyborg was in, and was heavily marketed, in the Justice League movie, and you can't tell me it's not because of Teen Titans (both the original for the 18-25 crowd and Go, for the kids).

Okay see here's the problem with your theory: if Warner Brothers and Time Warner were shoving series on Cartoon Network to showcase they're other brands to get kids interested in them, why is Justice League Action getting so little love? At most that show gets a not promoted early Saturday time slot of 15 minutes and that's it of it's appearance on the network. If Warner Brothers actually did really want to use CN to pomote they're other material they'd take the show that has ALL THE CHARACTERS of the DC Universe they're pushing and make that more front and center. Because yeah TTG advertises Cyborg for a JL movie but so does JLA... which also advertises Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman. Seriously it would of been so easy for Cartoon Network to have a JLA marathon for like a day right before the JL movie came out: pump it up talking about all the exiting heroes and reminding kids "if you want to see more of these guys check out they're film coming to the big screen". Heck even if it was a co marathon with Teen Titans Go it would still be actual exposure for the brand and represent the fun action that the actual JL movie was trying to push.

But yeah Cartoon Network didn't do that, at all. Because it comes down to more then them just wanting to push one show: it comes down to them just pretty much giving up on TV due to sheer laziness/fear/ineptitude and general apathy and just squeezing out the bare minimum to they're schedule each week and hoping the child audience will eat it up.

The thing is that yeah Cartoon Network has always had marathons of shows and of movies since the network started. There were weekend marathons of Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed Edd n Eddy, the Powerpuff Girls. An entire day dedicated to reshowing The Iron Giant over and over again and the yearly June Bugs event that spotlighted every well known Bugs Bunny cartoon, on top of who knows how many other series and specials were given such treatment. However there was still VARIETY in not only the promotion and the packaging of the marathons and how they were presented, but the fact that they would still be for DIFFERENT properties. CN in the last year hasn't done that for any of they're other series whatsoever. Whether it was the end of Regular Show, the start of OK KO, or just time for a specific holiday the only thing we got was Teen Titans Go marathons. No other series really warranted this or was given such treatment: aside from just new properties or Gumball no other series was even heavily pushed: everything just came down to over showing one and only one series over and over again.

Seriously if CN saw any value in the network at all they would give more time to other series and put more effort into the promotion of them as we saw years back, even when they first started out and practically had no money. We don't because they don't care. And to be honest though TTG is the weakest and honestly cheapest/most pandering CN series to become pouplar, any cartoon getting pushed this much would make it way more obnoxious then it ought to be. TTG even if it was a Johnny Test hit of just being one of the top brands on Cartoon Network (like Johnny Test was like 5 years back) would be one thing but that is not the case and the fact it is over shown is a major aggreious issue. But until numbers just drop to the point of being nearly nonexistant or somehow a show actually pushes past CN with it's marketting blitz I don't see that happening. Especially since honestly this is the same thing Nickelodeon in a sense has done with Spongebob for over a decade and yeah Spongebob is still a major series that still gets reguarly shown all the tim on Nick. Spongebob at least was generally considered well loved by eveyrone when it first started out and slowly built itself up as a top series unlike TTG but don't think CN wouldn't try just pushing TTG like Nick with Spongebob if they could for even another decade. Again something's going to have to really change for them to do otherwise and I sadly don't see that happening in the near future.

 

[TMC1982]

Cartoon Network's last week of 2017 schedule

 

[Asa]

Cartoon Network's last week of 2017 schedule

Welp, guess I'm not watching CN next week.

 

[DavidVi11aronga]

Cartoon Network's last week of 2017 schedule

How did I know this would happen eventually

 

[Saotome2U]

I almost sometimes think CN does this to troll. It really is ridiculous, and regardless of the complaints and feedback of "c'mon guys, seriously?!", they still do it anyway. I get that TTG is popular, and while I'm not a huge fan of it, I do admit that it does have some gems for episodes that are enjoyable, funny and entertaining. But the marathons are redundant. There was a TTG marathon over Thanksgiving to hype of the 200th episode special. Now, every day for the past 2 weeks, they've been showing TTG for 5-6 hours. So all this is, just comes across like:

Hey, we're showing TTG 5-6 hours every day so you can watch the whole series in 2 weeks. But for Christmas, we're doing a 24 hour marathon of it so you can watch the whole series in 2 days! Once again...seriously?...

Sorry for the rant. But to answer why are there so many marathons? Others may have covered it, but I think the answer is pretty simple. It's an "in-house" CN original show that's a part of the DC/Warner Bros universe, so it's definitely a convenience for marketing both fronts. And yes, it gets decent ratings from the demos. But I'm just starting to think they are either trolling, or because it's the end of the year, CN/Boomerang are just phoning it in. Just to the point where you wanna be like "oh well, I give up."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The other theory could be that they're burning off the series because maybe, just maybe the show is ending (despite the song in the 200th episode). I've been a wee, bit tiny suspicious of them also airing the original TT show alongside TTG, and to hit 200 eps is a milestone, plus the upcoming movie. But IIRC, CN tends to burn off episodes in repeated marathons of shows when they are about to end it. Just a theory; maybe even conspiratorial. But it's crossed my mind...

 

[Anonymoususer2004]

I almost sometimes think CN does this to troll. It really is ridiculous, and regardless of the complaints and feedback of "c'mon guys, seriously?!", they still do it anyway. I get that TTG is popular, and while I'm not a huge fan of it, I do admit that it does have some gems for episodes that are enjoyable, funny and entertaining. But the marathons are redundant. There was a TTG marathon over Thanksgiving to hype of the 200th episode special. Now, every day for the past 2 weeks, they've been showing TTG for 5-6 hours. So all this is, just comes across like:

Hey, we're showing TTG 5-6 hours every day so you can watch the whole series in 2 weeks. But for Christmas, we're doing a 24 hour marathon of it so you can watch the whole series in 2 days! Once again...seriously?...

Sorry for the rant. But to answer why are there so many marathons? Others may have covered it, but I think the answer is pretty simple. It's an "in-house" CN original show that's a part of the DC/Warner Bros universe, so it's definitely a convenience for marketing both fronts. And yes, it gets decent ratings from the demos. But I'm just starting to think they are either trolling, or because it's the end of the year, CN/Boomerang are just phoning it in. Just to the point where you wanna be like "oh well, I give up."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The other theory could be that they're burning off the series because maybe, just maybe the show is ending (despite the song in the 200th episode). I've been a wee, bit tiny suspicious of them also airing the original TT show alongside TTG, and to hit 200 eps is a milestone, plus the upcoming movie. But IIRC, CN tends to burn off episodes in repeated marathons of shows when they are about to end it. Just a theory; maybe even conspiratorial. But it's crossed my mind...

TTG is not an in-house CN show. Its produced at Warner Bros Animation

 

[hobbyfan]

The target demographic Chumptoon Network strives for doesn't understand the difference between a first-run episode and a rerun, especially when the latter is too prevalent.

That being said, Teen Titans Go!, despite being about as funny as a dead cactus, remains a hit, even though CN does play it into the ground. Older fans, such as comics fans like me, aren't into it because it's unfunny and an insult to the franchise that has been around since the 60's. As long as the target demo, kids 6-11, which translates to grades 1-5, remains interested, they'll keep playing it into the ground.

Remember, CN doesn't care about older viewers. If they did, there'd be more variety, and Justice League Action would air in a more prominent spot on the schedule.

 

[Saotome2U]

TTG is not an in-house CN show. Its produced at Warner Bros Animation

You're right, I used that term incorrectly. I just meant a show that comes from Warner Bros, directly, with WB/DC ...if that makes sense.