The disappearance of Saturday Morning - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

waichingliu81 · 10-10-2007, 05:40 PM

By Gerard Rait, Animation World Network

In a time not so long ago, Saturday mornings were indicative of one and only one pastime for children -- watching cartoons. Throughout the '70s and '80s, the broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC dominated the Saturday morning airwaves by inundating children with cartoons. Cartoons on these networks used to earn ratings of more than 20 million viewers. Today, network Saturday morning cartoons only exist on ABC Kids, FOX Kids and Kids' WB!, the latter two networks either did not exist or did not air cartoons two decades ago. Current successful cartoons on FOX Kids or Kids' WB! can garner a mere two million viewers. That statistic does not even take into consideration that the population of children in the U.S. has increased by approximately ten percent over the last 20 years. Due to this precipice in viewers, network cartoons are left struggling to make money while advertisers remain befuddled without a mainstream channel to promote new toys and products to children. Why have children stopped tuning in on Saturday mornings to network cartoons and what are the ramifications of this change?

Six key factors have led to children watching less Saturday morning cartoons: more recreational sports, the introduction of cable and satellite TV, the Internet and video games, a poorer quality of animation, and a greater emphasis on family time. These factors are rather self-explanatory with the exception of the latter: the divorce rate of Americans now stands at 49 percent, and time on the weekends has become more precious for children as many commute between parents' houses. For parents who only have limited access to their children due to either divorce or career advancement, plopping them down in front of the television for five hours on a Saturday morning is no longer a viable option. Among most parents, divorced or not, there is a new emphasis on "quality" time. Consequently, taking one's children to the theater, mall, museum, event, zoo or beach on the weekend is deemed more appropriate to being a "good" parent, than letting kids sit and watch cartoons. To this effect, American society has changed substantially enough over the last two decades to the point where Saturday morning cartoons are less important to our culture.

The Biggest Change of All

Today, cartoons are no longer on the major three networks that dominated the preceding decades. Although ABC technically still airs Saturday morning cartoons, its relationship with Disney distinguishes it from ABC's past programming during the '70s and '80s. When NBC and CBS began reducing their children's programming on Saturdays in 1988-1990, FOX jumped aboard the bandwagon and laid the cornerstone for its FOX Kids Network. NBC chose to delve into live-action teen entertainment, hallmarked by Saved by the Bell . Presently, NBC is in partnership with Discovery Kids; a Saturday edition of Today either precedes or follows Discovery Kids. CBS initially chose to replace its cartoons with news from local affiliates and now airs a national morning show, which is either preceded or followed by children's content from Nick Jr. Disney acquired ABC, so their relationship has stayed relatively constant over the decades and still continues to air its One Saturday Morning, recently renamed ABC Kids. Linda Simensky, vice president of original programming at Cartoon Network, feels that, "Children's television was never the strength of broadcasters to begin with. There were some good shows in there, but kids' TV was the department where executives at the network would start their nephews out in. [Kids' TV] was never the primary goal of a network." Children's entertainment on Saturday mornings is currently such a liability that local affiliates in markets such as Baltimore choose to air local news in lieu of Discovery Kids, Nick Jr., and ABC Kids.

Cable and satellite TV have replaced these dated network juggernauts as the home of cartoons. The Disney Channel, Viacom-owned Nickelodeon, and Turner-owned, now AOL Time Warner's Cartoon Network form the new triumvirate of cartoon supremacy. Oddly enough though, the ratings for these three cable channels hardly exceed one million viewers per station on Saturday mornings -- a far cry from the zenith of Saturday morning ratings in the '80s. Why are these channels less successful than their network counterparts were years ago since cable TV is now in the majority of American households?

The success of Nickelodeon and the other cablers during the week has led to their own shortcomings on Saturday mornings. That is to say, Nickelodeon and the others are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; there is no draw card for children to watch at any specific time or on any specific day. It is always there! A child who never knew the phenomenon of Saturday morning cartoons sees no reason to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings rather than on Wednesday nights or Sunday afternoons. Nevertheless, according to some studies, when a child sees the color orange, the first word the child associates with that color is "Nickelodeon." Today's children are being raised as brand loyal to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network's signature checkerboard. These brand loyalties form as early as two years of age.i Needless to say, this brand loyalty demonstrates that despite Nickelodeon's not earning comparable ratings to broadcast networks in the '80s on Saturday mornings, Nickelodeon and the others are doing something right. (TBC...)

waichingliu81 · 10-10-2007, 05:43 PM

it's the Children that Changed - Not the Cartoons

(continued...) "As cable TV started to rise, the 'tween psychology became real," comments Gaither. "Kids over the age of eight started splitting off into very different groups. Some boys were into animation and others were not. Girls have always been sketchy over the age of six with animation. Live-action became more popular. You are always better off as a network if you have a mixture of both live-action and cartoons. I know Discovery Kids' plan: they wanted a mixture of animation, reality series and live-action to reflect the breadth and complexity of kids today. It's hard to find a kid who likes just animation anymore. Kids have evolved. You don't have many boys watching cartoons when they're thirteen. That's not happening anymore. They are evolving emotionally faster. Lizzie McGuire is a live-action Ally McBeal for kids on The Disney Channel and it's a huge hit with girls, and boys oddly enough."

Primetime family programming is also an endangered species due to the same proliferation of cable TV. Successful family shows like Full House and Family Matters no longer have a place on broadcast networks because of channels like Nickelodeon and ABC Family. The absence of primetime family programming also hinders Saturday morning cartoons on broadcast networks because there is no way to promote programming on Friday night for Saturday morning. Right now, only ABC's Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings promotes programming on Saturday mornings, and as O'Neal points out, "There is no way you can expect a child to remember to watch a show all the way from Sunday night until Saturday morning. No child will remember that."

http://www.overstim.net/read/saturday.html

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 06:32 PM

Interesting article Wai

waichingliu81 · 10-10-2007, 06:56 PM

it certainly is. i was surfing the web for articles on the decline of saturday morning cartoons because as well as being a fan of sitcoms, i love watching animation shows as well and i thought this one beared a lot of significance in relation to todays cartoons. or indeed the certain lack of them.

being born in the 80s, there were so many great shows i tuned into and besides all the marketing and product placement tactics toy manufacturers employed, it was the cartoons themselves, of which many of them represented what was great about popular culture and animation back in the day. great characters, interesting themes and storylines and memorable theme songs which resonated with so many kids. nowadays cartoons are a joke, and whereas a majority of anime are excellent, the anime/manga-based kids cartoons are crap to be honest.

another factor that contributed to the demise of kids cartoons is that many of the animation companies such as filmation and hanna barbera have since gone out of business and are no longer producing the types of cartoons they are renowned for making. there days tv production companies couldn't care one bit for the young kids of today. they are missing out on having decent cartoons being televised because the people in tv today only care about dramas and lame reality tv, whilst allowing the quality of sitcoms and cartoons to go unnoticed and thus, they have gone downhill as nobody in tv land gives a **** sadly

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 07:16 PM

There is one anime based American cartoon that was very good, Teen Titans....on the other hand, Kappa Mikey is a HUGE insult to anime!

Ireneparalegal · 10-10-2007, 09:54 PM

I remember Saturday mornings. I even remember the night before the new season of kid shows was to debut, they would have an hour special of previews of each show, new and returning shows. It gave us a chance to see what the line-ups would be, what the new shows were abt and so forth. Those were the days.

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I remember Saturday mornings. I even remember the night before the new season of kid shows was to debut, they would have an hour special of previews of each show, new and returning shows. It gave us a chance to see what the line-ups would be, what the new shows were abt and so forth. Those were the days.

Not to mention those wonderful, colourful ads in the comic books of the time! ( Remember them, Irene? )

Ireneparalegal · 10-10-2007, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikado

Not to mention those wonderful, colourful ads in the comic books of the time! ( Remember them, Irene? )

I haven't seen a comic book in so long only because they are not the same like they were back in the days. You are right, those ads were something.

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 10:40 PM

Guess what? I went into my old comics and found this treasure and scanned it

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 10:44 PM

I used to LOVE this "Hot Wheels" show, unfortunately, under the rules of the time, the whole SHOW was considered an ad for Hot Wheels toys, and wasnt allowed any advertising, so, it died after 2 high rated seasons! ( My how those rules have changed!!!!)

Ireneparalegal · 10-10-2007, 10:51 PM

OMG that is fantastic!!!! You have a treasure trove of items.

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 10:58 PM

yeah...ive been a collector since the first day i had an allowance

Mikado · 10-10-2007, 11:00 PM

i always found it funny that these ads often had better art than the actual cartoons!

Ireneparalegal · 10-10-2007, 11:05 PM

Those comic books are ALL ART. You don't see them like that anymore.

Mikado · 10-11-2007, 12:22 AM

Funny though, I dont remember the Cattanooga Cats looking like THAT.....mind you, i barely remember them at ALL.

10-10-2007, 05:40 PM	#1
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	The disappearance of Saturday Morning By Gerard Rait, Animation World Network In a time not so long ago, Saturday mornings were indicative of one and only one pastime for children -- watching cartoons. Throughout the '70s and '80s, the broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC dominated the Saturday morning airwaves by inundating children with cartoons. Cartoons on these networks used to earn ratings of more than 20 million viewers. Today, network Saturday morning cartoons only exist on ABC Kids, FOX Kids and Kids' WB!, the latter two networks either did not exist or did not air cartoons two decades ago. Current successful cartoons on FOX Kids or Kids' WB! can garner a mere two million viewers. That statistic does not even take into consideration that the population of children in the U.S. has increased by approximately ten percent over the last 20 years. Due to this precipice in viewers, network cartoons are left struggling to make money while advertisers remain befuddled without a mainstream channel to promote new toys and products to children. Why have children stopped tuning in on Saturday mornings to network cartoons and what are the ramifications of this change? Six key factors have led to children watching less Saturday morning cartoons: more recreational sports, the introduction of cable and satellite TV, the Internet and video games, a poorer quality of animation, and a greater emphasis on family time. These factors are rather self-explanatory with the exception of the latter: the divorce rate of Americans now stands at 49 percent, and time on the weekends has become more precious for children as many commute between parents' houses. For parents who only have limited access to their children due to either divorce or career advancement, plopping them down in front of the television for five hours on a Saturday morning is no longer a viable option. Among most parents, divorced or not, there is a new emphasis on "quality" time. Consequently, taking one's children to the theater, mall, museum, event, zoo or beach on the weekend is deemed more appropriate to being a "good" parent, than letting kids sit and watch cartoons. To this effect, American society has changed substantially enough over the last two decades to the point where Saturday morning cartoons are less important to our culture. The Biggest Change of All Today, cartoons are no longer on the major three networks that dominated the preceding decades. Although ABC technically still airs Saturday morning cartoons, its relationship with Disney distinguishes it from ABC's past programming during the '70s and '80s. When NBC and CBS began reducing their children's programming on Saturdays in 1988-1990, FOX jumped aboard the bandwagon and laid the cornerstone for its FOX Kids Network. NBC chose to delve into live-action teen entertainment, hallmarked by Saved by the Bell . Presently, NBC is in partnership with Discovery Kids; a Saturday edition of Today either precedes or follows Discovery Kids. CBS initially chose to replace its cartoons with news from local affiliates and now airs a national morning show, which is either preceded or followed by children's content from Nick Jr. Disney acquired ABC, so their relationship has stayed relatively constant over the decades and still continues to air its One Saturday Morning, recently renamed ABC Kids. Linda Simensky, vice president of original programming at Cartoon Network, feels that, "Children's television was never the strength of broadcasters to begin with. There were some good shows in there, but kids' TV was the department where executives at the network would start their nephews out in. [Kids' TV] was never the primary goal of a network." Children's entertainment on Saturday mornings is currently such a liability that local affiliates in markets such as Baltimore choose to air local news in lieu of Discovery Kids, Nick Jr., and ABC Kids. Cable and satellite TV have replaced these dated network juggernauts as the home of cartoons. The Disney Channel, Viacom-owned Nickelodeon, and Turner-owned, now AOL Time Warner's Cartoon Network form the new triumvirate of cartoon supremacy. Oddly enough though, the ratings for these three cable channels hardly exceed one million viewers per station on Saturday mornings -- a far cry from the zenith of Saturday morning ratings in the '80s. Why are these channels less successful than their network counterparts were years ago since cable TV is now in the majority of American households? The success of Nickelodeon and the other cablers during the week has led to their own shortcomings on Saturday mornings. That is to say, Nickelodeon and the others are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; there is no draw card for children to watch at any specific time or on any specific day. It is always there! A child who never knew the phenomenon of Saturday morning cartoons sees no reason to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings rather than on Wednesday nights or Sunday afternoons. Nevertheless, according to some studies, when a child sees the color orange, the first word the child associates with that color is "Nickelodeon." Today's children are being raised as brand loyal to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network's signature checkerboard. These brand loyalties form as early as two years of age.i Needless to say, this brand loyalty demonstrates that despite Nickelodeon's not earning comparable ratings to broadcast networks in the '80s on Saturday mornings, Nickelodeon and the others are doing something right. (TBC...)

10-10-2007, 09:54 PM	#6
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	I remember Saturday mornings. I even remember the night before the new season of kid shows was to debut, they would have an hour special of previews of each show, new and returning shows. It gave us a chance to see what the line-ups would be, what the new shows were abt and so forth. Those were the days.
	__________________ DALLAS COWBOYS ARE HERE AT TRAINING CAMP!!!

10-10-2007, 10:40 PM	#9
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	Guess what? I went into my old comics and found this treasure and scanned it Attached Images

10-10-2007, 10:44 PM	#10
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AD I used to LOVE this "Hot Wheels" show, unfortunately, under the rules of the time, the whole SHOW was considered an ad for Hot Wheels toys, and wasnt allowed any advertising, so, it died after 2 high rated seasons! ( My how those rules have changed!!!!) Attached Images

10-10-2007, 05:43 PM	#2
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	it's the Children that Changed - Not the Cartoons (continued...) "As cable TV started to rise, the 'tween psychology became real," comments Gaither. "Kids over the age of eight started splitting off into very different groups. Some boys were into animation and others were not. Girls have always been sketchy over the age of six with animation. Live-action became more popular. You are always better off as a network if you have a mixture of both live-action and cartoons. I know Discovery Kids' plan: they wanted a mixture of animation, reality series and live-action to reflect the breadth and complexity of kids today. It's hard to find a kid who likes just animation anymore. Kids have evolved. You don't have many boys watching cartoons when they're thirteen. That's not happening anymore. They are evolving emotionally faster. Lizzie McGuire is a live-action Ally McBeal for kids on The Disney Channel and it's a huge hit with girls, and boys oddly enough." Primetime family programming is also an endangered species due to the same proliferation of cable TV. Successful family shows like Full House and Family Matters no longer have a place on broadcast networks because of channels like Nickelodeon and ABC Family. The absence of primetime family programming also hinders Saturday morning cartoons on broadcast networks because there is no way to promote programming on Friday night for Saturday morning. Right now, only ABC's Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings promotes programming on Saturday mornings, and as O'Neal points out, "There is no way you can expect a child to remember to watch a show all the way from Sunday night until Saturday morning. No child will remember that." http://www.overstim.net/read/saturday.html

10-10-2007, 06:32 PM	#3
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	Interesting article Wai

10-10-2007, 06:56 PM	#4
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	it certainly is. i was surfing the web for articles on the decline of saturday morning cartoons because as well as being a fan of sitcoms, i love watching animation shows as well and i thought this one beared a lot of significance in relation to todays cartoons. or indeed the certain lack of them. being born in the 80s, there were so many great shows i tuned into and besides all the marketing and product placement tactics toy manufacturers employed, it was the cartoons themselves, of which many of them represented what was great about popular culture and animation back in the day. great characters, interesting themes and storylines and memorable theme songs which resonated with so many kids. nowadays cartoons are a joke, and whereas a majority of anime are excellent, the anime/manga-based kids cartoons are crap to be honest. another factor that contributed to the demise of kids cartoons is that many of the animation companies such as filmation and hanna barbera have since gone out of business and are no longer producing the types of cartoons they are renowned for making. there days tv production companies couldn't care one bit for the young kids of today. they are missing out on having decent cartoons being televised because the people in tv today only care about dramas and lame reality tv, whilst allowing the quality of sitcoms and cartoons to go unnoticed and thus, they have gone downhill as nobody in tv land gives a **** sadly

10-10-2007, 07:16 PM	#5
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	There is one anime based American cartoon that was very good, Teen Titans....on the other hand, Kappa Mikey is a HUGE insult to anime!

10-10-2007, 10:51 PM	#11
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	OMG that is fantastic!!!! You have a treasure trove of items.

10-10-2007, 10:58 PM	#12
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	yeah...ive been a collector since the first day i had an allowance

10-10-2007, 11:00 PM	#13
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	i always found it funny that these ads often had better art than the actual cartoons!

10-10-2007, 11:05 PM	#14
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	Those comic books are ALL ART. You don't see them like that anymore.

10-11-2007, 12:22 AM	#15
Mikado Main st bridge Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 25,892	Funny though, I dont remember the Cattanooga Cats looking like THAT.....mind you, i barely remember them at ALL.