I disagree about the cartoons. Cartoons are the one area where Nick isn't completely floundering. TMNT, Kung Fu Panda, and especially The Legend of Korra have been doing very well. No reason for them to try to tail Disney and make a P&F type show when what they're doing is unique and comparatively successful as is.
And Spongebob is still their biggest success, they have bloody Spongebob reruns that end up 1st in the demographic. It's mind-boggling to behold but there's no messing with the facts, they have to keep playing Spongebob. I don't like it, nobody else I know likes it, but there's no way around it.
One thing they need to start doing is actually *beep* replaying Korra though. How do you spend a million dollars per episode and only air it on Nickelodeon once?? How do you have a hit show and then act like it never existed?? How is Korra supposed to win new viewers when nobody who starts watching Nickelodeon right now would have any idea the dang show exists? Playing it for a minuscule fraction of Nick viewers on Nicktoons doesn't make good business sense in any universe.
As far as the rest of the station, I agree, everything (else) they do is completely messed up. But they're too far gone at this point, they've shown time and time again that they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I've long since given up hope. Like the dinosaurs, they're invariably heading for extinction and all we can do is hope that something better evolves in their place once they're gone. It would take a lot for me to regain faith in Nick again.
It'd be a lot easier for me to keep faith in Nick if Disney wasn't utterly knocking it out of the park every single chance they get with some of the best TV that TV has ever seen. But hey, when your competitors bring out the big guns, you have to sink or swim.
Sucks for Nick but they were the best damn kids station for over 20 years. And the sickest part is, it's not that Disney had better shows. I adore Austin & Ally, Jessie, Gravity Falls, etc. But are they better than The Legend of Korra, iCarly season 2&3, or Victorious season 1&2? Nope. Nick found a way to kill itself through sheer lack of business sense, something that a 30 year old network should have had at least a vague inkling of.
It's actually pretty impressive, I'm not convinced that Viacom's CEO didn't lose a bet to Disney and had to intentionally sabotage Nick out of existence. Either that or some form of nepotism or favoritism has ruined the network because by all means Viacom should have fired damn near everybody involved with the business end of the station a year ago. And cancelling all their shows doesn't count... Viacom sweetie, you can't get good ratings with new shows when your promotion, scheduling, and brand departments are all broken beyond repair. They're just throwing ice cubes at the sun, they don't even seem to know what the problem is. But we all do. How sad is that?
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"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame."
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ferrisb1-1
12 years ago
SpongeBob only cleans up Saturday morning because the broadcast networks no longer air Saturday morning cartoons. This is why SB is #1... One day of the week... But this is what the execs use as the primary excuse to keep the status quo and not do a damn thing to change, or even build on its lead.
The over-reliance on Dan Schneider doesn't help, either.
The problem with Dan's shows is they are a self-fulfilling prophecy that always works in his favor. If a non-Danwarp show fails, the Nick execs panic and cancel it, and/or replace it with reruns of Dan's latest so-called hit.
This is something that has to fundamentally change within the ranks at Nick, Viacom.
We read all these press releases where they say they have 1000s of hours of new content, but what do we see on the actual channel week after week? The same stuff (SB, Victorious, BTR and the former iCarly). Where is this supposed stockpile of new animated and live-action shows they keep touting? Like you said, if its scattered around the different subchannels Nick has (TeenNick, NickToons, etc.) that doesn't help because they aren't on the main channel where they can be seen for first time viewers.
However, until the culture of "fear" changes... The execs fear of losing their jobs, or their million dollar year-end bonuses... Nothing is going to change until Disney buys Nick and fires all the execs who already have Golden parachutes built into their contracts, so it won't matter at that point most likely. Viewers lose, execs win and nothing changes when they move to another network. How pathetic...
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DeusExKatrina
12 years ago
The fact that Nick can beat Disney at all, even just with Spongebob on Saturday is still pretty significant, considering how few success stories Nick has at the moment. But you're right, they should be trying to build on it. Wroth as I am to admit it, they should be trying to make new cartoons that appeal to Sponebob's aesthetic. Can't really think of the last show they did that was similar in style to Spongebob... Kung Fu Panda, TMNT, Tuff Puppy, these have all been action-comedies and Spongebob is just pure comedy.
That being said, Nick's whole Sat morning seems to do pretty well and has been doing well consistently. So if I was Disney I would be asking myself what the heck is wrong with us that Nickelodeon is still winning in one category out of a dozen, hah! (< cue Alf voice)
Nick's TV lineup is so homogeneous that it's kind of hilarious. I'm looking at the schedule for Monday & Tuesday and it's basically nothing but Spongebob. They're not even playing iCarly and Victorious anymore. Sure Spongebob is big, but do they seriously expect people to watch Spongebob literally non-stop? What makes Disney such an amazing station for me is that they have so much variety, I can watch all day. I practically only watch Disney and TBS now because they're practically always playing something I like. (Keeping in mind that I watch the shows I "seriously" follow on the computer or DVD).
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"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame."
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fspappa
12 years ago
Also, can't we have any live action sitcoms where are boys are smart and funny and aren't treated like *beep* This was done on Icarly which was the most sexist show ever and women getting away with everything which made it bad.
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DeusExKatrina
12 years ago
I wouldn't enjoy that personally, but I guess it wouldn't hurt for them to try.
I don't remember the boys being treated poorly on BTR though.
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"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame."
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ferrisb1-1
12 years ago
Also, can't we have any live action sitcoms where are boys are smart and funny and aren't treated like *beep* This was done on Icarly which was the most sexist show ever and women getting away with everything which made it bad.
This is because Nick and Disney were focused on the tween (8-11) girl demographic the last few years after the mega-success of Hannah Montana. That era is over... Although, Disney will always be more for tween girls because of the Fairy Tale Princess theme... So, we will hopefully see more balanced shows that also feature male leads that aren't Boy Band members
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fspappa
12 years ago
On I carly deusexKatrina, Sam (a girl), keeps beating up Freddie for no reason and is a bully to everybody and that includes adults bigger than her which is unrealistic. Spencer is a completer idiot. I would love to see boys who are smart, strong and stand up for themselves and funny too. Dan what's his name always portrays them as wimps and idiots. Enough Dan!!
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DeusExKatrina
12 years ago
He hasn't always done that. Look at Drake & Josh, Josh is smart and Drake is cool. He only does that with his recent shows, which is probably one of the reasons I like them so much.
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"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame."
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thelegallywicked
11 years ago
Megan got away with hurting and harassing Drake and Josh so did Mindy and Drake and Josh's teacher and Helen. It just so happened that Drake was attractive and Josh was smart. Freddie was both those things...
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