Fox Scrapping Animation Domination HD Saturday Block
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ne...animation-domination-hd-saturday-block/130545
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ne...animation-domination-hd-saturday-block/130545
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Fox Scrapping Animation Domination HD Saturday Block
- Thread starter mvcg66b3r
- Start date
The block was showing its cracks when the affiliates forced Fox to neuter the TV-MA content down to TV-14. There's no competing with Adult Swim in this arena. Broadcast viewers have demonstrated that they're not ready for risque content during safe harbor. Sad.
Spike already ordered a new season of COPS for themselves and the producers of that show are pleased to no longer be sports overrunned off the network, so that ship has sailed. It's probably more likely they'll go back to Hell's Kitchen replays like they did for the last few years; thankfully because they gave up a half-hour of the Saturday block last fall to the affiliates, they no longer have that spare half-hour to fill, so the run-to-death 30 Seconds to Fame will remain in the vaults.
It is baffling to me that Fox canceled MadTV without better replacement programming in mind. They used to be somewhat competitive in this slot. Even more puzzling is the expensive sports programming in Saturday prime when COPS and AMW got better ratings and didn't cause overruns for late night. That sports programming competes against their newly-minted national sports network Fox Sports 1 too. So they have killed late night Saturday, ruined their dominance in prime Saturday and hurt their sports network. How is this a strategy for success?
I dunno; for about 25 years now, Fox late night on Saturdays have always been the alternative to the almighty Saturday Night Live, and they're usually second in the ratings (except for here in Atlanta, where WSB's "Hot Topics" has been outrating SNL and company for a few years).
I guess they went DVR proof programming on Saturday evenings
They did have replacements; Spike Feresten's talk show at first, then Wanda Sykes. Both were fine shows but Fox did a terrible job in marketing them. The problem is Saturday night in itself though and how other networks have responded to the problem by using sports as a band-aid rather than budgeting for a good mix of programming. In Europe it's variety, talent and quiz/panel shows that keep the ratings strong on Saturday nights, along with televising lottery drawings. In America though the night is pretty much stuck being either a DVR catch-up night, a place to put failed programming, poorly written crime stories, or to put college football, which by its very nature outside the SEC is regional in interest, and shockingly none of the networks seemed to have ever talked with the Powerball people to give the Saturday night drawing national reach with good surrounding programming around it. In Europe any drawing seems to be interesting, while the US has pretty much let the local media dictate that only overheated high jackpots should get any attention.
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