>>99637029Disney was top dog with the Saturday morning stuff in the late 80s and early 90s but since the mid 90s or so their TV cartoon offerings were the weakest (or at least blandest) of the lot for a long time. I think a lot of that has to do with relative strictness in their standards & practices, self-imposed episode limits, and focusing on marketability rather than all-ages appeal, among other things.
This decade they’ve really been amping up the number of creator-driven programs and allowing them more freedom.
CN has always drawn the smallest ratings, as it’s the newest of the channels and fewer providers carry it, often times in small towns due to concerns about their late-night content - I know our local cable company didn’t have it when I was growing up, the only reason I had it was because of satellite. But they always had the most creative freedom and it didn’t stop them from having a few massive critical and merchandising hits like PPG and Adventure Time.
But lately under their new management CN has been getting more sanitized, while Disney is following the Gravity Falls money trail and aiming for an older audience. It’s a real interesting turn.
Nick is just a clusterfuck right now with no clear direction so it’s pretty hard to pin them down, other than their only successful show in a decade (though they could have had more had they not self-sabotaged shows like Harvey Beaks and Welcome to the Wayne) being created by a serial sexual predator causing the cancellation of a theatrical movie they had planned probably hurts. Which was then followed up by their biggest moneymaker leaving under highly suspicious, probably similar circumstances. Not looking great for them at the moment
