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Fox Kids

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeFox Kids (disambiguation).
Not to be confused withJetix.
Fox Kids
NetworkFox
Launched
September 8, 1990(1990-09-08)
ClosedSeptember 7, 2002(2002-09-07)(replaced byFoxBoxon September 14, 2002)
August 2004(2004-08)(as a channel in Europe (excluding Finland) and Latin America, replaced byJetix)[1]
January 6, 2019 (Finland)
Country of originUnited States
OwnerFox Family Worldwide Inc.
Key peopleHaim Saban(CEO,Saban Entertainment)
Formerly known as
  • Fox Children's Network (1990–1991)
  • Fox Kids Network (1991–1998)
Sister networkFox Children's Productions
FormatChildren's programming
Original language(s)American English
Official websiteOfficial website

Fox Kids(originally known asFox Children's Networkand later as theFox Kids Network;stylized asFOX KIDS) was an American children'sprogramming blockand branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally ajoint venturebetween theFox Broadcasting Company(Fox) and itsaffiliated stations,it was later owned byFox Family Worldwide.[2]

The Fox Kids brand originated on a programming block that launched on the Fox network from September 8, 1990, to September 7, 2002. The block aired on Saturday mornings throughout its existence (Sunday mornings in Canada), with an additional lineup on Monday through Friday afternoons airing until January 2002. Fox Kids is the only form ofdaytime televisionprogramming, outside ofsports,aired by the Fox network to date.[3][4]Following then-Fox parent News Corporation's sale of Fox Kids Worldwide toThe Walt Disney Companyin July 2001, Fox put the remaining Saturday morning timeslot up for bidding, with4Kids Entertainmentwinning and securing the rights to program that period. The Fox Kids block continued to air until September 7, 2002, and was replaced the following week (on September 14) by the 4Kids-programmedFoxBoxblock.[5]

Fox Kids was best known for airing the most-popular programs on the network, such asBobby’s Worldand thePower Rangersseries, with the latter dominating the block's schedule with increased ratings and creating a franchise, resulting in Fox Kids frequently usingPower Rangersfor its promotions due to the shows’ popularity.[6]

Outside the United States, the first Fox Kids-branded television channel was launched in Australia on October 1, 1995, on cable and satellite television providerFoxtel.It then expanded to the UK and Ireland, launching onBSkyBin 1996, and after that it started broadcasts in Latin America on November of that same year. The channel expanded between 1997 and 2001 in Europe andMiddle East,[7]and beginning in 2004, the international Fox Kids channels were gradually relaunched under theJetixbrand followingDisney's acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide.[citation needed]

History[edit]

According to James B. Stewart's bookDisneyWar,Fox Kids' history is intertwined with that of thesyndicatedchildren's program blockThe Disney Afternoon.DuckTales,the series that served as the launching pad forThe Disney Afternoon,premiered in syndication in September 1987, airing on Fox'sowned-and-operated stationsas well as various Fox affiliates in many markets. This may have been due to the fact thatthe Walt Disney Company'schief operating officerat the time,Michael Eisner,and his then-Foxcounterpart,Barry Diller,had worked together atABCand atParamount Pictures.[8]

In 1988, Disney purchasedindependenttelevision stationKHJ-TV inLos Angeles,changing its call letters toKCAL-TVthe next year. The station's new owners wantedDuckTalesto be shown on KCAL, effectively taking the local television rights to the animated series away from Fox-ownedKTTV.Furious at thebreach of contract,Diller pulledDuckTalesfrom all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same,[9]though most did not initially. As Disney went forward in developingThe Disney Afternoon,Fox (whose schedule at the time was limited toprime timeprogramming on Saturday and Sunday nights) began the process of launching its own children's programming lineup.

Fox Kids was launched on September 8, 1990, as theFox Children's Network,ajoint venturebetween the Fox Broadcasting Company and its affiliates.[2]Originally headed by division presidentMargaret Loesch,its programming aired for 30 minutes per day on Monday through Fridays, and for 3 hours on Saturday mornings.

In September 1991, the block was rebranded as theFox Kids Network,with its programming expanding to 90 minutes on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturday mornings. The weekday editions of the block grew to three hours the following year.

In 1994, the Fox Kids brand extended to home video, where Fox Video launched a line, Fox Kids Video, initially releasing titles based onBobby's World,[10]and it was extended in 1995 to add three more shows based on the three series on the same network,Eek! the Cat,The TickandWhere on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?.[11]Two years later, it was extended further in 1997 to add shows from theCBS,MarvelandSabanlibraries.[12]

Scheduling[edit]

Throughout most of its history, Fox Kids aired several promos for its programs during commercial breaks, with no exact time slots announced for the shows. This was due to the programs airing at different times depending on the local Fox-affiliated station's schedule in the viewer's television market (i.e., if Fox Kids aired a promo for a show such asPower Rangers,it would not announce an exact Monday-Friday/Saturday time slot to viewers, forcing the viewers to check their local Fox station listings, such as theirTV Guideor newspaper, to search for the air time of the show, and some stations use voiceovers to announce the time slot, similar to those like first-run syndicated programs and/orPBS'PTVand later,PBS Kidsblock at the time).

By the fall of 1992, Fox Kids increased its schedule to three hours on Monday through Fridays, airing usually from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM local time (making Fox the first network to air programming in the 4:00 p.m. hour since 1986),[citation needed]and four hours on Saturdays from 8:00 AM to noonEasternandPacific Time(7:00 AM to 11:00 AMCentralandMountain). Many stations split the weekday lineup programming into a one-hour block in the morning and a two-hour block in the afternoon (though this varied slightly in some markets), when network programs intertwined with syndicated children's lineups. Other stations aired all three hours combined in the afternoon due to their carriage of local morning newscasts and/or syndicated talk shows; stations that aired such programming in this case had dropped children's programs acquired via the syndication market, moving them to other "independent" stations. Very few Fox stations aired all three hours of the weekday block in the morning.[citation needed]

In 1992, Fox Kids began holding a "TV Takeover" event onThanksgivingafternoon.[13]

Broadcasting ambiguities[edit]

When Fox Kids launched, it was carried on virtually all of Fox's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates, with few (if any) declining to carry it. The first Fox station to drop the block wasMiamiaffiliateWSVN,the network's first station to maintain a news-intensive format, in 1993 (the station had been a Fox affiliate since January 1989 as a result ofNBCpurchasing and moving its programming to longtime CBS affiliateWTVJin a three-station ownership and affiliation swap in the Miami market).

The following year, in May 1994, Fox signed amulti-station affiliation agreementwithNew World Communicationsto switch that company'sCBS,ABC and NBC affiliates to the network between September 1994, and July 1995,[14]in order to improve its affiliate coverage in certain markets after theNational Football Leagueawarded Fox the contract to theNational Football Conferencetelevision package.[15]Many of the stations owned by New World (which later merged with Fox's then-parent companyNews Corporationin July 1996[16]) declined to carry the block in order to air syndicated programs aimed at older audiences or local newscasts. In certain cities with an independent station, or beginning with the launches of those networks in January 1995, affiliates ofUPNandThe WB,Fox contracted the Fox Kids block to air on one of these stations if a Fox owned-and-operated station or affiliate chose not to carry it. In some cases, Fox Kids would be carried on the same station as one of its two competing children's blocks, The WB'sKids' WBand UPN'sUPN Kidsblock (the latter of which was replaced in 1999 byDisney's One Too).

Between 1995 and early 1996, Fox acquired three former ABC-affiliated stations (WHBQ-TV/Memphis, KTVI/St. Louis, and WGHP/High Point). Meanwhile,SF Broadcasting(a joint venture betweenSavoy Picturesand Fox) acquired three former NBC affiliates and one ABC affiliate during the summer of 1994 (which were later sold toEmmis Communicationsin 1996). Those stations all aired early evening local newscasts, but wanted to continue to run general entertainment syndicated programming to lead into their news programs instead of cartoons; these stations opted to run Fox Kids one hour early, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. WGHP stopped airing the block in March 1996 after the station agreed to move it toWBFX(which aired the block for the remainder of its run). In August 1995, religious independent stationKNLCassumed the rights to Fox Kids fromKDNL-TV(which became an ABC affiliate) afterKPLR-TVturned down;[17][18]however, due to the station's decision to air public service messages from its owner's ministry about controversial topics in lieu of local advertisements, Fox pulled the block from KNLC in mid-1996. As a result, KTVI became the only Fox station that was involved in the network's 1994 deal with New World Communications to carry the block.

Much of the Fox Kids lineup's early programming was produced byWarner Bros. Animation,calling Fox Children's Network a "one-stop shop," essentially pulling out of the children's syndication market by signing a $100-million deal with Fox in May 1991. This meant they moved all their existing programming to Fox Kids.[19]Two of Fox Kids' most popular programs,Animaniacs(following a heated dispute with Fox after it ceded the program's timeslot to carryMighty Morphin Power Rangers,which became one of the block's highest-rated programs when it debuted in 1993) andBatman: The Animated Series,moved toThe WBafter that network launched in January 1995, thoughBatman: The Animated Serieswould remain on Fox Kids until 1997. BothAnimaniacsanda slightly revampedBatmanserved as the linchpin of The WB's new children's block,Kids' WB,when it launched in September of that year (Tiny Toon Adventures,another early Fox Kids program that Warner Bros. produced and also aired on Kids' WB in reruns, had already ended its run).

In 1996, after having established a "strategic alliance" with Fox,Saban Entertainmentmerged with Fox Children's Productions to form a new company,Fox Kids Worldwide,with aims to become apublic companyand pursue international expansion.[20]In 1997, the venture was renamedFox Family Worldwideafter it acquired International Family Entertainment—owner of the cable networkThe Family Channel,seeking a cable outlet for the Fox Kids programs to compete with services such asCartoon Network(owned byTime Warner) andNickelodeon(owned byViacom).[21][22]

In 1998, Fox bought out its affiliates' interest in Fox Kids as part of a deal to help pay for the network's NFL package.[2]The Fox Kids weekday block was reduced to two hours, and in an effort to help its affiliates comply with the recently implemented educational programming mandates defined by theChildren's Television Act,reruns of formerPBSseriesThe Magic School Buswere added to the lineup.[23]In 2000, affiliates were given the option of pushing the block up one hour to air from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM rather than 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM In the six or so markets where a Fox affiliate carried Fox Kids and carried an early evening newscast at 5:00 PM (such as St. Louis and New Orleans), the station was already running the block an hour early by 1996. Some affiliates (such asWLUK-TV) would tape delay the block to air between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM, one of the lowest-rated time periods on U.S. television (and when virtually all children 5 years of age and older are at school). A few only airedThe Magic School Busin this sort ofgraveyard slotas an act ofmalicious compliancewith the Children's Television Act. Fox Kids fought vehemently against the E/I rule during its development.[24]

End of Fox Kids[edit]

By 2001, members of the Fox affiliate board had felt they were on much more even footing with the "Big Three"networks and wanted to take back the time allocated to the Fox Kids programming blocks to air their own programming. Saturday mornings, long the only province of children's programming, had become a liability as the other networks started to extend their weekdaymorning news programsto weekends.[citation needed]

Fox Kids, which had been the top-rated children's program block among the major networks since 1992, had been overtaken in the ratings by ABC'sOne Saturday Morningblock in 1997,[25]then by Kids' WB a year later with the stronger animation block backed byWarner Bros.that included shows such asPokémonandYu-Gi-Oh!.ABC and UPN aired mostly comedy-based cartoons at this time, with the exception of live-action teen-oriented sitcomsLizzie McGuireandEven Stevens(both originated onDisney Channelas part of what would be a gradual takeover of ABC's Saturday morning lineup by the cable channel's programming), while Viacom-owned CBS aired E/I compliant preschool programming fromNick Jr.,and NBC airedteen-oriented sitcoms(later to be replaced the following year byE/I-compliant programmingsourced fromDiscovery Kids), splintering the audience. The added factor ofNickelodeon's aggressive schedule that outrated all of the broadcast networks among children on Saturday mornings[26]left Fox Kids behind, and programmers could not find a solution to catch up. Fox Family experienced a 35% audience decline, which led to Fox Family Worldwide, the stake in Fox Kids Europe, and Saban Entertainment being sold toThe Walt Disney Companyin 2001.[citation needed]The success ofDigimonhelped Fox Kids temporarily return to competitiveness with Nickelodeon and The WB in February 2001; by this point the rumors of a major restructure had already begun.[27]

After Fox Family Worldwide was sold to The Walt Disney Company in July 2001, Fox Kids was placed under the oversight ofFox Television Entertainmentand moved its programming operations to Fox's headquarters on the20th Century Foxstudio lot;[2]Fox discontinued daytime children's programming in December 2001, giving the time back to its affiliates.[28]In addition, from September 2001 until the weekday block was discontinued, network flagship stations WNYW and KTTV deferred it to their UPN-affiliatedsisterstationswhile continuing to air the block on Saturday mornings.[28]Fox put its children's programming block up for bidding, and4Kids Entertainment,then-producers of the English dub ofPokémon,purchased the remaining four-hour Saturday time period. Fox Kids maintained a Saturday morning-only schedule until September 7, 2002, a week before it gave the time to 4Kids Entertainment.[5]

Fox Kids was replaced by the 4Kids Entertainment-producedFoxBoxblock on September 14, 2002. The block, renamed4Kids TVon January 22, 2005, ran until December 27, 2008, marking Fox's complete withdrawal from children's programming, with the exception of educational programming acquired from the syndication market, most notablyXploration Station,which began airing primary on Fox stations in 2014.

After Fox Kids[edit]

While Fox Kids ended its existence onbroadcast televisionin the United States, Disney instituted a two-hour morning lineup on its newly acquired ABC Family cable channel (known as the "ABC Family Action Block" ) that was programmed similarly to Fox Kids and featured content originated on the block.

Internationally, Fox Kids Europe continued to operate the international channels in Europe, Israel, while The Walt Disney Company themselves took over theLatin Americachannel. The original intention of The Walt Disney Company after the acquisition was to rebrand all Fox Kids operations outside of the US with Toon Disney, a channel that had very little distribution internationally,[29]but this was scrapped, with20th Century Fox Film Corporationgranting a non-fixed term license for Fox Kids Europe to continue using the "Fox Kids" brand at no charge.[30]

On January 8, 2004, Fox Kids Europe, Fox Kids Latin America, and ABC Cable Networks Group announced the launch ofJetix,a brand that would take over the Fox Kids networks in Europe, Israel and Latin America, and operate as a block in all other territories, including North America.[31][32]Within the global launch of the brand, the Fox Kids Europe company was renamed asJetix Europe,with the first European Fox Kids network to make the rebranding being the French feed in August 2004, and ending with the German feed's rebranding in June 2005.

The Fox Kids name was used again for the web seriesFox Kids Movie Challenge,produced by20th Century Foxfor the Fox Family Entertainment YouTube channel despite having no affiliation with the brand.[33]

Programming[edit]

Main articles:List of programs broadcast by Fox KidsandList of programs broadcast by Fox Kids (block)

Radio[edit]

In addition to the program block, Fox Kids had its own radio program in the United States, theFox Kids Radio Countdown.This two-hour broadcast was hosted byChris Learyof ZDTV andTechTVfame and consisted of contests and gags, with sound effects incorporated throughout the program. It was later renamed asFox All Access(in effect, growing up with its original audience) and served primarily as a promotional vehicle for Fox television programs, current artists, and films in its later years, before eventually ending its run in 2012.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

  • 4Kids TV– successor children's program block to Fox Kids, running from September 2002 to December 2008, produced by 4Kids Entertainment.
  • Jetix– action-oriented children's program block onABC FamilyandToon Disney,and international cable channels owned byThe Walt Disney Company,operating from 2004 to 2009.
  • Kids' WB– competitor that was later bought by 4Kids and rebranded as CW4Kids, laterToonzai.
  • Vortexx– children's program block produced by Saban Brands forThe CWfrom August 2012 to September 2014.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Fox Kids Europe Name Change Official".14 July 2004.
  2. ^abcdSchneider, Michael; Grego, Melissa (September 9, 2001)."Fox Kids Net Adopted by Fox TV Ent".Variety.Archived fromthe originalon December 3, 2013.RetrievedAugust 13,2009.
  3. ^Tomlinson, Heather (July 28, 2001)."Murdoch Parts with the Power Rangers and the Preacher Man".The Independent.London.RetrievedAugust 20,2010.
  4. ^Cerone, Daniel (February 20, 1993)."Animated Series Has Helped Fox Challenge the Other Networks on Saturday Mornings".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedOctober 15,2010.
  5. ^abPaula Bernstein (January 18, 2002)."4Kids Buys 4 Hours from Fox Kids".Variety.RetrievedAugust 13,2009.
  6. ^"'Power Rangers' takes Fox Kids to the top ".USA Today.October 9, 1994.
  7. ^"Channel Launches".Archivedfrom the original on 2005-09-11.
  8. ^James B. Stewart (2005).Disney War.New York City,New York:Simon & Schuster.pp.94–95.ISBN0-6848-0993-1.
  9. ^Michael Cieply (February 22, 1990)."Disney, Fox Clash Over Children's TV Programming".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedMay 11,2011.
  10. ^McCormick, Moira (March 5, 1994)."Child's Play"(PDF).Billboard.p. 55.RetrievedFebruary 4,2024.
  11. ^Goldstein, Seth; Fitzpatrick, Eileen (April 22, 1995)."FoxVideo Aims Titles At Toddlers"(PDF).Billboard.p. 6.RetrievedFebruary 4,2024.
  12. ^Goldstein, Seth (February 22, 1997)."Picture This"(PDF).Billboard.p. 75.RetrievedFebruary 4,2024.
  13. ^"HOLIDAY TV: Zoning Out on Turkeys, Pigskins, Parades".Los Angeles Times.1993-11-25.Retrieved2019-07-22.
  14. ^"Fox Gains 12 Stations in New World Deal".Chicago Sun-Times.Sun-Times Media Group.May 23, 1994. Archived fromthe originalon October 11, 2013.RetrievedJune 1,2013.
  15. ^"CBS, NBC Battle for AFC Rights // Fox Steals NFC Package".Chicago Sun-Times.Sun-Times Media Group. December 18, 1993. Archived fromthe originalon November 5, 2012.
  16. ^Brian Lowry (July 18, 1996)."New World Vision: Murdoch's News Corp. to Buy Broadcast Group".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJune 22,2012.
  17. ^Pennington, Gail (1995-08-01). "For Some Viewers, 2 Doesn't Go Into 30".St. Louis Post Dispatch.
  18. ^Pennington, Gail (August 4, 1995). "Power Base".St. Louis Post Dispatch.
  19. ^CERONE, DANIEL (17 July 1991)."Fox Goes on a Children's Crusade: Television: Fox is aggressively targeting young viewers, programming on weekdays as well as Saturdays".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJuly 2,2018.
  20. ^Barry Hillier (November 1, 1996)."Fox Kids Worldwide is born".Kidscreen.RetrievedNovember 21,2010.
  21. ^Katz, Richard (July 10, 1998)."Fox Family squeezes 'Club' in youthful sked".Variety.Retrieved2009-08-13.
  22. ^Connie Bruck (May 10, 2010)."The Influencer".The New Yorker.Condé Nast.
  23. ^Cynthia Littleton (December 3, 1997)."'Bus' rolling to Fox Kids ".Variety.RetrievedAugust 13,2009.
  24. ^Wharton, Dennis (October 30, 1995)."NAB, FCC square off over kidvid".Variety.RetrievedJuly 13,2018.
  25. ^Katz, Richard (May 8, 1998)."ABC kids block tops Fox on Saturday".Variety.RetrievedJuly 14,2018.
  26. ^"NICK RETAINS SATURDAY CROWN".Broadcasting &Cable.June 18, 2001. Archived fromthe originalon November 6, 2013.RetrievedOctober 30,2013.
  27. ^"Fox Kids wins Broadcast Ratings".Anime News Network.2001-02-19.Retrieved2018-11-02.
  28. ^abMichael Schneider (November 7, 2001)."Fox outgrows kids programs".Variety.RetrievedAugust 13,2009.
  29. ^Hofmeister, Sallie (21 July 2001)."Walt Disney to Acquire Fox Family".Los Angeles Times.
  30. ^Annual report 2002Archived8 May 2006 at theWayback Machine
  31. ^Edmunds, Marlene (9 January 2004)."Fox Kids, ABC cable jet to int'l Jetix kidvid pact".Daily Variety.Archived fromthe originalon 5 November 2013.Retrieved18 March2013.
  32. ^Derrick, Stuart (22 March 2004)."Licensing: Fox Kids readies a European shake-up".Marketing Magazine.Retrieved6 April2016.
  33. ^"Fox Kids Movie Challenge".YouTube.Fox Family Entertainment.Retrieved28 March2019.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fox_Kids&oldid=1230042856"