Kids WB: A Complete Retrospective

VIDEO EDITION: PART 1 of 3

PRINT EDITION

Launched on September 9th, 1995, and surviving longer than the network it was based from, KidsWB was critical for theWB TV network. To understand KidsWB, you have to understand its inception, its competition & the platform it was built upon:

Fox.

As mentioned in a prior episode, entertainment in the late 80s toward the early 90s was vastly different than the streaming and instant internet era of the present.

By the turn of the 80s into the 90s, there were only a handful of options for entertainment. With cable gaining traction, and video rental stores requiring you to pay for movies or tv shows, the simplest approach was the one that had been around for decades.

Broadcast networks were the kings of small screen, and the big three were the center of this empire. NBC, CBS & ABC, establishing their dominance since the 1950s on television, and radio presence a quarter of a century earlier, used local tv affiliates to sustain and expand their national reach.

Here’s how it works. In major metropolitan areas, like New York, DC, Chicago, LA, and dozens of others, there are a set of local television stations that compete in presenting news and specific local content. The stations battle to attract the highest ratings for increased ad-revenue. The higher the ratings, the more eyes are on your station, the higher you can charge for advertising. Other stations are used for specific purposes, like public broadcasting. But outside of public broadcasting, these stations contractually agree to affiliate or outright become owned by broadcast networks. This is generally a positive for both the station and the network. The station benefits from nationally popular programming, while the network gains regional outreach.

In Baltimore, for instance, WJZ-13, affiliated with CBS, WBALTV-11, with NBC, WMAR-TV, with ABC, WBFF-TV, with Fox, WNUV-TV with the CW, WUTB-TV formerly with UPN, and WMPB, that public broadcasting station I brought up earlier. And every metro region has different stations with different callsigns.

You won’t have to remember much of this.

As mentioned before, in the world of network television, ABC, NBC and CBS were the kings, but a fourth network had never successfully garnered long term success, until Fox.

Fox’s approach to developing a widespread network, and success in doing so solidified the network’s long term hold as a sustainable fourth network. This strategy and design would be the same skeleton used by both Warner on theWB network, and Paramount on UPN.

Fox found even more success after launching and expanding its kids focused block in 1990, later titled FoxKids.

That block mixed live-action programming like Power Rangers with animation, and one of the first cartoons to land, along with a set of others was Tom & Jerry Kids, a Hanna-Barbara production.

The second year, 1991, brought in newcomer Taz-Mania, an animated comedy made by Warner Bros animation. 1992 brought the iconic Batman: The Animated Series, TinyToon Adventures & Merry Melodies, all made by WB Animation, acquired to Fox. 1993 was the debut of Animaniacs. Fox, was now sustaining much of its kid-centric programming on WB properties.

Of course, WB could see this just as clearly, and in the same year TimeWarner announced their development of a new network, a fifth network to compete in local programming. They even acquired Fox’s original president, Jamie Kellner, and key structural executives to run what would be known as theWB.

Essentially WB was replicating what made Fox a successful competitor to The Big Three.

Just as a rundown, so you know what I’m talking about, TimeWarner is the name the Warner Bros company used after merging with Time Inc, the news magazine corporation in 1990. 2018 was the first time since 1990 TimeWarner was rebranded without Time, officially now, in 2018, known as WarnerMedia, however, throughout this video, I will use the name the company was known as at the time, TimeWarner.

1995

January 11th 1995; theWB was no longer conceptual; it became reality.

Eight months later is where our journey begins with KidsWB: September 9th, 1995, and was the beginning of a tectonic shift in animated programming. What brought FoxKids attention and popularity was now at theWB and the promotion of kids WB made this clear and concise.

WB even debuted a special, known as Welcome Home, Animaniacs!, featuring the trio leaving the Fox lot, as well as giving sneak peaks for upcoming content.

In its infancy, KidsWB had the backing of dozens of hours of original animation as well as modern newcomers. Iconic director Steven Spielberg had already been working with WB Animation on Animaniacs, Freakazoid & Pinky and the Brain launched with the debut of KidsWB in September; additionally Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries and that's Warner Bros, a collection of shorts, were a part of the inaugural line-up.

KidsWB started with two variants.

A Saturday morning block that ran from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and a weekday afternoon block, later known as the Aftertoons Show, aired from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The brilliance of the weekday block was established first by FoxKids.

In an era where smartphones didn't exist, game consoles were just becoming prominent to the mainstream, and the internet was still in consumer infancy, there weren't wide swaths of options for kids to entertain themselves, unless you went outside. There was no ability to “watch onDemand” or skip a premiere. This is why Saturday Morning Cartoon blocks are so widely remembered, and where weekday blocks aimed at kids were so critical. The strategy of aiming programming to kids during afternoons in after school hours and afternoons during summer vacation gave theWB and FoxKids success.

For this generation, catching up on content was a focal point of conversation the next day. Not only that, maybe you were a kid that loved cartoons but didn’t have cable. Getting to that 4pm-5pm time slot was your only option…and of key urgency.

The inaugural year was focused on proving a block could be successful while exclusively relying on in-house animation.

1996

Turner Broadcasting, a major entertainment player, had recently acquired film studios New Line Cinema, and Castle Rock Entertainment in the early to mid 90s; more importantly the company had major strength in the world of cable.

Turner's cable holdings included CNN, who at the time was at the forefront of news, as well as high rated networks TBS, TNT, TCM, and the Cartoon Network. With that collection of content, TimeWarner proposed and successfully merged with Turner Broadcasting for $7.5B

This would give TimeWarner a set of prominent networks in the cable landscape, but critically, present TimeWarner an access point to return to cable after selling MTV, Nickelodeon and The Movie Channel to Viacom in 1985.

This meant TimeWarner now had its hands in both cable and local networks.

TheWB network, coming off it’s inaugural year, was expanding its reach nationally to new stations, as well as presenting new content. Over at KidsWB, series like Animaniacs, Freakazoid!, Sylvester & Tweetie Mysteries, Pinky & The Brain, That’s WB and Earthworm Jim returned in 96, joined by a swath of Looney Tune centric cartoons in the same year of the box office debut of Space Jam. Buggs & Daffy, Road Rovers, and Waynehead, were newcomers, however, the first genre expansion was underway. SuperMan: The Animated Series squarely placed KidsWB into the superhero action genre, a critical growth that would place the block toe to toe with FoxKids.

The expansion of programming gave way to a new schedule, dubbed ‘Big Kids Go First.’ Introduced in mid October alongside the debut of Waynehead, the goal was to push action and heroes into earlier timeslots, to get older kids to watch. Unfortunately, older kids didn’t care, and tended to wake up later on Saturday Mornings, resulting in the Big Kids Go First schedule to be axed urgently by the next month. With an increase of content, the Saturday morning variant of the block was expanded by an hour, now running from 8am to noon.

Additionally, Taz-Mania, an animated series produced by WB, which was pulled from Fox in 1995, landed onto Cartoon Network. This was the first of many animated series aimed at younger audiences that was pulled by WB and instead brought to the Cartoon Network.

1997

The WB had come a long way in just two years.

With primetime content like Buffy targeting the young adult demographic, and Kids WB gaining success with its superhero debut of Superman in 96, continued expansion was the network’s priority.

The returning cast of shows were joined by more DC-Comic centric shows & for the first time, a swath of cartoons produced outside of Warner Bros. Animation. WB original cartoons Batman the Animated Series, The New Batman Superman Adventures, and Tiny Toon Adventures were joined by Captain Planet, Channel Umptee 3, The Legend of Calamity Jane, and Men in Black: The Series.

This was the widest point of content yet, and as such, the block was expanded.

An all new time slot was given; this morning weekday block was only an hour-long airing from 7 to 8am, presenting kids content just before school began. This meant programming was now being aimed at kids on weekday mornings, afternoons and Saturday mornings, the widest the block would be scheduled.

Some affiliate WB stations preferably pushed the morning block into the weekday afternoon segment, which itself had already been extended that year. What was 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. became 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on those previously mentioned affiliate networks.

The block also received a new logo, bumper and graphics package. This would be the logo that would live on through the remainder of the block’s life.

A key executive who had written for series Pinky & The Brain as well as Animaniacs, left WB over creative disputes of the direction the network was taking the two series. That exec, Peter Hastings, would be key in designing, developing and overhauling a Saturday Morning Cartoon Block on rival network ABC.

Just months later, Disney’s One Saturday Morning, with Hastings at the helm, debuted.

1998

TheWB channel was having a breakthrough year: after finding a target demographic to aim toward, shows like the prior year’s Buffy became amplified by Dawson’s Creek.

With all great momentum, there comes a lull; 1998 isn’t remembered well in the history of the KidsWB; it sits between two critically influential years for the block, as little developed in the 12 month timespan.

With the schedule expanded by two hours in 97, the time allotted to KidsWB was unaltered.

Some content was dropped in place of others. Captain Planet, a Hanna Barbara Production, Channel Uptee 3 as well as Pinky and the Brain, a series that launched with the block itself, were dropped. The DC superhero series, Looney Tune productions, and others continued to air, with newcomers: Histeria, Brats of the Lost Nebula & Pinky Elmyra & The Brain joining the lineup.

98 didn’t evolve the network, but there were still special moments.

For WB’s summer animated feature, Quest for Camelot, the block was specially themed in a medieval tone on the movie’s opening weekend, with the iconic water tower reskinned as a fortress tower, and the duo Devon & Cornwall, a two headed dragon from the film, hosting.

Outside of WB, networks were flooding the increasingly popular cable landscape with content aimed specifically for kids. The Fox Family Channel, Toon Disney, Discovery Kids and others joined channels like Nickelodeon, who’s ratings were exceeding beyond competitors.

This was the canary in the coal mine for signs of the target market shifting in the way it consumed content.

1999

1999, more than any year prior, was the most critical yet.

Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, hysteria, The New Batman/SuperMan Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, The Sylvester & Tweetie Mysteries and Tiny Toon Adventures remained on the block. Bugs & Daffy, Pinky, Elmyra and The Brain, as well as The New Batman Adventures were discontinued.

But, WB brought a diverse trident of original series to the table to counteract the three exits:

Batman Beyond continued the iconic hero’s time on the block alongside others in the increasingly popular superhero action genre, the Big Cartoonie Show promoted more looney-styled toons, while Detention was a down to earth adventure.

But it was a franchise outside of WB’s Animation wheelhouse that was about to play a significant role. A franchise so prominent, it boosted KidsWB’s ratings beyond rival FoxKids. A franchise that was a worldwide icon, and had yet to have a solid home in the United States.

Today, Pokemon is legendary, but at the time, the series was still very much in it’s infancy; a billion dollar worldwide icon less than a handful of years old.

Combine Fortnite, Frozen and fidget spinners at their highest levels of popularity. Now double it. No. Triple it.

Nintendo GameBoy exclusive games Pokemon Red and Blue, and rapidly expanding Pokemon Trading Card Game were joined by an anime about a young boy and his Pikachu who would capture the imagination of millions who wanted to become Pokemon Masters, just like him.

This was a hot ticket item to the kid-focused blocks. Pokemon would not only boost the block it aired on, but would boost the network as a whole. Remember, the more eyes, the higher the potential ad-revenue.

Originally airing through syndication, the series had aired simultaneously on Fox, WB and UPN, until in February of 99, when KidsWB became the exclusive U.S. home of Pokemon episodes.

The move was critical for the block, as Pokemon was the first in a number of hits that allowed KidsWB to overtake and exceed competitors for years to come.

The FoxKids, KidsWB rivalry essentially was decimated here.

With Pokemon moving to WB, Fox brought Digimon to the States, however, the massive success of Pokemon only overshadowed the new series. The perception that Digimon was simply a Pokemon knock off became a mainstay of the show, even through it’s complete inaccuracy.

From this point forward, KidsWB became ratings leader for kid-focused blocks on local networks.

The way this worked, particularly in 1999, was strategically placing Pokemon throughout different sections of the block itself. Pokemon premieres would be placed between other shows, emphasizing and keeping ratings momentum on the block as a whole.

This, of course, meant Pokemon also was given more airtime than other shows.

1999 was the year KidsWB won the war. From this point forward, sustaining itself against the rise of cable and government enforcement of educational programming was its priority.

2000

2000 wasn’t only the turn of the century, but a major turn in the programming the block would prioritize.

A number of series that had been the identity of the block were now at the end of their runs.

Batman: The Animated Series, SuperMan: The Animated Series, The New Batman SuperMan Adventures along with The Big Cartoonie Show would exit. Animaniacs, the series that had been flagship in promoting the block at launch, Tiny Toon Adventures, Sylvester and Tweetie Mysteries, all members of the looney styled toons that the block had been known for, also ended their runs. Only three in house animated series remained, a stark contrast to the block’s launch lineup.

Fans missing Animaniacs would get a treat in the movie Wacko’s Wish, which aired in February, and is the unofficial but official finale of the show.

Relying substantially more on content produced outside of theWB’s wheelhouse, Generation O, Men in Black The Animated Series, but particularly Pokemon continued to lead the network alongside newcomers CardCaptors, the critically acclaimed Jackie Chan Adventures, toy-driven Max Steel and, in a major turning point for Fox, X-Men: Evolution.

The idea of an X-Men series landing on rival KidsWB was a significant turn in the dying rivalry.

But it was a WB animated series, particularly, the only WB animated series launched that year, that would be as critical to KidsWB beyond it’s launch as Pokemon.

Debuting on September 23rd, nominated a handful of times, winning an emmy, and tackling a bevy social issues, Static Shock was one of the highest rated shows on television at launch.

Static Shock, developed by teams from the discontinued Batman and Superman Animated Series, and one of a number of WB projects inspired by X-Men, focused on teenager Virgil Hawkins, who suddenly gets the powers of electricity and magnetism after a chemical accident. The show was renewed for another season just a month after debut, and leading large in the male pre-teen and teen demographic.

Now five years old, KidsWB was far beyond its infancy, and though it’s looney identity had been wiped clean, Pokemon and Static Shock had no issue being the faces of the block, or the network.

2001

Continuing on the criticality of the past number of years, 2001 wasn’t only important for KidsWB, but theWB network and the industry as a whole.

With parent company Fox Family Entertainment’s assets being sold to Disney, Both FoxKids and ABC’s Saturday Morning block were in a state of reorganization.

A new competitor on local programming was just as ferocious as its cable hailings.

Nickelodeon was already a major competitor, being the highest rated network for kids anywhere in entertainment. After Viacom and CBS merged the prior year, Nick was now at the locally accessible level, and captured its own fanbase.

TheWB debuted the critically loved and highly popular series Smallville, giving the network its highest premiere ratings. The network additionally gained new ownership, with control and operations of theWB network handed to the Turner Broadcasting division.

Turner’s control was immediately evident in the weekday afternoon block, which officially redubbed as Toonami on KidsWB, debuting DragonBall Z, Sailor Moon and Samurai Jack to the local network. The block within the block received special bumpers that were fitting for Toonami, but clashed against the watertower nature of the KidsWB bumpers.

Additionally, a number of KidsWB series had trickled their way onto Cartoon Network in prior and present years. Cartoon Network and KidsWB were now closer than ever.

The identity of KidsWB was continuing to change.

There were only five WB original series in production and airing on the block, a number significantly lower than the launch lineup of originals in 1995. With Histeria, Batman Beyond and Detention in their final year, Static Shock and newcomer The Zeta Project held the fort.

Series outside of the WB wheelhouse continued to grow on the block.

The previously mentioned Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z & Samurai Jack as well as Cubix: Robots for Everyone, The Mummy, and Rescue Heroes joined the lineup. With Pokemon continuing to be a solid force, another franchise, developed from manga, and anime driven centrally by its awe-inspiring card battles, debuted. Finding another hit on their hands, Yu-Gi-Oh now pushed KidsWB’s ratings head to head against its greatest foe yet, and highest rated kid network Nickelodeon.

But critically, more and more of KidsWB’s ratings were reliant on 4Kids Entertainment content.

This was the most diverse the block had been yet, with anime, WB originals, a live-action series and handful of other animation in the 2001 lineup. One key change took place. For the first time, KidsWB lost an hour. The weekday morning block, which had aired from 7am-8am, was discontinued, leaving the afternoon and Saturday morning segments.