Fall Schedules: Little Change, Less Variety
As has been the case for a while now, the kids cable networks aren’t making many big changes and are playing things pretty safe season-to-season. In days of yore, said networks would usually change things up for the summer months and then shake their schedules up again for the fall. Not so much any more.
For the most part the networks that are sticking with almost identically the same schedules they’ve had this summer are: Nicktoons, TeenNick, Boomerang, Disney Channel, Disney XD and the Hub Network. For Disney Channel the exception would be the extension of the preschooler block back to 2pm, but everything else is as-is. (Though they are continuing the extended late-Wednesday night Disney Replay block that started in August.)
Nickelodeon isn’t taking much risk, playing it pretty safe with the ol’ Sponge regaining his 5pm hour and continuing to soak up eight half-hours per weekday. OddParents gets cut down to one hour as the preschool block is back to the normal 8:30-2. Drake & Josh is even back at 7:30pm, but that’s not really anything special as it spent much of last year there too. At least they’ll have a decent amount of new programming.
Cartoon Network is actually continuing a bit of their summer schedule by keeping current series running throughout the day. Used to they’d jump back to the old Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry shorts in mid-day with Scooby DTVs and such in the morning hours. Now they are keeping with Gumball, Teen Titans Go!, Clarence, Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa, etc.
The biggest surprise in Cartoon Network’s schedule is the fact that Regular Show is completely gone. No repeats. Nothing. The show is defiantly not canceled, as it was just renewed for a seventh season before the sixth has even premiered. Maybe they are just giving the show a short break? Either way, it just means more of the same from their other current series.
From a broad perspective, the networks seem to be falling into the same formula other “adult” networks are in – keeping things status quo throughout the year with little variation or risk. Perhaps we’ll see a change down the line, but as of now, pretty much nothing to see here folks.