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The State of Things, Part II

© Enoch Allen

You ever tune in to Tokyo Pig on ABC Fox Family? I enjoy watching that show. I get depressed every time that the episode ends, and I have to search the airwaves for other shows that can satisfy my insatiable appetite for original, wacky, sophisticated and intelligent animation.

For hours afterwards, junk food like Kim Possible and Rocket Power, not to mention the seemingly omnipresent, Scooby-Doo semi-marathons, clog the programming slate. I like what Cartoon Network has done for Saturday night, though. The action block is a terrific idea, one that I hope they maintain. Though some of the programs, which remain fixtures on the block--*cough*Pokemon*cough*--or, its merchandising buddy--*cough*Yu-Gi-Oh*cough*--need to be retired, they and others like them aren't enough of a problem to warrant a huge-scale ranting.

Not too long ago, I learned that Cartoon Network is getting killed in the ratings-well, perhaps "getting killed" isn't an appropriate descriptor; the network fell down only a couple of notches, and is holding up well against the competition. But, as I began to explain, I searched for the reason why the slump occurred for the network. They air pretty good programming (with exception, of course, to the countless Scooby-Doo eps and their variations aired weekly) and they have not one, not two, but three action blocks going for them (Toonami, Adult Swim Action, and the 7pm-2am block of animated action programs which air every Saturday).

Well, my conclusion was this: lack of promotion. You might call me an idiot. Minute-long spots promoting the block have been aired on multiple channels, even the news channels CNN and (swear to God, inexplicably) on MSNBC. I suppose that the action blocks are receiving a fair amount of promotion, but is "fair" enough? Evidently, not.

In promotion (I know this stuff-I worked for a non-profit firm and assisted them in organizing then publicizing events), you have to cast a wide enough net-you'll never know what kind of fish you'll catch. This is probably the only business where employing surgical tactics aren't appropriate. It is, if you're a small company with a limited budget for promotions-then, surgical's the only way to fly. But we're talking about Cartoon friggin' Network here, folks. These guys ball up Benjamins and use them for batting practice or wastebasket lay-ups. The least that they can do is infect every area just a little bit, and they'll end up with an above-adequate fan base.

As proven by Anime, an audience can be as diverse as a rainforest habitat. There are old men who like Pokemon, young men who watch The Golden Girls. African-Americans who watch Shirley Temple movies, and Asian-Americans who are fans of Ice Cube's Friday movies. The advertising arm of Cartoon Network needs to realize this principle, if they are to accomplish their specific objectives.