WB Kids! shuts down, 4Kids takes over
Variety is reporting that the CW will shut down the nearly 13-year-old Kids’ WB! franchise at the end of this season and turn Saturday mornings over to 4Kids Entertainment, which has handled Fox’s Saturday morning kids block for the past six years.
Under the five-year pact, 4Kids will program five hours of children’s programming between 7 a.m. and noon on Saturdays on the CW starting September 2008. 4Kids will handle all national commercial advertising, and will share in ad revenue with the CW. The CW’s share will be applied against a guarantee 4Kids will pay the net.
Kids’ WB! had seen its workforce drop to 10 staffers, mostly in marketing; the CW said it would try to find new positions from those displaced by the move.
Meanwhile, Fox has two years left on its deal with 4Kids, which means the children’s entertainment and merchandise licensing company will program two different Saturday morning blocks next year.
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On October 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
All together now: NOOOOOO!
4Kids is horrible. They’ll cut all American cartoons and terribly cut and dub everything they import.
On October 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
who gives a crap? KidsWB had horrible programming. they deserve to fold. 4kids doesnt suck any worse than kwb did. screw them both.
On October 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
perhaps the programming on the Kids WB might not be what most in the biz like but they do serve a very good function. They employ people in the L.A. animation community. That is a good thing. When a studio diminishes in production or closes, it effects all of us and I belive not for the common good.