Dojo Network

Dojo Network (mostly referred to as DojoStation Dojo or DojoToons) is an American pay television channel spun off from SBC's 1999 programming block of the same name. Owned by SumarWrapper International Media. Thru it's kids and family division, the channel launched on October 10, 2000, and primarily targets all ages. Its lineup features a mix of originally-produced programming, along with series from the SBC's weekday block.

Dojo Network and the Dojo. block are both currently running. The latter airs weekdays on SBC from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET (those hours vary during the summer months, other school break periods and on major national holidays), having traditional commercial breaks for certain programs. As of September 2023, Dojo Network is available to approximately 70.310 million pay television households in the United States.

Development
On April 30, 1998, multimedia company SumarWrapper announced that it had entered into a partnership with companies. Sagan Entertainment, Hallmark Cards Inc, and Hasbro to launch a new service as a new family-oriented SBC block, paying $300 million for 30% ownership of the network. Under the arrangement, The companies would be in charge of handling advertising sales distribution and acquiring and producing programming.

In July 1998, the network appointed veteran television executive Margaret Loesch as its chief executive officer; prior to this, Loesch had led Fox Kids, and served as president and CEO of Marvel Productions from 1984 to 1990, assisting in the production of several Dojo shows

In January 1999, The companies announced that the new network would be known as Dojo; this was soon followed two months later with the announcement that a 24/7 network for the block would launch on October 10, 2000. The network's original imaging was developed by Troika Design Group and built around an emblem nicknamed the "studio" – which was designed to embody a "catalyst of action and imagination". The final logo design was the result of a number of drafts by Troika designers, some of which had incorporated typography similar to SumarWrapper's logo.

Goals
The launched channel, which would compete against established children services such as MNB Kids which was a huge kids television network at the time, the network was planned to continue target children aged 2–12 (a market which the staff felt was being abandoned by its competitors in favor of tweens)

Commercial Programming
The Children Television Act (CTA) in the United States limits the commercial time during children's programming, and prohibits television broadcasters from airing advertisements for products associated with a program during or in timeslots adjacent to the show itself. During time slots that targeted it's teenage audiences (aired during a block branded as "DojoMagic"), Dojo was to broadcast six minutes of advertisements per hour, below 12 minutes per hour on weekdays, and 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends as mandated by the CTA. Additionally, it was planning to broadcast 10.5 minutes of advertisements per hour the rest of the day throughout the week. The channel was planning to sell its advertising inventories to toy companies other than Hasbro; as reported by Advertising Age in May 2000, Dojo was even in talks with Mattel and Lego, the channel, however, also planned to restrict certain categories of advertisements, including junk foods and "advertisers in the sugar category".

There have been reported concerns that the channel would be exploited by SumarWrapper as a platform to plug Hasbro products. Ahead of the channel's launch as Dojo, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) called the whole project an "infomercial", and stated that they would be monitoring the channel. CCFC founder Susan Linn said "It will make a mockery of existing ad limits and the current prohibition of product placement in children's television" at the April 1998 announcement of the of the network. Loesch stated that The Network's goal was to be "vibrant" and "diverse" in its programming, and that the channel would not purely be a marketing vehicle for products.

Launch And Later Years
In a June 2001 debt filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SumarWrapper indicated that the channel may be worth less than recently believed, based on low viewership figures. The management of Dojo subsequently underwent a fair value analysis of the channel. A SumarWrapper spokesperson considered the action to be "a pro-forma accounting exercise", and noted that SumarWrapper felt "very positive and encouraged by The Network's early days' performance, and ability to grow its audience in the future."

In March 2002, Dojo picked up Mighty Fist, an animated pilot film that aired on February 1, 2003. On September 5, 2002, Dojo. rebranded and introduced Camera, an animated mascot that introduced shows and interstitials and led into commercial breaks. In the context of his segments, Camera was capable of materializing objects such as an astronaut, a robot, a clown, a window, a traffic light, stars, and even wood. He was also capable of creating a number of foley sound effects and voices including an iconic signature three-note trumpet noise usually following the name "Dojo." at the end of almost every bumper. Also, he changed colors, moods, and feelings. Camera was voiced by Chris Phillips, who also narrated several Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. promos. The original Camera promos were produced by Dojo Digital (from 2002 to 2006 and from 2007 to 2009; the later promos featured a redesigned Camera) and DMA Animation (from 2006 to 2010). On October 1, 2002, Saban Entertainment was acquired by the Walt Disney Company however this didn’t include there stake in Dojo. On October 24, Dojo. premiered two new original series, Banana Island and Alley's Window, resulting in 50% rating gains for the Network.

On September 1, 2003, Dojo. received a rebrand that introduced more than a dozen new logos; A new program called Ninja Bunnie's premiered the next day. A new interstitial series called Dojo''. Play Along'' was introduced, hosted by two fun live-action mascots: Robin (played by actress Hillary Hawkins) and Zack (played by actor Travis Guba). Along with Robin and Zack were two sock puppets called the Handbeats. Camera was given a brand new look which added eyebrows and some new eyes by inverting their colors from white dots on black eyes to actual-looking eyes.

Dojo removed the Play Along interstitials aside from a re-edited opening in February 2004.

On October 11, 2004, Dojo. received another rebrand containing interstitials co-produced by Little Airplane Productions featuring the block's new mascot Robot Possum (voiced by Ali Brustofski and created by Josh Selig), and the new slogan "Love to Play!". Dojo's female announcer was replaced with Kobie Powell and Chris Phillips. Dojo. used its new on-screen bug to promote its website until March 6, 2006, when the FCC forbaded that. Salad Fingers and Backyard Adventures (the latter of which premiering alongside the rebrand) premiered on The Network in 2004.

On September 7, 2007, the Robot Possum interstitials ended their almost 3-year run.

On September 10, 2007, Dojo. received yet another rebrand. A new slogan, Play with Us!, was included. Dojo’s bumpers encouraged viewers to play along and featured the logo in the form of two stop-motion stuffed animals. This marks the first time that the network had no mascot since 2002.

On January 30, 2009, the stuffed animals logo ended its 2-year run with Chloe's Magical Friendships being the last show to use it. That same day, the Play with Us! interstitials ended their almost 2-year run.

When the DojoMagic block debuted on September 28, 2009, at 6:00 a.m. ET, the use of an Ninja "adult" and the Agent "child" figure (not mascots) was discontinued, On March 1, 2010, the Dojo channel received a new rebrand produced by Trokia. Jessica DiCicco and Cam Brainard became the network's announcer, The channel's slogan changed from "The Next Genaration Of TV" to "Infinite Possibility's" (which was also used as the branding for the Dojo. block), while several shows were pulled from the lineup; most of them would return later that year, while the former could still be seen on the channel's website at the time.

At this point, programming began to be hosted by characters from Dojo Network. shows. The channel also began incorporating programming promotions and short features on that date; seven months later, on October 1, 2010, it started airing limited traditional advertising (for companies such as ABCMouse, Kmart, Chuck E. Cheese's, Nabi, Clorox, Walmart, Lysol, Leapfrog and Playskool) in the form of underwriter sponsorships airing in-between shows, whereas its parent network airs longer traditional advertising. On December 18, 2010, Saban Capital got half of a stake of Dojo

On November 9, 2013, Hallmark Cards Inc sold its interest in Dojo to Hasbro.

On May 2, 2015, the channel refreshed their imaging with new interstitial pieces and updated up next notices, and now being branded as "You Play In Your World Play In Ours"

On May 21, 2015, the channel began to promote themselves as DojoToons. The Tomb Explorer episode "Riley Rocks!" was the first program to air with this look.

On October 8, 2017, PocketWatch Entertainment brought a stake in Dojo as apart of a global deal. Later on December 9, 2017, PlayWorks Inc brought a stake of Dojo

From May 2016 to March 2018, the Dojo Channel aired an hour-long block of programming from 1999-2009 Dojo Shows

On May 2019, the Dojo Network dropped the DojoToons name.

Dojo.Com
Dojo.Com was launched in October 2005, and was initially only accessible via America Online. The website was later made available to all internet service providers in 2007, and became a strong promotional tool for Dojo Network. The website's popularity grew, and became the highest-rated website among children aged six to fourteen years old by March 2009. Dojo used the website in conjunction with television series, which increased traffic. Dojo.Com also maintained a high level of respect for user privacy during its growth.

Initially, Dojo.Com's design was mainly images and image maps allowing navigation through the website. In January 2010, developers started discussing expansion of Nick.com to make it an even more desirable website for children to visit. Mike Skagerlind, the website's general manager at the time, said, "We felt strongly that it could be a lot more. We basically wanted it to be the main place that kids go to on the Web." On June 4, 2010, the website redesign began, with the interface revamped to make it more appealing to children, and the most significant development being the use of Adobe Flash for animated graphics and buttons. Dojo.Com's design has changed repeatedly since then, with the site's current design making use of sidebars, web banners, and Adobe Flash.

In July 2013, Dojo completely redesigned the site to match up with the Dojo app. In December 2018, the website was completely redesigned again, and removed all games and videos.

In December 2018, Dojo updated the website to only feature show pages describing the basic summary and only giving the option to watch episodes and clips on the Dojo app, as well as removing all games from the site, much to the dismay of many longtime fans. Videos (including full episodes) would return to the site in 2020.

Dojo Magazine
The Dojo Magazine was published from 2001–2011, the main magazine had articles for parents to read, announcements for new shows, and the middle of the magazine had a pull-out magazine called "Dojo Noodle" for kids to read. In order to appeal more directly to kids instead of parents on the cover of the magazine. In some issues, award-winning music CDs and toys were featured for kids, families and parents to enjoy.

Dojo Fantasy Studio
Dojo Interactive Studios was an american animation studio owned by SumarWrapper International Media founded in 1999. Prior to its closure in 2017, it produced many shows for the Dojo Network. On October 11, 2017, SumarWrapper shut down the studio. Later In October 16, 2017, SumarWrapper announced the relaunching of the studio. The Dojo Fantasy Studio serves as the producing brand for SumarWrapper's first-party development studios, as well as for shows developed by studios brought in by SumarWrapper in work-for-hire situations.

Dojo Fantasy Studio Santa Monica
Dojo Fantasy Studio Santa Monica is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica. A sister studio for the Dojo Fantasy Studio, it is best known for developing the Tomb Explorer series. The studio was founded in 2002

New York Studio
New York Studio was an american animation studio based in New York. A first-party studio for SumarWrapper International Media and a sister studio for the Dojo Fantasy Studio founded in 2003, it was best known for Tomb Explorer, Ghost Ventures, Earth Ventures, Battle For Dream Island, Petapon, SMG4 Inanimate Insanity series the Team Chloe shows, and Psychoknots. In April 2021, New York Studio was reorganized and merged with other SWIM studios.

International Versions

 * In Latin America, Dojo launched on April 1, 2000.
 * In the Middle East, Dojo launched on May 5, 2000.
 * In Canada USA and France launched on October 10, 2000.
 * In the UK & Ireland, Dojo launched on May 7, 2001.
 * In Italy, Dojo launched on May 14, 2001.
 * In Australia & New Zealand, Dojo launched on May 29, 2001.
 * In Brazil, Dojo launched on April 9, 2001 and May 31, 2001.
 * In Portugal, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Turkey, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In South Africa, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Hungary, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Poland, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Czech Republic, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Romania, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Bulgaria, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In Greece, Dojo launched on June 1, 2001.
 * In India, Dojo launched on July 4, 2001.
 * In Austria and Germany Dojo launched on July 14, 2001.
 * In Japan, Dojo launched on July 3, 2001.
 * In Asia, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001
 * In Southeast Asia, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001.
 * In Taiwan, Dojo launched in September 1, 2001
 * In Israel, Dojo launched on July 18, 2001.
 * In Scandinavia/Nordic, Dojo launched on September 10, 2001
 * In China, Dojo launched on February 6, 2003.
 * In South Korea, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001.
 * In Zimbabwe, Dojo launched on April 29, 2003.
 * In Hong Kong, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001.
 * In the Philippines, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001.
 * In Vietnam, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001
 * In Belgium, Dojo launched on September 1, 2001.
 * In Netherlands, Dojo launched on September 10, 2001.
 * In Russia, Dojo launched on September 1, 2003. (Being the last to switch).
 * In Malaysia, Dojo launched on July 11, 2001.

Television Carrige
Since its launch, Dojo became initially available to subscribers of Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Bright House Networks, and Verizon FiOS; other providers would sign carriage agreements to run the network following its launch:


 * On March 26, 2002, Cox Communications announced that it would carry Dojo, as part of the provider's "Variety Pak" package.
 * On April 3, 2002, SumarWrapper announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to carry Dojo, which negotiates carriage deals on behalf of many of America's smaller cable providers.
 * Cable One added the network to the digital tier of its systems around May 26, 2002.
 * On June 21, 2002, RCN began carrying the network on its systems.
 * On July 13, 2002, DirecTV announced that the Dojo network would be added to its lineup the following day on the 14th, a Saturday.
 * On December 31, 2002, Charter Communications came to terms with SumarWrapper on a new wide-ranging multiple-year carriage agreement for ABC, all of the U.S.-based SumarWrapper Channels Worldwide which included the addition of Dojo to Charter systems throughout the first quarter of 2003.
 * On January 15, 2003, AT&T U-verse also reached a deal with SumarWrapper on a new wide-ranging multi-year agreement to carry there networks which included the addition of Dojo.
 * On June 6, 2003 Suddenlink Communications inked a deal with SumarWrapper to add there networks which included Dojo
 * On June 17, 2003 Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks added the SumarWrapper channels to there carriage's
 * Dish Network, the last major television provider to have not signed a carriage deal for Dojo, added the channel on April 10, 2004; after a long period of acrimony and a six-month extension of their past carriage agreement with SumarWrapper for a few select networks Dish and SumarWrapper came to full terms on carrying all of SumarWrappers networks in both standard and high definition on March 3, 2004, with the resolution of legal issues involving Dish's Hopper DVR system, which also included streaming rights for the networks as part of Dish's IPTV streaming service Sling TV.

Trivia

 * Since 2014, new DojoToons have often been moved from the SBC block to the 24/7 network after getting cancelled. 2017 holds the record for the most shows being moved to the Dojo channel
 * Tomb Explorer holds the record for longest-running DojoToon, both in number of episodes and years running.
 * Ninja Bunnies (despite not being produced by The Dojo Fantasy Studio) was the first DojoToon to reach ten seasons, even before Tomb Explorer.
 * Several DojoToons have never finished airing on the SBC Block