Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network) is a former children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a joint venture between the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and its affiliated stations, it was later owned by Fox Family Worldwide.[1]
Fox Kids originated as a programming block that aired on the Fox network from September 8, 1990 to September 7, 2002. The block aired on Saturday mornings throughout its existence (Sunday mornings in Canada), with an additional block on Monday through Friday afternoons airing until January 2002. Fox Kids is the only form of daytime television programming, outside of {{W|Fox Sports (United States)|sports{{, aired by the Fox network to date.[2][3] Following then-Fox parent News Corporation's sale of Fox Kids Worldwide to The Walt Disney Company in July 2001, Fox put the remaining Saturday morning timeslot up for bidding, with 4Kids Entertainment winning and securing the rights to program that period. The Fox Kids block continued to air until September 7, 2002, and was replaced the following week (on September 14) by the 4Kids-programmed FoxBox.[4]
Fox Kids was best known for airing the most-popular programs on the block, such as Bobby’s World and the Power Rangers series, with the latter dominating the block’s schedule with increased ratings and creating a franchise. Also, Fox Kids frequently used Power Rangers for its promotions due to the shows’ popularity.[5]
Outside the United States, the first Fox Kids-branded television channel launched on October 1, 1995, on {{W|Foxtel{{ in Australia. Beginning in 2004, the international and Latin American channels were gradually relaunched under the Jetix brand following Disney's acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide.
History[]
According to James B. Stewart's book DisneyWar, Fox Kids' history is intertwined with that of the syndicated children's program block The Disney Afternoon. DuckTales, the series that served as the launching pad for The Disney Afternoon, premiered in syndication in September 1987, airing on Fox's owned-and-operated stations as well as various Fox affiliates in many markets. This may have been due to the fact that the Walt Disney Company's chief operating officer at the time, Michael Eisner, and his then-Fox counterpart, Barry Diller, had worked together at ABC and at Paramount Pictures.[6]
In 1988, Disney purchased independent television station KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, changing its call letters to KCAL-TV the next year. The station's new owners wanted DuckTales to be shown on KCAL, effectively taking the local television rights to the animated series away from Fox-owned KTTV. Furious at the breach of contract, Diller pulled DuckTales from all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same,[7] though most did not initially. As Disney went forward in developing The Disney Afternoon, Fox (whose schedule at the time was limited to prime time programming on Saturday and Sunday nights) began the process of launching its own children's programming lineup.
Fox Kids was launched on September 8, 1990, as the Fox Children's Network, a joint venture between the Fox Broadcasting Company and its affiliates.[1] Originally headed by division president Margaret Loesch, its programming aired for 30 minutes per day on Monday through Fridays, and for 3 hours on Saturday mornings.
In September 1991, the block was rebranded as the Fox Kids Network, with its programming expanding to 90 minutes on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturday mornings. The weekday editions of the block grew to 3 hours the following year.
End of Fox Kids[]
By 2001, members of the Fox affiliate board had felt they were on much more even footing with the "Big Three" networks and wanted to take back the time allocated to the Fox Kids programming blocks to air their own programming. Saturday mornings, long the only province of children's programming, had become a liability as the other networks started to extend their weekday morning news programs to weekends.
Fox Kids, which had been the top-rated children's program block among the major networks since 1992, had been overtaken in the ratings by ABC's One Saturday Morning block in 1997,[8] then by Kids' WB a year later with the stronger animation block backed by Warner Bros. that included shows such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!. ABC and UPN aired mostly comedy-based cartoons at this time, with the exception of live-action teen-oriented sitcoms Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens (both originated on Disney Channel as part of what would be a gradual takeover of ABC's Saturday morning lineup by the cable channel's programming), while CBS aired E/I compliant preschool programming from Nick Jr., and NBC was airing teen-oriented sitcoms (later to be replaced the following year by E/I-compliant programming sourced from Discovery Kids), splintering the audience. The added factor of Nickelodeon's aggressive schedule that outrated all of the broadcast networks among children on Saturday mornings[9] left Fox Kids behind, and the programmers could find no way to catch up and stand out in this crowded field. Fox Family, despite good reviews, had a 35% audience decline, which led to the stake in Fox Kids Europe and Fox Family Worldwide (along with Saban Entertainment) being sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2001.
After Fox Family Worldwide was sold to The Walt Disney Company in July 2001, Fox Kids was placed under the oversight of Fox Television Entertainment and moved its programming operations to Fox's headquarters on the 20th Century Fox studio lot;[1] Fox discontinued daytime children's programming in December 2001, giving the time back to its affiliates.[10] In addition, from September 2001 until the weekday block was discontinued, network flagship stations WNYW and KTTV deferred it to their UPN-affiliated sister stations while continuing to air the block on Saturday mornings.[10] Fox put its children's programming block up for bidding, and 4Kids Entertainment, then-producers of the English dub of Pokémon, purchased the remaining four-hour Saturday time period. Fox Kids maintained a Saturday morning-only schedule until September 7, 2002, a week before it gave the time to 4Kids Entertainment.[4]
Fox Kids was replaced by the 4Kids Entertainment-produced FoxBox on September 14, 2002. The block, renamed 4Kids TV on January 22, 2005, ran until December 27, 2008, marking Fox's complete withdrawal from children's programming. It was not until 2014 that Fox would reverse course and return to carrying children's programming with the launch of an E/I programming block called Xploration Station, which is produced by Steve Rotfeld Productions.
After Fox Kids[]
While Fox Kids ended its existence on broadcast television in the United States, Disney instituted a two-hour morning lineup on its newly acquired ABC Family cable channel (known as the "ABC Family Action Block") that was programmed similarly to Fox Kids and featured content originated on the block. Internationally, Disney temporarily retained the Fox Kids brand for the international channels in Europe, Israel and Latin America acquired through the purchase of Fox Kids Worldwide (which became ABC Family Worldwide after the sale was completed). In 2004, Disney began branding its action and adventure programming from the Fox Kids library as [[Jetix (2009) Reboot
- the new name was first used in the United States on the ABC Family morning block and a new prime-time lineup on Toon Disney (2009 Reboot).
The Fox Kids name was used again for the web series Fox Kids Movie Challenge, produced by 20th Century Studios for the Fox Family Entertainment YouTube channel.[11]
Relaunching Of Fox Kids[]
On June 12, 2010, Saban Brands Announced That They Would Relaunch The Fox Kids Block On Fox & The Fox Kids App With New Shows Like Power Rangers & Disney XD's Marvel Shows. They Decided To Keep Power Rangers On Toon Disney/Jetix, Nickelodeon & Nicktoons.
On September 3, 2013, They Announced That Fox Kids Will Have A New Saturday Morning Block On FXX.
Programing[]
Current Programing[]
- Transformers Rescue Bots Academy (2019-Present)
- My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2019-Present)
- Beyblade Burst (2019-Present)
- Power Rangers (2010-Present)
- Kamen Rider Rocket Knight (2021-Present)
- Pokemon (2020-Present)
- Digimon Appverse (2017-Present)
Upcoming Programing[]
- Digimon: Digital Monsters (2020 Reboot) (Fall 2021)
Schedule[]
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- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ James B. Stewart (2005). Disney War. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-6848-0993-1. https://archive.org/details/disneywar00jame_0/page/94.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil). Template:Subscription required
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 60: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).