Vortexx is an Amarican television network and a defunct Saturday Morning Block that aired on The CW from August 25, 2012 to September 27, 2014. Programmed by Saban Brands, by Binyam Gashaw it succeeded Toonzai, a block that was programmed by 4Kids Entertainment until its bankruptcy. The Vortexx block primarily featured animated programs, although it also featured several live-action series, including the Lost Galaxy installment of the Power Rangers franchise (which had been re-acquired by Saban), and the WWE wrestling series WWE Saturday Morning Slam.
Vortexx was succeeded by Litton Entertainment's One Magnificent Morning which features live-action educational programming on October 4, 2014. It was the conclusive Saturday morning block across the major American broadcast networks that primarily featured non-educational programming aimed at children.
Vortexx was relaunched as a Channel on July 19, 2015 (replacing TeenNick +2) under Viacom.
Beginings (2012-2014)[]
On April 6, 2011, following a lawsuit involving the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, 4Kids Entertainment, which programmed the CW4Kids/Toonzai block for the network, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On May 1, 2012, Kidsco Media Ventures, an affiliate of Saban Capital Group, placed a bid to acquire some of 4Kids' assets. On June 26, 2012, after competition from 4K Acquisition Corp, a subsidiary of Konami, the deal was finalized, with 4K Acquisition receiving the U.S. rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and Saban receiving all other assets, including the programming rights to The CW's Saturday morning block. On July 2, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands, via Kidsco Media Ventures, would begin programming the block that fall. On July 12, 2012, it was announced that the block would be named Vortexx, which launched on August 25, 2012.
In 2013, Vortexx became the only Saturday morning block without a strictly E/I-based lineup to air on broadcast TV. This happened in November of that year, when Tribune acquired Weigel's 50% stake in This TV, and their Cookie Jar Toons/This Is for Kids block (whose advertising was somewhat similar to that of Vortexx) came to an end.
Closure (2014-2015)[]
Vortexx logo is still in use today!
On May 31, 2014 and June 5, 2014, The CW announced that Vortexx would be discontinued and succeeded on October 4, 2014 by One Magnificent Morning, a block produced by Litton Entertainment that would feature live-action documentary and lifestyle programs aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, similarly to a block also introduced by Litton for CW co-owner CBS the previous year. The move came as part of a shift by broadcast television networks towards using their Saturday morning lineup solely to comply with the educational programming requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), along with the cultural shift towards cable and online video on demand viewing of children's and animated programming. Vortexx aired for the final time on September 27, 2014. It was the conclusive Saturday morning block across the major American broadcast television networks that primarily featured non-educational programming aimed at children. The KidsClick block from Sinclair Broadcast Group launched on both Sinclair stations and This TV on July 1, 2017, but has no association with a traditional broadcast network otherwise.
Relaunch under BET Network banner (2015-2019)[]
In November 2014, The CW announced that the now-closed Toonzai block and its former name The CW4Kids would be relaunched as separate channels in 2015, as a result of an announcement of a joint venture with 4Kids Entertainment.
On July 19, 2015 the channel was launched (as part of Viacom Media Networks) (along with The CW4Kids as it became part of Viacom Media Networks in 2017) as airing promos replacing TeenNick +2!
The first program that aired on Vortexx was a rerun of Catscratch (which continues to air on Vortexx today) at 8:00 a.m. (Catscratch also airs on The CW4Kids today).
On April 2, 2016, Vortexx began airing reruns of Fishtronaut and Doki.
On April 26, 2018, the games from the website moved to the app!
Viacom and CBS Corporation merges into ViacomCBS (2019-present)[]
On May 30, 2019, CNBC reported that CBS and Viacom would explore merger discussions in mid-June 2019. CBS's board of directors was revamped with people who are open to a merger. The re-merger was made possible with the resignation of Moonves (who opposed all attempts for a Viacom merger). The talks had started following rumors of CBS acquiring Starz from Lionsgate. Reports say that CBS and Viacom reportedly set August 8 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies. CBS announced to acquire Viacom as part of the re-merger deal for up to $15.4 billion.
On August 2, 2019, it was reported that CBS and Viacom agreed to merge back into one entity. Both companies come to an agreement on the management team for its merger with Bakish will serve as the CEO of the combined company and president and acting CEO of CBS, Joseph Ianniello will oversee the CBS-branded assets. However, on August 7, 2019, both CBS and Viacom delayed their merger announcement as the two companies report the quarterly earnings, though the talks about the re-merger continues.
On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their merger; CBS would purchase Viacom and change its name to ViacomCBS. Bakish would become president and CEO of ViacomCBS with Ianniello serving as chairman and CEO of CBS, where he will oversee the CBS-branded assets. Shari Redstone would also serve as chairwoman of the new company. On October 29, 2019, National Amusements approved the re-merger deal and expected to close the deal on early December with the recombined company will trading its shares on NASDAQ under the symbols "VIAC" and "VIACA".
On December 4, 2019, Viacom and CBS Corporation were merged into ViacomCBS. The deal was completed, resulting in the dissolution of Viacom and CBS Corporation.
On March 13, 2020, Vortexx began airing reruns of Oswald and The Backyardagains.