Nickelodeon Nickelodeon's failure to launch situation

[Sara SquarePants]

Nick is literally in a "failure to launch" scenario because they are having a hard time launching new cartoons and has to keep relying on SpongeBob SquarePants

I am in a similar situation but I'm going to be getting HELP from a therapist

How can Nickelodeon pull themselves out of this and find a way to launch?

 

[spongie33]

By taking risks.

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Exactly what spongie33 said, they've gotta take risks. They fall back on SpongeBob because it's tried and true, but that also means that new shows don't actually get a real chance. If they supported their new cartoons the same way they support SpongeBob (or even like...half the amount they support this show), then I'm sure at least some of the cartoons would really take off.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

Maybe things will start changing in 2025 when Avatar resurfaces

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Maybe things will start changing in 2025 when Avatar resurfaces

ehhhh, I'd argue that that's the exact opposite of taking risks since they're just expanding the universe of a massively popular show (which like oh my god can we stop with the fictional universes)

 

[Sara SquarePants]

What they are doing with Avatar is exactly what they are doing with SpongeBob by expanding the universe

 

[TiredandFeathered]

New show Zokie Planet of Ruby comes out on May 8th

 

[TiredandFeathered]

I suggest supporting it before it dies, they're literally burning off 12 episodes next month

 

[Sara SquarePants]

^Is that a new NickToon?!?

 

[Squidwardiard]

They don't feel like they need new cartoons so much. They kind of use them as filler for the schedule.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

Maybe Nickelodeon is slowly transitioning out of cartoon production?!?

 

[TiredandFeathered]

yeah it is a new nicktoon. And no they aren't close to transitioning out of 'toon production they have plenty of animated projects planned for the future

 

[SpongeVol93]

I think Nick is really suffering from cable TV dying. When I watch SpongeBob on the main channel or Nicktoons, the same batch of commercials play every single break, sometimes different variants of the same commercial play during the same break (looking at you, Lunchables). Frosted Flakes, McDonald's, etc. play constantly which tells me they aren't getting a lot of advertisers. I think they're trying to branch out with Paramount+, but it just seems to be expanding on existing IPs. I think TV in general is relying too much on expanding IPs and not giving new ones a chance. SpongeBob wasn't even an overnight hit at first, it took a year or two for the popularity to really take off.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

What a shame...

I am stuck in a similar situation but I'm slowly pulling myself out of it

If I can do it then so can Nickelodeon!

The ENTIRE issue is that SpongeBob SquarePants is tethered to Nickelodeon and vice-versa

That is why they couldn't cancel or end it a long time ago

The root of the problem lies squarely (pun intended!) on Nick's tethering to this show to the point where they NEED it in order to survive!

Just like how humans need water and food to live

SpongeBob at this point has become a necessity for Nickelodeon rather than a luxury


EDIT: Also anytime I feel sad about it taking a while to reach my goals of marriage and a career I should just remember that SpongeBob SquarePants did not achieve success overnight and it took at least 2 years for it to TRULY "launch"!

I don't have a "failure to launch" type scenario

I just haven't launched yet!

But I'm getting there

 

[StarboyMK]

I think Nick is really suffering from cable TV dying. When I watch SpongeBob on the main channel or Nicktoons, the same batch of commercials play every single break, sometimes different variants of the same commercial play during the same break (looking at you, Lunchables). Frosted Flakes, McDonald's, etc. play constantly which tells me they aren't getting a lot of advertisers. I think they're trying to branch out with Paramount+, but it just seems to be expanding on existing IPs. I think TV in general is relying too much on expanding IPs and not giving new ones a chance. SpongeBob wasn't even an overnight hit at first, it took a year or two for the popularity to really take off.

I've been saying for a while that, over the coming years, we're probably going to see more and more TV channels be given this treatment. In fact, even right now, you don't have to look very far to see the collapse of cable in real time; another Viacom channel, the once-legendary MTV, has been almost completely reduced to broadcasting showings of Ridiculousness, at a rate that's easily put CN's former chokehold of TTG reruns to shame. (Admittedly, though, this is an extreme example, as Viacom has apparently left MTV entirely adrift, with no coherent idea of what to do with the channel.)

I'm guessing the reason why MTV fell back on that one show is because it's cheap and relatively easy to produce. Nick is bound to do the same thing with Spongebob, which, while no doubt more expensive to make and promote, is basically a self-perpetuating money-printing machine. That being said, the network still in a much better position to regain momentum... but, as we've established in this thread, only if they're willing to commit to something beyond Spongebob and Loud House. Otherwise, I could completely see SB outliving Nick itself, and Viacom transferring the show to a different brand and/or channel entirely.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

The very THOUGHT of SpongeBob SquarePants outliving Nickelodeon is too horrifying to even think about!

But at the rate Nick is going it is a very real possibility!

Yes Nickelodeon can recover but they MUST be willing to commit to more than SpongeBob and The Loud House

They have to find the successor soon!!!

 

[SpongeVol93]

I think Nick is already somewhat being reduced to a thing of the past. A lot of Nick-branded merch uses the old logo and 90s characters, because that and the early 2000s is the channel's glory years. Paramount may continue to use the Nick brand to market their children-geared content but at the rate it's going I don't see the channel lasting another 5-10 years.

But it's also possible that the whole streaming thing falls apart and people go back to cable. At first just Netflix was dominating that market, then Disney+, Paramount+, HBO Max, etc. started coming in and eventually it could get to the point where people are spending more for 5+ streaming services than they were for cable and 100+ channels.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

It's hard to say what will happen...