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| logofile = AdultSwim.svg
| logofile = AdultSwim.svg
| launch = September 2, 2001
| launch = September 2, 2001
| network = Cartoon Network East (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)<br />Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET) <br> Cartoon Network West (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)<br />Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)
| network = Cartoon Network East (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)<br />Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET) <br> Cartoon Network West (7:00 PM-3:00 AM ET)<br />Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)
| owner = [[Turner Broadcasting System]] <br /> ([[Time Warner]])
| owner = [[Turner Broadcasting System]] <br /> ([[Time Warner]])
| sister names = [[Cartoon Network (United States)|Cartoon Network]], [[Boomerang (TV channel)|Boomerang]]
| sister names = [[Cartoon Network (United States)|Cartoon Network]], [[Boomerang (TV channel)|Boomerang]]

Revision as of 21:30, 14 November 2009

Adult Swim
NetworkCartoon Network East (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)
Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)
Cartoon Network West (7:00 PM-3:00 AM ET)
Adult Swim (10:00 PM-6:00 AM ET)
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
Ownership
OwnerTurner Broadcasting System
(Time Warner)

Adult Swim, often stylized as [adult swim] and abbreviated as [as], is an adult-oriented cable television network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM ET/PT in the United States and broadcasting in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.[2] The network features animated shows, including original programming, syndicated shows, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content. The shows are geared toward a 18+ audience, in contrast to the child and pre-teen daytime programming on Cartoon Network. The shows and commercial breaks are usually interrupted by "bumps", or moments where short jokes or Internet fan feedback (in which negative feedback is sometimes responded to in a sarcastic manner) are broadcast in simple white letters over a black screen.

History

Further information: Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Several creators and writers of Adult Swim shows at the Comic Con 2006 [as] panel. From left to right: Keith Crofford, Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Scott Adsit, Dino Stamatopoulos, Tommy Blacha, Brendon Small, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer

Adult Swim began as a "spin-off" programming block of Cartoon Network, premiering on September 2, 2001 with the airing of the Director's Cut episode of Home Movies. It originally aired Sunday night with reruns on Thursdays. The name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults; "adult swim". On March 28, 2005, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting split Adult Swim from Cartoon Network so Nielsen Media Research could treat it as a separate channel for ratings purposes.[2]

The first anime broadcast on Adult Swim was Cowboy Bebop. Other early shows included Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Brak Show and a revival of The WB's Mission Hill.

The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, a division of Turner Broadcast Network, which has created Toonami and Miguzi. It plays American animated series and shorts geared towards adults. They also play a wide variety of Japanese anime series, OVAs, and movies. Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and those in their twenties and thirties, constituting the majority of their viewers. According to a September 1, 2004 article in Promo magazine, representatives travel to 30 universities across the U.S. to promote the Adult Swim lineup, including handing out posters for students' dorm rooms.[3]

Stylistic history

File:Swim-old.JPG
The original Adult Swim logo used from 2001 - 2002

Originally, all of the bumpers shown in between shows featured footage of senior citizens swimming in public pools, eating, exercising, and doing other pool-related activities, with audio of a lifeguard shouting "all kids out of the pool" through a megaphone. The logo was the words "ADULT SWIM" in all capital letters, shown after a freeze frame of the footage. The shows were announced by a computer generated voice on Saturdays.

When the Saturday night block started in 2002, it featured clips from the various anime programs displayed on the block. The original theme music for Adult Swim, titled "D-Code," was a remix of "Mambo Gallego" done by the Melbourne musician Dust Devil, originally played by Latin jazz musician Tito Puente, Sr. [4]

On January 12, 2003, the senior citizens were replaced by animated safety manuals featuring Adult Swim characters. The logo changed to the words "adult swim" in red and a black circle with a yellow penumbra.

The current bumps debuted on May 25, 2003 and feature black intertitle "cards" in white Helvetica Neue Condensed Black type.[citation needed] The cards discuss everything from programming news to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. In addition, the bumpers for the action shows include tilt-shift miniature and other abstract photos of Japan, often accompanied by clips of various Yesterdays New Quintet songs. The most recent bumper cards have the "[adult swim]" caption somewhere within photographs of places—often with roads or road signs—in and around Atlanta. The bumps occasionally pay tribute to a recent death, in which there is no music or sound effects, but only a fade in, showing the person's name, along with the year of his/her birth and the year of his/her death, followed by a fade out. The tribute bumps debuted on January 1, 2006 with Vincent Schiavelli. Aired tribute bumps include those for Vincent Schiavelli, Don Knotts, Steve Irwin, Alex Toth, Billy Preston, Walter Booker, Dave Cockrum, Joseph Barbera, James Brown, Gerald R. Ford, Saddam Hussein, Iwao Takamoto, Skip Caray, Evel Knievel, Bernie Mac, Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Hayes, Don LaFontaine, Maddie Blaustein, Eartha Kitt, Dom Deluise, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, John Hughes, Les Paul, Patrick Swayze, and Yoshito Usui. Reading Rainbow and Nicktoons Network are shown as a TV show instead of the person.

At certain times during the evening, the bumps will give a programming lineup for an upcoming date. When this format is given, certain shows will be colored in specified Pantone colors, with a caption at the bottom that reads "All Times and Music Eastern." The music in the background has a decidedly Indian flair.

In 2009, King of the Hill featured unique bumpers which only air when the program is being shown. They include the fictional restaurants, shops, organizations, and local services seen within the show itself and act as sponsors during the bump.

Adult Swim Video

Main article: Adult Swim Video

AdultSwim.com launched a web-based video distribution service on September 16, 2005. Known as the "Friday Night Fix", the service provided a way for fans to view programming when the programming block did not air. It was originally available only on Fridays during the hours that Adult Swim normally aired on the other weeknights. On March 27, 2006, Adult Swim changed "Friday Night Fix" into "Adult Swim Video."

Ratings

Adult Swim has repeatedly set and broken viewership records for ad-supported basic cable channels, ranked #1 for delivery of adults 18-34, adults 18-24, men 18-34, and men 18-24. According to Nielsen Media Research, Adult Swim set new viewership records among men over 18 in 2005, 2006, and 2007.[5][6] As of August, 2008, Adult Swim continues to be one of the most visited standard cable channel for adults 18 - 34.[7]

Ad campaign bomb scare

Main article: 2007 Boston bomb scare

Turner Broadcasting issued an apology for an ad campaign causing a series of bomb scares throughout Boston on January 31, 2007. A statement emailed to The Boston Globe from Turner Broadcasting said:

"The 'packages' in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger."

On January 31, Boston and Massachusetts State Police were dispatched to various places in Boston after reports of suspicious packages were sighted. On February 1, 2007, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the incident. Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device to incite panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, according to CNN, which is also owned by Turner Broadcasting.

On February 5, Turner Broadcasting and marketer Interference Inc. announced that they will pay two million dollars in amends: one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds.[8] Four days later, on February 9, Jim Samples, then-general manager and executive vice president of Cartoon Network, resigned.[9]

Programming

Main article: List of Adult Swim programs

Adult Swim has a history of unique original cartoons such as The Venture Bros., Squidbillies, Metalocalypse, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. A few of their shows are remakes or relaunches of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which got its own spinoff, The Brak Show. AS's syndicated programs that are aired are mostly from Fox and BBC, including Family Guy, King of the Hill, American Dad!, Futurama (before Comedy Central acquired broadcast rights), The PJs, The Mighty Boosh and The Office. The channel also has a history of showing anime series, including Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Inuyasha.

Merchandise and media offerings

Adultswim.com

Adult Swim.com is the official website of Adult Swim, normally written as [adultswim.com] the site features Adult Swim Video, forum message boards, online video games, music downloads, shopping, Mobile phone downloads, adult swim show sites, and the programing schedule for adult swim.

Video games

Adult Swim partnered with Midway Games in 2005 to begin development on video games based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast (soon to come), The Brak Show, and Sealab 2021. The game based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am, was released on November 5, 2007 for PlayStation 2.[10] The game is a golf game with fighting and racing levels. A video game based on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law has been released by Capcom for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii.[11]

Various third-party, Macromedia Flash-based games are also available for free play on the Adult Swim website.

Music

Adult Swim has a partnership with independent music label Stones Throw Records. Many of Adult Swim's bumps and packaging have used music from artists such as Madlib, Oh No, J Dilla, and Psyche Origami. In 2006, both Stones Throw and Adult Swim created a co-production album entitled Chrome Children. When the "black card" bump format was first introduced in mid-2003, block first switched to its now 5 year standing text-bump format, the bumps would often be accompanied by the instrumental music of producers like Ayatey Shabazz, Fat Jon and J Dilla. Various electronic music is also often borrowed from artists on the label Warp Records, such as Boards of Canada, Chris Clark, Jackson and his Computer Band, Flying Lotus, and Prefuse 73. Additionally, music is often featured from artists of the label Ninja Tune Records, including Amon Tobin, Blockhead, Coldcut, and The Herbaliser .

The network has had various other musical endeavors including

Video on demand

In mid-2004, Adult Swim launched a video on demand channel on cable TV providers. The comedy section features several episodes from various Adult Swim original series, while the action section shows anime series and movies licensed by Bandai Entertainment, Geneon Entertainment, and Viz Media, some of which that were never broadcast. The anime series s-CRY-ed initially premiered on demand before debuting on the regular block in May 2005.

Select series, including Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Venture Brothers, are also available for purchase on iTunes. Furthermore, as of November 22, 2006, some Adult Swim shows can be bought and accessed from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace and the PlayStation Video Store.

Podcast

Adult Swim offered a video podcast on Apple's iTunes from March 21, 2006, to September 19, 2006. The podcasts featured behind-the-scenes segments of shows and exclusive content; such as an interview with Saved by the Bell's Dennis Haskins and a look at Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's Metalocalypse. The podcast reached number two in iTunes' ranking of most downloaded podcasts.

Adult Swim in a Box

Cartoon Network and distributor Warner Home Video have announced that Adult Swim will be releasing Adult Swim in a Box a seven disc DVD box set of a variety of different Adult Swim shows. This DVD box set will feature multiple episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Moral Orel, Robot Chicken, Metalocalypse, and Sealab 2021. Adult Swim in a Box will also feature a bonus DVD that features the pilot episodes of Perfect Hair Forever, Korgoth of Barbaria, and Welcome to Eltingville. This box set was released on October 27, 2009.[13]

International

Adult Swim has been actively expanding its reach across the world since 2005. New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America air the block on the Cartoon Network, just like in the United States. However, some international Cartoon Networks do not desire Adult Swim to air on their 24-hour children's network. In those markets, the block is licensed to other networks or Television stations instead—such as Ofcom in the United Kingdom—where regulation issues arise.[14][15] Some networks enter into an agreement giving the rights to the entire block, including branding and all owned programming, whereas others such as Teletoon in Canada sign a first-right-of-refusal deal and do not choose to use the branding.[citation needed]

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, Adult Swim was broadcast on Cartoon Network from 2002 until December 31, 2007. The block is no longer seen on Cartoon Network but the comedy shows are now airing on The Comedy Channel. The block returned with Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman, in March 2008, with Aqua Teen Hunger Force joining the programming on July 1.[16] The Boondocks also air on the same channel although it's not under the Adult Swim banner and instead airs separately. Moral Orel has also premiered on Australian television.[17] However, SBS broadcasts full episodes of Frisky Dingo and Squidbillies on its website as of July 2009 with an Adult Swim image appearing before each episode.

Most of the anime shows have not returned back to television, however a new anime block on the Australian Sci-Fi Channel airs shows previously aired on both Adult Swim USA and Australia. The block features Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Cowboy Bebop, and Blood+.

Some series that aired on Adult Swim have been released to Region 4 DVD by Madman Entertainment, including shows that have never been shown on Australian television before, such as Metalocalypse, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and Frisky Dingo with 12 Oz Mouse to be released in October 2009.The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters has also been quietly released to DVD.[18]

United Kingdom and Ireland

Launched on July 8, 2006, the UK network Bravo used to air an Adult Swim block nightly, generally starting at midnight each night. The UK's Bravo channel is owned by Virgin Media Television, although in other parts of the world Adult Swim is a block on Time Warner-owned Cartoon Network. Shows that were previously a part of the UK's Adult Swim block are Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, The Brak Show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Venture Bros., Moral Orel, and Metalocalypse,[19] Non-Williams Street shows on the block include Stripperella and Kid Notorious. The first "action" series was the anime Afro Samurai, which aired on May 4, 2007 alongside a new UK animated show Modern Toss. On July 7, 2008, Adult Swim ceased to broadcast on Bravo, and its future remains uncertain.[20]

The UK Adult Swim website, like its American counterpart, offers free access to full episodes of shows including Squidbillies, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Minoriteam, Stroker and Hoop, Moral Orel, 12 oz. Mouse, Perfect Hair Forever, Metalocalypse, and Frisky Dingo. Unlike Adult Swim on Bravo UK, the website service is owned by Time Warner. Adult Swim programming can also be ordered through various "on demand" and mobile TV services. [citation needed]

Revolver Entertainment recently began distributing original Adult Swim series on DVD in the UK and Ireland.[21]

Canada

Teletoon's English-language service in Canada has a teen/adult-oriented block called "Teletoon at Night" that airs programming similar to Adult Swim every night. Adult Swim programs that aired on Teletoon at Night include 12 oz. Mouse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Family Guy, Futurama, Harvey Birdman, American Dad!, Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies, Stroker and Hoop, The Boondocks, The Venture Bros., Home Movies, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is the only Adult Swim original not to air on Teletoon in Canada, and instead airs on CTVglobemedia's The Comedy Network. Since July 2007, seven of the fourteen Adult Swim programs airing on The Detour were canceled and replaced by Canadian-produced adult cartoon shows.

Teletoon's French-language service in Canada also has an adult-oriented block called "Télétoon la Nuit" that airs shows like The Boondocks, Family Guy, Home Movies, South Park, American Dad!, and Futurama. Similarly, YTV airs some anime originally broadcast on Adult Swim in its "Bionix" block.[22]

In June 2009, G4 in Canada launched "Adult Digital Distraction", a programing block featuring many Adult Swim shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Delocated, Fat Guy Stuck in Internet, Superjail, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and The Venture Bros.[23]

Latin America

In Latin America, an Adult Swim block airs during the overnight hours. It was originally carried on the regional version of Cartoon Network until April 2008, when it was picked up by I.Sat, another Turner Broadcasting System/Time Warner-owned network.

References

  1. ^ "Channel Details - CARTOON NETWORK WEST". DISH Network. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  2. ^ a b Adult Swim/CN Split Cements Strategy. ICv2. March 3, 2005.
  3. ^ Parry, Tim (2004-11-01). "College Try". Promo. Penton Media Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  4. ^ Adult Swim's Mambo. Adtunes. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  5. ^ Time Warner
  6. ^ Marketing Vox
  7. ^ Animation Insider
  8. ^ Turner, contractor to pay $2M in Boston bomb scare. CNN.com. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  9. ^ Ryan, Andrew. Cartoon Network head resigns after Boston bomb scares. boston.com News. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  10. ^ Scalzo, John (2005-01-15). "[Midway bags Adult Swim license]". Gaming Target, Inc. Archived from the original on 2005-02-18. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  11. ^ JoystiqCapcom announces Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Jared Rea Apr 13th 2007
  12. ^ "Official Warm & Scratchy Album Page". Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  13. ^ "Adult Swim in a Box announcement".
  14. ^ "The Ofcom Broadcasting Code". July 25, 2005. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  15. ^ "OFcom Bulletin". March 4, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  16. ^ Adult Swim - The Comedy Channel
  17. ^ "Moral Orel". The Comedy Channel. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  18. ^ Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters DVD
  19. ^ "Adult Swim Show Profiles". Archived from the original on 2008-01-15.. Bravo (UK). Retrieved July 19, 2006.
  20. ^ [adult swim] UK and Bravo part ways
  21. ^ [adult swim]
  22. ^ Bionix - Anime TV shows on Saturday Night
  23. ^ G4 Canada - ADd
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