Vortexx
 | |
| Type | Saturday morning cartoon block |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | United States Canada (via cable) |
| Owner | Saban Brands (Vortexx Entertainment Ventures LLC) (Time leased from The CW) |
Launch date | August 25, 2012 |
Official website | http://www.myvortexx.com |
Vortexx is a Saturday morning cartoon block that launched on August 25, 2012. The block is programmed by Saban Brands, and broadcast on The CW. It replaced the Toonzai block, which was programmed by 4Kids Entertainment.[1][2][3]
History
On April 6, 2011, following a lawsuit involving the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, 4Kids Entertainment, which programmed the The CW4Kids/Toonzai block for the network, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[4] 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 US rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and Saban receiving all other assets, including The CW's Saturday morning block.[5] On July 2, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands, via Kidsco Media Ventures, will begin programming the block in the fall.[6][7][8][9] On July 12, 2012, it was announced that the block will be named Vortexx, which launched on August 25, 2012.[1][2]
Scheduling
Officially the network prefers the block to air from 7:00 a.m. - noon in each time zone, though there are local scheduling variances moving it to different hours, to Sundays, or splitting the lineup between Saturday or Sunday, along with local pre-emptions of select shows. Stations of The CW Plus in the Central and Mountain time zones also air the block an hour early or later, depending on their time zone. San Antonio's KMYS continues to air Vortexx split between early Sunday and early Monday mornings before 5:00 a.m. due to an existing arrangement to air Fox's Weekend Marketplace paid programming block in lieu of sister station KABB.
Past exclusions
WTVW in Evansville, Indiana (which hurriedly joined the network at the start of February 2013 due to the former affiliate going dark) was unable to schedule the block to start their affiliation due to contractual obligations to Saturday morning paid programming slots and existing syndicated E/I programming through February and March 2013. The station began carrying Vortexx in the network-mandated slot as of April 6, 2013, with the station's purchased E/I programming moving to Sunday afternoons.[10][11]
Presentation
The entire schedule is aired in high definition, with older standard definition content presented in 4:3 or widescreen with stylized pillarboxing and windowboxing.
Programming
Current programs
- Rescue Heroes (August 25, 2012-present)E/I
- The New Adventures of Nanoboy (March 9, 2013-present)E/I
- Sonic X † (October 6, 2012-present)
- Transformers: Prime (December 8, 2012-present)
- Justice League Unlimited (August 25, 2012-present)
- Dragon Ball Z Kai † (August 25, 2012-present)
- WWE Saturday Morning Slam (August 25, 2012-present)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! † (August 25, 2012-present)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal † (August 25, 2012-present)
Former programs
- Cubix: Robots for Everyone † (August 25–September 15, 2012)E/I
- Iron Man: Armored Adventures (August 25–November 24, 2012)
- Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (August 25, 2012-January 12, 2013)
Special programming
- Tiny Toon Adventures Halloween special, "Night Ghoulery" (October 27/November 24, 2012)
- Gummibär: The Yummy Gummy Search for Santa (December 1/22, 2012)
- Spike Saves Christmas (December 15, 2012)
- Spike's Reindeer Rescue (December 22, 2012)
Upcoming programs
- Digimon Fusion (Fall, 2013) Also airing on Nickelodeon
† - Former CW4Kids/Toonzai program
References
- ^ a b "'Power Rangers' Backer Saban to Reenter Kiddie TV". Advertising Age. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ a b "Saban Brands to launch Vortexx kid shows on The CW". Los Angeles Business. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ "Haim Saban to unveil Saturday kids' shows, including WWE program". Los Angeles Times. August 8, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "4Kids Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". Anime News Network. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
- ^ 4Kids sells Yu-Gi-Oh CW Network related assets jointly to konami kidsco. Anime News Network. June 26, 2012. Accessed June 2012.
- ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (July 2, 2012). "Saban Brands to rebuild CW toon block". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ Marcucci, Carl (July 3, 2012). "The CW signs Saban Brands for kids block". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ "Saban builds CW kids' block". C21Media. July 3, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ Dickson, Jeremy (July 3, 2012). "Saban and The CW launch kids TV block". KidScreen. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ Newkirk, Jacob (January 28, 2013). "Local 7 picking up CW programming". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- ^ http://jakesdtvblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-official-announcement-from-mission.html?showComment=1359501121918#c7216899164533622101
External links
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