Vortexx
 | |
| Type | Saturday morning cartoon block |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | United States Canada (via cable) |
| Owner | Vortexx Entertainment Ventures LLC (Saban Brands) (Time leased from The CW) |
Launch date | August 25, 2012 |
Official website | www |
Vortexx is a Saturday morning animation and live-action block for children, which debuted on The CW on August 25, 2012. The block is programmed by Saban Brands, and replaced Toonzai, a block that was programmed by 4Kids Entertainment (now 4Licensing Corporation).[1][2][3]
Since This TV discontinued the Cookie Jar Group-programmed Cookie Jar Toons/This Is for Kids block on October 31, 2013, Vortexx is the only remaining traditional children's programming block on any of the U.S. broadcast networks, and the only one that incorporates advertising aimed at the block's target audience (due partly to advertising restrictions placed by the Federal Communications Commission, other commercial broadcast networks opt to run advertisements aimed at adult consumers and/or public service announcements).
The block will come to an end on September 27, 2014, and it will be replaced during the following week with a live-action E/I block from Litton Entertainment named One Magnificent Morning. [4]
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.[5] 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 CW's Saturday morning block.[6] On July 2, 2012, it was announced that Saban Brands, via Kidsco Media Ventures, would begin programming the block in the fall.[7][8][9][10] On July 12, 2012, it was announced that the block would 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.–12:00 p.m. in each time zone, though there are local scheduling variances in some areas that may move it to different hours, to Sundays, or split the lineup between Saturday or Sunday, along with local pre-emptions of select shows. CW Plus stations in the Central, Mountain and Alaska time zones time zones also air the block one hour earlier or later, depending on the local time zone, as The CW Plus operates separate feeds based on the network's Eastern and Pacific time zone scheduling for primetime shows. San Antonio's KMYS splits the Vortexx block over two days, 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
The CW's Evansville, Indiana affiliate WTVW (which hurriedly joined the network on January 31, 2013 due to the market's former affiliate going dark) was unable to schedule the block when it initially began its affiliation with the network, due to contractual obligations to paid programming slots and existing syndicated E/I programming on Saturday mornings through March 2013. The station began carrying Vortexx in its network-recommended timeslot on April 6, 2013, with the station's acquired E/I programming moving to Sunday afternoons.[11][12]
Video-on-demand
On April 29, 2013, Saban Brands announced a partnership with Kabillion to create a video on demand service for cable providers that will air Vortexx programming. The shows air as part of the Kabillion on Demand service on cable providers without any separate Vortexx subdivision, but with Vortexx promotional advertising.[13]
Programming
Most of the block's programming is broadcast in high definition, with older standard definition content presented in 4:3 or widescreen with stylized pillarboxing and windowboxing.
Vortexx currently only runs an hour of programming that meets the Federal Communications Commission's educational programming guidelines; as a result, The CW's affiliates must handle the responsibility of filling the remaining two hours – with the exception of those affiliated with The CW Plus, a network-programmed supplementary feed that incorporates E/I-compliant programs acquired from the syndication market, alleviating stations carrying CW network programming via that feed from purchasing the local rights to such programs.
Current programs
- Rescue Heroes (August 25, 2012–present)E/I
- Sonic X † (October 6, 2012–present)
- Bolts and Blip (July 13, 2013–present)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man † (August 17, 2013–present)
- Justice League Unlimited (August 25, 2012–present)
- Dragon Ball Z Kai † (August 25, 2012–present)
- Digimon Fusion (January 25, 2014–present)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! † (August 25, 2012–present)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal † (August 25, 2012–present)
Former programs
- Cubix: Robots for Everyone † (August 25, 2012–September 15, 2012)E/I
- Iron Man: Armored Adventures (August 25, 2012–November 24, 2012)
- Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (August 25, 2012–January 12, 2013)
- WWE Saturday Morning Slam (August 25, 2012–May 11, 2013)[14]
- Transformers: Prime (December 8, 2012–June 1, 2013)
- The New Adventures of Nanoboy (March 9, 2013–August 10, 2013)E/I
- B-Daman Crossfire (August 17, 2013–January 18, 2014)
- The Adventures of Chuck and Friends (August 17, 2013–February 8, 2014)E/I
Special programming
- Tiny Toon Adventures Halloween special, "Night Ghoulery" (October 27, 2012/November 24, 2012)
- Gummibär: The Yummy Gummy Search for Santa (December 1, 2012/December 22, 2012)
- Spike Saves Christmas (December 15, 2012)
- Spike's Reindeer Rescue (December 22, 2012)
Unaired programs
- Sendokai Champions (Was announced as premiering in Fall 2013; never made it to the lineup. Fate unknown.)
† - Former CW4Kids/Toonzai program
References
- ^ a b Steinberg, Brian (July 12, 2012). "'Power Rangers' Backer Saban to Reenter Kiddie TV". Advertising Age. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b "Saban Brands to launch Vortexx kid shows on The CW". L.A. Biz. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ James, Meg (August 8, 2012). "Haim Saban to unveil Saturday kids' shows, including WWE program". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ "The CW to Air Live-Action Shows in Vortexx's current Saturday Morning Slots". Anime News Network. June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
- ^ "4Kids Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". Anime News Network. May 30, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ "4Kids sells Yu-Gi-Oh CW Network related assets jointly to konami kidsco". Anime News Network. June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Jake's DTV Blog: The official announcement from Mission Broadcasting on WTVW and CW". Jakesdtvblog.blogspot.com. 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ Getzler, Wendy (April 29, 2013). "Vortexx on-demand channel launches on Kabillion". Kidscreen.com. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- ^ Pena, Daniel (October 2, 2013). "Saturday Morning Slam Not Likely To Return, Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella's Relationship, Birthdays". Wrestling, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
External links
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