Fox Kids Fading?

A lengthy and detailed anonymous article has been posted on the Rec.Arts.Anime.Misc newsgroup stating that the Fox Network, faced with declining ratings for its weekday afternoon kids’ programming, will present several options for the struggling block to its local station affiliates at their meeting later this month in Las Vegas. Fox is expected to agree to its affiliates’ desire to push the kids’ shows back from 3-5 PM to 2-4 PM, giving local area TV stations an opportunity to select more adult-friendly lead-in programming for the evening news. But Fox is also contemplating a much more drastic move – eliminating its kids’ programming entirely.

According to the post, Fox’s weekday afternoon kids’ programming ratings are down 27 percent this season among kids aged 6 to 11, to an average 1.6 rating/10 share, from a 2.2/14 last season, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox’s kids 2-5 age group numbers are down 18 percent, to a 1.3/7, and kids 2-11 ratings are down 25 percent, to a 1.5/9. Even Fox’s highest-rated weekday kids’ show, Digimon Digital Monsters, has seen a 23-25% decrease in viewers this season.

The Cartoon Network, on the other hand, is up all across the boards, which is attributed by Brad Agate, research vice president for Horizon Media, not so much by the draw of any particular show, but by the dramatic increase in consumers turning to cable networks and new viewers subscribing to the Cartoon Network.

As with all newsgroup postings, and especially ones from an unattributed source, the validity of this assertion should be subject to scrutiny.