The Battle For 8PM

[Daikun]

A rather surprising announcement popped up today on Adult Swim's schedules--they'll be dropping back down to 10PM everyday starting this Monday.

According to the backdoor schedule, starting November 11, Regular Show and Adventure Time will air every night from 9pm and Adult Swim will start at 10pm. Jason DeMarco was asked about this on his Ask.fm and he said:

That's above my pay grade, sorry. I know we'll be back at 10 after the new year.

JDM had made a typo in that response, where "10" should be replaced with "9". This retraction will only last till January.

The remark about the pay grade is what makes it intriguing. All they're doing in that hour is airing King of the Hill. They've been airing it for years and they got it super-cheap since it's the syndication package, so I don't think budget should be a concern over airing this show for an hour every night.

Do you think CN is testing the waters to see if they can get this hour back? I think that if ratings remain high enough during this hour over the next couple of months, I think they could potentially make Adult Swim's downgrade permanent.

What do you guys think? This could be an interesting year for the fate of that hour.

[LumRanmaYasha]

DeMarco's "pay grade" remark is likely referring to the fact he is not high enough on the corporate level to have been let known about the details of the decision, and not a reference to the costs of paying for the 9pm slot.

But yes, I do believe Cartoon Network is testing whether they can better utilize the 9pm slot than [adult swim], and if that turns out to be the case, [adult swim] could very well lose the hour. Let's see whether Adventure Time and Regular Show reruns outperform King of the Hill's usual performance in the timeslot these next few weeks, and we'll know our answer.

[Avaitor]

Eh, they don't really do anything special with the extra hour. There are worse things that can happen.

Although if anything, Nick@Nite should give the 8 PM slot back to regular Nick on weekdays.

[Daxdiv]

Really, all they do is air King of the Hill and the Cleveland Show at the 9 PM hour. WHY DO THEY AIR THE CLEVELAND SHOW? WHY? WHY?  I do hope this lasts beyond the year, since I would love to see more premieres at those hours.

As for the pay grade comment, I just interpreted that as Jason not being that high level member to discuss said move without having to risk his job.

[LumRanmaYasha]

WHY DO THEY AIR THE CLEVELAND SHOW? WHY? WHY?

Unfathomably high ratings.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

WHY DO THEY AIR THE CLEVELAND SHOW? WHY? WHY?

We can extend this question to other affiliates in general. Imagine my surprise when I found Cleveland Show airing on my local CW network before the Sunday block.

I'm hoping Regular Show can win back those slots, I'd totally love to fall asleep to that for once.

[LumRanmaYasha]

We can extend this question to other affiliates in general.

And again, it all comes down to ratings. They air it because it gets ratings. 

[Daikun]

I think CN is taking back this hour because more 15-minute shows are starting to premiere. We can't have them all scrunched into 8:00, so they're probably calling for the extra hour so they can air more of those throughout 2014. They've recently moved Uncle Grandpa to Tuesdays--I think they did this to make room for Steven Universe. If they're going to pick up more quarter-hour series in the next year, then they could sure use the extra wiggle room.

[Daxdiv]

We can extend this question to other affiliates in general.

And again, it all comes down to ratings. They air it because it gets ratings. 

Then justify why the show was cancelled?

[Daikun]

We can extend this question to other affiliates in general. Imagine my surprise when I found Cleveland Show airing on my local CW network before the Sunday block.

They're airing it because they can. When the show was canned, it had enough episodes to enter syndication, so any network can take it.

[DarthGonzo]

They're removing King of the Hill to air the same crap they always show during the day?

Yawn. I guess the ONLY reason I have to continue tuning in to CN anymore is American Dad. I pretty much hate everything else CN and AS are airing now.

[LumRanmaYasha]

KOTH will still air weekdays at 1:30am and Saturdays for the entire 10pm hour. It has not been taken off the schedule, thankfully.

[Avaitor]

I really wish Fox would send KOTH off to another DVD company that would willingly make a complete series set for it.

I don't even care about bonuses, I just want all 259 easily and legally available again.

[Dr. Insomniac]

They're removing King of the Hill to air the same crap they always show during the day?

Yawn. I guess the ONLY reason I have to continue tuning in to CN anymore is American Dad. I pretty much hate everything else CN and AS are airing now.

Given that you only find preference for one show on an entire lineup, doesn't that make you who watches the same crap every day? Besides, only a manchild can be that dismissive.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I really wish Fox would send KOTH off to another DVD company that would willingly make a complete series set for it.

I don't even care about bonuses, I just want all 259 easily and legally available again.

Same. If they can release all of That 70's Show on DVD for only 35 bucks, they can at least give us all of KOTH for 50 or 60. Hell, I'd buy it for over a hundred even, KOTH is worth it, dammit.