movies/tv What went wrong with Nickelodeon?

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

IMO, Nickelodeon has been lagging behind Cartoon Network and Disney Channel in terms of quality content this whole decade. CN has/had Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, and Gumball. DC has/had Star vs, Gravity Falls, and the new Ducktales. What has Nick had to offer besides The Loud House? Fanboy and Chum Chum, Sanjay and Craig, Breadwinners, and the corpse of Spongebob. 

And the few good shows they DID have (Legend of Korra, Harvey Beaks and Welcome to the Wayne) were screwed over because they didn't do Spongebob-level ratings.

The future doesn't look too good either. While CN and DC have upcoming shows that look promising like Mao Mao, Infinity Train, and Owl House, Nickelodeon is making Spongebob and Loud House spinoffs.

So, I have to ask: What went wrong with Nickelodeon?

[CheeryFox 23,811]

Joe Murray said a few times that they lack a lot of creative ideas/direction. 

[Venomous 18,813]

The YouTube user (and well-known fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) SaberSpark created a video explaining the rise and fall of Nickelodeon quite well.

Spoiler alert: The yellow sponge had something to do with it.

 

[Megas 27,060]

Trying to make all their shows like spongebob both creatively and ratings-wise, which have only hurt the channel. Also tons of garbage tween-coms about some dated bullshit like webshows, social media and garbage apps and riding 15-minutes-of-fame youtube stars only to destroy their careers.

[The Historian 515]

They quit making shows that were actually good. Go back and watch their 90s lineup then compare it today. There's no real comparison. It's all flat in an attempt to get ratings. Rather than make something genuinely enjoyable, they try to make it have good ratings. You can only do that if it's good. To be fair though, I don't watch TV anymore so I have no idea what's on there these days. I'll just stick to Hey Arnold, Catdog and Rocko's Modern Life.

[Luigi 7,868]

I don’t know this to be fact, but seeing as how Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius never continued after DNA went out of business, I would say Nickelodeon has literally no idea what they’re doing anymore

[Megas 27,060]

On 6/24/2019 at 9:30 PM, The Historian said:

They quit making shows that were actually good. Go back and watch their 90s lineup then compare it today. There's no real comparison. It's all flat in an attempt to get ratings. Rather than make something genuinely enjoyable, they try to make it have good ratings. You can only do that if it's good. To be fair though, I don't watch TV anymore so I have no idea what's on there these days. I'll just stick to Hey Arnold, Catdog and Rocko's Modern Life.

Hot take: I actually think Nick was at their best in the early 2000s. I enjoyed Invader Zim, My Life As A Teenage Robot, Danny Phantom and Avatar alone and I consider them better than their entire 90s output(which I think says a lot)

That said I do agree that they went down the drain after that, but the biggest insult is that they still manage to get great shows after yet went out of their way to sabotage them(Harvey Beaks, Korra, El Tigre, etc.)

[Kion 7,374]

Everything went wrong with Nickelodeon spamming SpongeBob not giving others shows a chance  to be popular. Making lots of  bad shows.  Cancelling Good shows way to early.  Having to many made poorly sitcoms. Paw patrol and so much more. 

[Will Guide 21,325]

6 hours ago, Monado_Dash said:

I don’t know this to be fact, but seeing as how Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius never continued after DNA went out of business, I would say Nickelodeon has literally no idea what they’re doing anymore

You might be on something there, my boy

20 minutes ago, This Whomps said:

Hot take: I actually think Nick was at their best in the early 2000s. I enjoyed Invader Zim, My Life As A Teenage Robot, Danny Phantom and Avatar alone and I consider them better than their entire 90s output(which I think says a lot)

That said I do agree that they went down the drain after that, but the biggest insult is that they still manage to get great shows after yet went out of their way to sabotage them(Harvey Beaks, Korra, El Tigre, etc.)

After my high school years in the late 2000's I hopped channels from Nickelodeon to Disney Channel where Phineas and Ferb bought me great joy then Gravity Falls around the same time I joined the MLP Herd. I wouldn't know first hand what happened to Nickelodeon after that

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

Nickelodeon has made nonstop bad decisions this decade.

• Passing on Adventure Time for Fanboy and Chum Chum
• Sabotaging the success of the few good shows they've had (Korra, Harvey Beaks and Welcome to the Wayne)
• Doubling down on Spongebob and Loud House instead of producing quality original content

It's really no wonder the channel is in the shape it's in, and their ratings have been going down. 

Edited July 4, 2019 by VG_Addict

[PinkiePie97 913]

I think what happened is we got older. Except for the Cy Schneider years (when they focused more on appealing to parents), Nick has always been focused on entertaining kids, not adults (although they have been increasingly relying on nostalgia in recent years). No matter what era, there’s people that think newer Nick pales in comparison to the Nick they grew up with. In the late 90s, there were people boycotting the channel simply because they didn’t like their then newer shows. And I know of one person that grew up with pre-splat Nick and dislikes even the 90s shows. But kids kept tuning in and now they look back fondly on those shows.

That’s not to say Nick is beyond criticism. There are some legitimate issues that have been brought up in this thread (such as mistreating shows that don’t get SpongeBob level ratings). Personally, I think they should be focusing less on nostalgia and more on new ideas or they won’t build the type of legacy they had in the 90s or even 2000s. But I don’t think the shows themselves are necessarily the issue. They just appeal to a new generation of kids. When Fanboy & Chum (which is kinda a bit far back at this point, but was mentioned) came on, I think I was getting to the age where it didn’t interest me (still don’t care for it), but my brother (who’s younger than me) was interested and that was the main reason I watched it back then. And I recall Sanjay and Craig actually did well in ratings when it first came on. And say what you will about the sitcoms (I don’t care for the newer ones myself), but Henry Danger has been running for 5 years. It wouldn’t have lasted this long if kids weren’t watching.

On 7/3/2019 at 8:46 PM, VG_Addict said:

Passing on Adventure Time for Fanboy and Chum Chum

Honestly, I think Nick passing on Adventure Time was for the best. I don’t think it would have lasted as long on Nick as it did on Cartoon Network. Also, that was actually in the last decade, not this one.

On 7/3/2019 at 8:46 PM, VG_Addict said:

and their ratings have been going down.

Ratings on all of cable have been going down in recent years. It’s an effect from cord cutting. The ratings are only going to get smaller no matter what Nick does.

[Jon the VGNerd 842]

Honestly, they want to milk SpongeBob dry as possible... and CN isn't any better, to be honest. Worse yet, here's something I found, which was from last month:

 

[Patty Thundersnow 4,129]

Making Spongebob long after it should have ended. Canceling good shows (i.e. Penguins of Madagascar). Over-reliance on live action tween focused sitcoms (Didn't help they had one focused on Fred either).