MLP should be more popular than it is.

[CastletonSnob 3,045]

IMO, airing on Discovery Family stifled the show's popularity. Imagine how much more popular the show would be if it aired on a channel people actually get, like Cartoon Network. Then, MLP would get the popularity it deserves.

Or are you fine with MLP being niche?

[Latecomer 438]

1 hour ago, VG_Addict said:

IMO, airing on Discovery Family stifled the show's popularity. Imagine how much more popular the show would be if it aired on a channel people actually get, like Cartoon Network. Then, MLP would get the popularity it deserves.

Or are you fine with MLP being niche?

A proper channel might give it more prominence among the general public, but it made iv to nine seasons without - indeed, given how much more competitvie they are,it might not have lived so long there. And most of it's fame is online fame aniwau.

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

it was pretty much everywhere on the internet a few years back, it got it's exposure so it isn't a matter of it being hidden or anything, i'd say it was pretty popular either way

[CastletonSnob 3,045]

Yes, the show is still popular, but airing on a channel not available in many cable packages hurt it. 

A quick look at Wikipedia (I know, I know, using Wikipedia as a source) shows that no episode of MLP ever reached a million views. Cartoon Network shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe regularly had episodes that had at least a million views.

[Splashee 28,538]

3 hours ago, VG_Addict said:

IMO, airing on Discovery Family stifled the show's popularity. Imagine how much more popular the show would be if it aired on a channel people actually get, like Cartoon Network. Then, MLP would get the popularity it deserves.

Or are you fine with MLP being niche?

Overpopularity can have a negative effect. Oversaturation etc etc.

 

Imagine the show being aired on all popular channels. More people would find it faster, but no one would have time to develop a fandom. It would be chaos.

 

Instead, you had a show that was interesting and had people that wouldn't even watch cartoons, take some effort into watching more than one episode. It was pretty optimal the way it was.

 

But what if it was more popular, and faster, and was actually mostly positive? What about the amount of trolling? In every fandom, there are trolls. And the bigger they get, the more they will be attractive to trolls trying to destroy.

 

 

 

-- off topic --

Oh, I just realized the background extend on the forum. Is that your doing @Lord Valtasar? It's fantastic!

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

1 minute ago, Super Splashee said:

-- off topic --

Oh, I just realized the background extend on the forum. Is that your doing @Lord Valtasar? It's fantastic!

nope, it's actually different depending on what time it is so it doesn't even always match, and the code for that is so complex that we don't touch it, as for my banner, the image was made before i joined the forums, i just moved things around a bit to make it into a banner

[Splashee 28,538]

7 minutes ago, Lord Valtasar said:

nope, it's actually different depending on what time it is so it doesn't even always match, and the code for that is so complex that we don't touch it, as for my banner, the image was made before i joined the forums, i just moved things around a bit to make it into a banner

The forum was done yesterday for a while, giving a 502 Bad Gateway. I was sure the modification was done at that time.

 

Anyway, even if you didn't do it, you are still doing a good job

 

 

 

--on topic---

 

Yo, MLP, yo!

[Rarity Gemstones 196]

How exactly do you propose that it "should" be more popular, exactly?

[Concerned Bystander 2,902]

MLP should be more popular than it is?

I would argue that MLP is already more popular than it ever had any right to be.  MLP has been around since the early 80s, and previous to FiM it only appealed to the target audience of young girls, and maybe a few nostalgic collectors.  With FiM they managed to catch lightning in a bottle and the fact that they managed to not only satisfy their main audience but also attracted a whole new audience of boys, teenagers and adults is beyond anything they could have expected in their wildest dreams.

[CastletonSnob 3,045]

8 minutes ago, Concerned Bystander said:

MLP should be more popular than it is?

I would argue that MLP is already more popular than it ever had any right to be.  MLP has been around since the early 80s, and previous to FiM it only appealed to the target audience of young girls, and maybe a few nostalgic collectors.  With FiM they managed to catch lightning in a bottle and the fact that they managed to not only satisfy their main audience but also attracted a whole new audience of boys, teenagers and adults is beyond anything they could have expected in their wildest dreams.

Sure, the show is still pretty popular, but it could be even more popular if it aired on a channel run by competent people. We all saw how Hasbro ran The Hub/Discovery Family into the ground.

Could you imagine MLP airing on Cartoon Network, alongside Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Gumball, and Regular Show? An already stacked lineup would be even more so, and more people would get to watch MLP, which means more people would buy the toys, meaning more money for Hasbro and Cartoon Network. Everyone wins.

Edited April 26, 2020 by VG_Addict

[SharpWit 2,510]

I don't understand the premise given that this fandom consists of what, at least 12 million unique viewers who weren't supposed to be watching the show to begin with?

[Here No Longer 5,271]

MLP niche? I'm not sure if you know this, but this show has one of the largest fandoms in existence surrounding it... Even with the show over the fandom is still quite sizeable...

[Megas 27,168]

It was already insanely popular for being MLP

Only things hindering it was the fact that the movie came out some two years late and that the channel it aired on was a premium channel not everyone had. Heck, I'm surprised it still maintained a sizeable fandom despite the show being kinda bad on the last half of its run

[AppleButt 8,670]

I’m actually satisfied with the amount of popularity it got.  

Maybe it could have been more popular, but I really don’t see how.   
 

MLP was  a star’s align kind of event.  I think it gained all the popularity it was gonna get regardless of what channel it was on, thanks to the internet.

I remember not being able to go anywhere online without seeing something MLP related.  It got the exposure.    Heck there’s still a decent fandom surrounding it, and people anticipating on where they’ll go in the next gen.  
 

If this was pre-internet days then I think what channel it aired on would have been very important.
 

 

 

 

[Ganondorf8 11,141]

I'd say the show was popular during its run and will continue to be popular through reruns. In terms of it being considered a niche franchise, I personally don't think so. After all, the brand has over 35 years of exposure which means generations of fans know what it is. Sure, it doesn't hold up to the really big brands which are constantly being pushed on people every other year but it's managed to hold its own for so long now. I will agree that Discovery Family wasn't the best channel to air Friendship is Magic but then this is what Hasbro arranged so the fault of lack of viewership would fall onto them.

[Sazama Ichida 2,354]

That's a good point actually...Might even help the fandom rise from the ashes again.

[Misty Shadow 7,243]

MLP already had its phase of mania. Pokemania, Simpsonsmania, Yu-Gi-Oh!mania, a lot of people aren't even old enough to remember how big those franchises were at the peak of their popularity, yet they are still very much enjoyed by many people today.  Even when the shows end and/or people fall out of watching them, the impact they leave never goes away. 

[Sunamena 426]

MLP has many dedicated fans, and those are mostly very nice and cute people!

[cuteycindyhoney 13,285]

Speaking for myself, I NEVER watched a single actually on TV. I never missed an episode, and have all of them safely stored. I just never saw any on TV. 

[Splashee 28,538]

5 hours ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

Speaking for myself, I NEVER watched a single actually on TV. I never missed an episode, and have all of them safely stored. I just never saw any on TV. 

Exactly same here.

G4 was not that difficult to find episodes for online during the time it aired. It was very popular.

[Cirrus. 1,088]

I think it did pretty good. It actually made it to the super bowl if you remember!

[EpicEnergy 22,497]

I think it's fine just the way it was, it doesn't need to be popular to be enjoyable and entertaining.