Sunday morning cartoon
Encyclopedia
Sunday morning cartoons have been a part of US television programming since the 1950s, but aired far less than Saturday morning cartoon
s. At one point, ABC
and CBS
each aired network cartoons on Sunday mornings.
. On ABC and CBS, the cartoons and children's shows aired on these Sunday morning lineups were reruns of Saturday morning cartoons from the previous couple or so of seasons, shows that were canceled the previous season. Beginning in the early 1970s, ABC began a first-run children's 30-minute show, Make a Wish
, to add to the 90-minute cartoon Sunday lineup. From 1976
to 1981
, another first-run 30-minute show, Animals, Animals, Animals
replaced Make a Wish, running in addition to the hour of reruns of cartoons on ABC. In 1978
, after being assured of clearances from many markets that had been preempting the Sunday morning cartoons, ABC dropped the cartoon reruns in favor of a 90-minute children's live audience show called Kids Are People Too!
.
in Philadelphia (now an NBC
O&O) did not run the Sunday morning cartoons from 1978
to 1979
. By comparison, about 60% of ABC affiliates cleared that network's Sunday morning lineup.
The reason for preemptions were the fact that many network affiliates, especially in the Midwest and the South, typically sold most of their Sunday morning timeslots to religious broadcasters, ranging from local churches to internationally known televangelists. Not only did this fulfill what broadcasters considered a public service, but airing religious programming was likely also greatly more productive of revenue. Another factor that probably influenced stations' decisions was the fact that, during those days, a large percentage of the potential audience of children attended Sunday School
and church worship services with their families during the time periods concerned, taking them away from television sets.
In some cases, other affiliates in smaller markets owned the rights to syndicated cartoons that they ran during part of the Sunday mornings. The network lineups were widely preempted as a result. For example, during several years in the early 1970s, one CBS affiliate, KXJB in Valley City, North Dakota
, taped (or delayed) the one-hour Sunday morning lineup from the network feed and aired it the following Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m., after CBS' Saturday morning cartoon lineup ended. The shows aired in this hour included My Favorite Martian
and Bailey's Comets
.
affiliates, ran syndicated cartoons on Sunday mornings. Some stations ran them later on Sunday mornings, such as a bloc from 9 or 10 a.m. until noon, while running religious shows earlier in the morning. Yet other independents (even those with extensive weekday cartoon lineups) chose to run religious shows all Sunday morning. Other stations ran cartoons early Sunday mornings while running movies later in the morning.
During the 1980s, there was often no set pattern on what cartoons may run on Sunday morning independent stations. Many of the cartoons run during that time were one-shot specials or failed pilots
.
or WB
affiliates, they continued running some Sunday cartoons, including some classified as educational, to meet the three-hour-a-week educational requirement. As UPN and WB were replaced by The CW
and MyNetworkTV
, a moderate amount of cartoons still air on some stations Sunday mornings. Some CW affiliates, for example run The CW4Kids
on Sunday mornings. In addition, some ABC and CBS affiliates run part of their Saturday kids' lineups on Sunday morning.
On November 1, 2008, This TV
launched airing a daily children's programming block called Cookie Jar Toons
. Cookie Jar Toons is programmed by Cookie Jar Entertainment.
Overall, however, Sunday morning cartoons have never been nearly as common as those airing on Saturday mornings or as common as weekday cartoons (which are nearly extinct on broadcast TV) had been in past decades.
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
s. At one point, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
each aired network cartoons on Sunday mornings.
Sunday mornings on ABC and CBS
CBS aired an hour of this type of programming until the early 1980s, while ABC aired between 90 minutes and two hours of such programming from the late 1960s until 19811981 in television
The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.- Events :...
. On ABC and CBS, the cartoons and children's shows aired on these Sunday morning lineups were reruns of Saturday morning cartoons from the previous couple or so of seasons, shows that were canceled the previous season. Beginning in the early 1970s, ABC began a first-run children's 30-minute show, Make a Wish
Make a Wish (TV series)
Make A Wish is an American television series which ran on ABC from 1971 to 1976. Produced by ABC News, it was hosted by musician Tom Chapin and created and produced by Lester Cooper...
, to add to the 90-minute cartoon Sunday lineup. From 1976
1976 in television
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
to 1981
1981 in television
The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.- Events :...
, another first-run 30-minute show, Animals, Animals, Animals
Animals, Animals, Animals
Animals, Animals, Animals is an educational television series on ABC about different species of animals. The program, produced by ABC News, was hosted by Hal Linden. Information about animals was provided by Roger Caras and, songs about animals were performed by Lynn Kellogg, who also performed...
replaced Make a Wish, running in addition to the hour of reruns of cartoons on ABC. In 1978
1978 in television
The year 1978 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1978.For the American TV schedule, see: 1978-79 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, after being assured of clearances from many markets that had been preempting the Sunday morning cartoons, ABC dropped the cartoon reruns in favor of a 90-minute children's live audience show called Kids Are People Too!
Kids Are People Too!
Kids Are People Too was a television series that ran on Sunday mornings from 1978 to 1982 on ABC. The series was a variety/news-magazine show oriented towards kids with the intention of recognizing them as people. During its four year run, the series was nominated for five Emmy Awards and won the...
.
Problems
The big problem with the Sunday morning cartoon lineups for both CBS and ABC were that, while the owned-and-operated stations cleared the programs (by management mandate), many affiliates did not. Only about 25% of the CBS affiliates cleared Sunday morning cartoon lineups. Even CBS O&O station WCAUWCAU
WCAU, channel 10, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WCAU has its studios on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter in the...
in Philadelphia (now an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
O&O) did not run the Sunday morning cartoons from 1978
1978 in television
The year 1978 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1978.For the American TV schedule, see: 1978-79 American network television schedule.-Events:...
to 1979
1979 in television
The year 1979 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1979.For the American TV schedule, see: 1979-80 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. By comparison, about 60% of ABC affiliates cleared that network's Sunday morning lineup.
The reason for preemptions were the fact that many network affiliates, especially in the Midwest and the South, typically sold most of their Sunday morning timeslots to religious broadcasters, ranging from local churches to internationally known televangelists. Not only did this fulfill what broadcasters considered a public service, but airing religious programming was likely also greatly more productive of revenue. Another factor that probably influenced stations' decisions was the fact that, during those days, a large percentage of the potential audience of children attended Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
and church worship services with their families during the time periods concerned, taking them away from television sets.
In some cases, other affiliates in smaller markets owned the rights to syndicated cartoons that they ran during part of the Sunday mornings. The network lineups were widely preempted as a result. For example, during several years in the early 1970s, one CBS affiliate, KXJB in Valley City, North Dakota
Valley City, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,826 people, 2,996 households, and 1,668 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,062.5 per square mile . There were 3,250 housing units at an average density of 982.0 per square mile...
, taped (or delayed) the one-hour Sunday morning lineup from the network feed and aired it the following Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m., after CBS' Saturday morning cartoon lineup ended. The shows aired in this hour included My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963 to May 1, 1966 for 107 episodes...
and Bailey's Comets
Bailey's Comets
Bailey's Comets was an animated cartoon series that was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The show was created by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng in association with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears-Plot:...
.
In syndication
In addition to network affiliates, some independent television stations, as well as some FOXFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliates, ran syndicated cartoons on Sunday mornings. Some stations ran them later on Sunday mornings, such as a bloc from 9 or 10 a.m. until noon, while running religious shows earlier in the morning. Yet other independents (even those with extensive weekday cartoon lineups) chose to run religious shows all Sunday morning. Other stations ran cartoons early Sunday mornings while running movies later in the morning.
During the 1980s, there was often no set pattern on what cartoons may run on Sunday morning independent stations. Many of the cartoons run during that time were one-shot specials or failed pilots
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
.
1995 onward
As independent stations became UPNUPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
or WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
affiliates, they continued running some Sunday cartoons, including some classified as educational, to meet the three-hour-a-week educational requirement. As UPN and WB were replaced by The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
and MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, a moderate amount of cartoons still air on some stations Sunday mornings. Some CW affiliates, for example run The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids
The CW4Kids is a Saturday morning cartoon block on The CW Television Network that premiered on May 24, 2008 in the place of Kids' WB...
on Sunday mornings. In addition, some ABC and CBS affiliates run part of their Saturday kids' lineups on Sunday morning.
On November 1, 2008, This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
launched airing a daily children's programming block called Cookie Jar Toons
Cookie Jar Toons
Cookie Jar Toons is a daily children's programming block on the This TV digital broadcast network. The block is programmed by Toronto based Cookie Jar Entertainment...
. Cookie Jar Toons is programmed by Cookie Jar Entertainment.
Overall, however, Sunday morning cartoons have never been nearly as common as those airing on Saturday mornings or as common as weekday cartoons (which are nearly extinct on broadcast TV) had been in past decades.