Adult Swim Expands To 6 PM In August For A 'Checkered Past' Of Cartoon Network Classics

Just when you thought it couldn't get any bigger

Back at Upfront in mid-May, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of cable networks Kathleen Finch announced that Adult Swim, which had just taken over the 7 PM hour from Cartoon Network barely two weeks before, would be taking over 6 PM starting in the fall, splitting channel space evenly. Now we have an idea of what that will entail.

On August 28, a new block will launch under the Adult Swim banner called "Checkered Past", which will run weekdays, Monday to Friday in the hourlong slot. It will be programmed with classic Cartoon Network series. The first crop named were Dexter’s Laboratory, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Ed, Edd, n’ Eddy. On Saturdays, the hour will be used for more airtime of current family-aimed originals Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures With Superman, which migrated to Adult Swim before their premieres. The Acme Night block that the two shows were intended will continue in its settled role of showing family-friendly films from 6 pm to their completion. The schedule is projected to otherwise be unaffected.

What prompted such further encroachment so quickly? In the new arrangement, 18 to 49 viewership increased by 24%, with a 38% upswing in the 18-to-34 demo, compared to its time under Cartoon Network jurisdiction. Increases in the 18-to-49 peaked at 66% on Mondays and 87% on Tuesdays, and the overall gains at 7 p.m. have carried over into the 8 p.m. hour. The network is now in sixth place among ad-supported networks in prime-time, up from its 12th position shortly before the move. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is Adult Swim’s best launch in more than a year and the top-rated new animated show in the demo, according to the network.

If such a move feels like Boomerang all over again, that current schedule is very Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry-heavy, with the portion bearing highest resemblance being the 2-5 AM block of The Powerpuff Girls, Codename: Kids Next Door, and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, as well as Boomerang and Discovery Kids, says the new nostalgia block plays to the inherent strengths of animation as a whole, as it “can both speak to multiple age groups in the moment and also find new audiences across decades,” citing the early Cartoon Network originals as examples that accomplish such.

Source: Deadline