Tuesday, February 12, 2013

What to do with Nickelodeon?

Nickelodeon has been struggling with the ratings since late 2010/early 2011. Let's face it, the network needs more diversity in its weekday lineup instead of 10 showings of SpongeBob a day. Not only that, but it needs to stop making last-minute schedule updates. Just last week, it pulled love-themed episodes of T.U.F.F. Puppy and The Penguins of Madagascar for (guess what?) more SpongeBob. Also, its nighttime block, nick@nite needs some retooling. I think Nick should consider making more programming block to organize its schedule. Here's my plans/ideas for the network.

*Girl-centric block: Yeah. I think an idea like that would work. A girl-centric block would air at an earlier time (say about 11:00 or 12:00) on Sunday mornings. The programming in this block would consist of Winx Club (already airs on Sundays, but not doing so well lately airing at 1:00) and a Barbie or Monster High movie. The block will last for about 2 hours, depending on how long the movie is.

*Friday night cartoon block: Now with TMNT doing decent on Fridays, it's time to expand the lineup. Not sure about scheduling the lineup yet, but I know there will be new episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, T.U.F.F. Puppy, Robot and Monster and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, along with new series such as Sanjay and Craig, Raving Rabbits and Monsters vs. Aliens. This could be a revival to the defunct cartoon block Friday Night Nicktoons.

*Movie night block: A movie block could air on Monday nights at 8. Films such as The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, CatDog: The Great Parent Mystery, The Rugrats Movie, Fred: The Movie (ugh!) and the like are welcomed. Oh, and just next week, Nick is airing Over the Hedge for the first time. Maybe Nick should acquire some movies from Dreamworks.

*Live-afternoon weekday block: Already announced, though it's not offical yet. I would love to see that. It'll be a great way to package other shows besides the ol' mighty sponge. A revival to U-Pick Live would be awesome. Just like the old days of Nick. IMO, I think it would air better around 4 or 5 every weekday afternoon, when kids come home.

*Sunday marathon block: I think it'll be a good idea for fans if they want to catch up on their favorite shows. Nick should get this idea.

We'll those are my hopes for Nick this year. From what I've seen recently, it's doing a great job with the advertising and the promoting.