Can this show find a big enough audience on Nicktoons to be a significant success?

TheVileOne

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Ok so here's the reality of the current situation. This show is all over the Latin America and Spanish territories in north and south America. Jetix has already blown through half the series. Canada's ytv will have already shown most of the series in original English all before the US premiere in January of 2009.

So now spoilers and images for over half the show are out there on the net now. It can't really be stopped. Greg Johnson politely asked fans to try and not spoil themselves. Its better to wait and enjoy it on tv.

But for savvy net fans that is unrealistic. They can't help themselves and they want to find out more. But the thing is this is such a good show so far all the feedback is incredibly positive. I think marvel could use this as a sort of impromptu focus group or test gauge.

But since the US premiere is so much later will this kill the show on Nicktoons? Now I know not everyone has it. I have Nicktoons on TW digital cable in CA. But what about everyone else?

People on toonzone called Nicktoons a channel only for the privileged. Is the access really that low? Will it change before Jan?

Johnson said currently all there is for the show right now is the single season of 26 episodes. So right now work isn't being done on a second season. With. All this potential in the show it would suck not to see more. This is a higher caliber series than just about any other Marvel animation before. Its big, epic, and ambitious. So if the show doesn't find an audience here, that could be it.

So hopefully more people will get nicktoons and nickelodeon will get the word out on where to find the series.

However as long as the show is being aired elsewhere its going to get put online automatically and it will be talked about. And we should talk about it with discretion of course. I think any fan that reads spoilers knows the risks, and for many it will only get them more excited if its something really good like watxm.

Of course we are only one small chunk of the viewing audience. The guys marketing this need to reach to young males, the marvel, xmen, and wolverine fans. They probably won't be watching or talking about the show right now like we are.

Online tv is going further and further now. I think one option would be doing free streaming ad supported episodes of the show online so at least marvel are the ones showing it and they could get money off of that.

But since everyone posting here seems to like the show so far I hopw the american fans will continue to support it on Nicktoons.
 
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Nicktoons in my city is somewhat of a privileged channel, its not just simply a cable channel but you need an additional digital plus package to receive it and I don't know if I'm up to paying more $$$ to see one show. I mean were talking a 35-50 dollar increase in my bill just for Nicktoons and some other few odd channels that suck.

Marvel needs to do something to get this at least on basic Nickelodeon, because I suspect the target audience probably will not have as much access to Nicktoons which will hurt ratings.
 
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All good points. It at least does have a dvd distributor lined up in lionsate. So no matter what everyone will be able to see all 26 episodes that way.
 
NickToons seems to feel there's an audience, or else I'm sure they'd have put it elsewhere. No way to tell until it airs, of course.
 
And concerning the DVDs. Was there some rumor that the first volume (which will contain six episodes) will come out in November? Was that legit or false?
 
NickToons seems to feel there's an audience, or else I'm sure they'd have put it elsewhere. No way to tell until it airs, of course.

I dont think having a audience is the issue Captain, i think its more of why should we pay more for just Wolverine and the xmen, if we have no interest in Nicktoons as a channel?


I personally will buy every DVD, the channel Im not so sure of at this point in time.
 
I think it'd get more views on regular Nick. I don't know why they're not doing that to begin with.
 
Sauron

November was when vol. 1 of the series was due in the UK from I believe Liberation entertainment.

However that was before the despicable and disgusting BBC betrayed all xmen fans and disgracefully spat in their faces.

As far as the us dvd release that probably wint happen until around sonetime after the initial nicktoons broadcast in 2009.
 
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I think the show will be a success for NickToons (compared to the viewership of their other shows). The show could have better success on a more accessible channel though. It'd be nice if Nickelodeon aired the episodes too.

Most people like myself will have to watch it online or wait for the DVD (which I think will make good money). It's a bad idea not having a simultaneous release worldwide, because by the time it comes on here in the USA, I would have already seen the entire season!
 
Nicktoons is the channel where really cheap bad shows go to die. Like the horrible Speed Racer show or that kung fu show about the delivery kids. I guess the show is to serious, and there isn't enough comedy to put it on a line up next to oddparents, and spongebob.
 
Sauron

November was wheb vol. 1 of the series was due in the UK from I believe Liberation entertainment.

However that was before the despicable and disgusting BBC betrayed all xmen fans and disgracefully spat in their faces.

As far as the us dvd release that probably wint happen until around sonetime after the initial nicktoons broadcast in 2009.

Thanks for the info :up:
I was confused how a dvd may be released before a television air. I really don't understand their strategy to postpone the show in the US, because of the Wolverine film. As if Wolverine is not one of the most popular characters on film. This show has nothing to do with that. I think it's not very bright idea from their side. I am from Europe, but it's obvious that America is making most of the money from these projects and it would really be a disappointement not to see this live up to it's greatness, as it should be. I was a little sceptical when I saw the first episode, but after the second one I have no doubt anymore. This is the definitive X-Men show. The story is complex with continuity and it progresses so well, not taking any rush decisions.
This year two things happened that I have waited since my child days: an X-Men show like this one and Spectacular Spider-Man. If any of these two projects gets cancelled I am going to boycot Marvel and all their film projects. Because animated shows are more familiar with the comics medium, and not to mention the level these two shows achieved, mainly in storytelling and continuity.
I really hope this decision of theirs to air the show so late in the US will not backfire at us fans, who will remain with only one season of this epic show.
 
Nickelodeon released most of season 3 of Avatar on individual DVD volumes before they aired on television.

In other words, they were not very smart.
 
So now spoilers and images for over half the show are out there on the net now. It can't really be stopped. Greg Johnson politely asked fans to try and not spoil themselves. Its better to wait and enjoy it on tv. But for savvy net fans that is unrealistic.

I am actually of the opinion the early spoilers are a good thing for the show. If the show is great and fans in South America love it that will create a significant positive buzz for the show over the next several months in the U.S. that will help the ratings when it finally airs in the U.S. as people with the channel will be interested enough to try out the show and if they like it hopefully keep watching it.

And, fans that don't have the channel will be interested enough to buy the DVD when it comes out. Between the ratings for the show in the U.S. and the DVD sales that may decide if the show is given a second season.

Positive spoilers will help make U.S. and UK fans excited about the show and create a positive online and word of mouth buzz about the show, which will help it when it does air or gets released on DVD.
 
Ok heres my idea they give us sum great spoilers from november to tha show airs NOW...they have all three pilot eps air together to make it ofiicial.....and YES they should have all tha spoilers n COMMERCIALS on nick AND nicktoons INCLUDING the N ...so that way those three big audiences can know about it BUT lets jus see wat they do im curious.
 
I (and most of the people I know who have IO digital cable from Cable Vision) have NICKTOONS, so I don't personally have a problem with this show airing on that channel. That being said, I think it was a very DUMB idea to air this show (a) exclusively on NICKTOONS and (b) 4-5 months after the show has already aired in other countries around the world. This show should have started airing this month on the more available NICKELODEON. Of course, this is Hollywood we are talking about here, and they usually don't make smart decisions.
 
I don't know if you can consider this "Hollywood." It's a cartoon and it's being put on Nicktoons. That doesn't scream Hollywood to me.

There's a reason I stopped watching X-Men Evolution. It was incredibly difficult for me to get the channel, and it aired at all random times in different areas and I think had it's slot moved around a few times too. I know I won't be watching WATXM on tv when it airs because I don't get that channel at any of my three places of residence.

This show is doomed. Like epic "Kitchen Confidential" doomed.
 
I think it should be on Cartoon Network. Especially since Toonami is now cancelled.

Why would they, after CN basically crippled their FANTASTIC FOUR: WGH cartoon? They aired episodes out of order, never promoted it, and never reran many episodes.

Quite frankly, if Marvel doesn't trust network TV shows, they should just allow fans to legally DL them at Marvel.com after they air overseas, having commercials every few minutes like NBC.com. They know fans are doing it anyway, embrace it and make some bucks off it, least before the DVD's.

NickToons is an odd choice, but Marvel has little options. Nearly every other cartoon network is in some way controlled by WB or someone who works for WB. Like they are under any incentive to get a Marvel show right. The only reason SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN is alright on The CW 4kids is because Sony is backing it.
 
they should just have it on Cartoon Network, not everyone has Nicktoons, I didn't even know that was a channel all by itself and plus if it's on the CN most likely they'd also show it on their saturday morning cartoon block as well, like how they did with Evo, it'd attract more viewers this way, especially if they promoted it like they did with the new Star Wars cartoon
 
Quite frankly, U.S. network planning for comic book cartoons are a joke. I always seem to hear that other nations, especially Canada, leap all over to snatch up a comic book show on a major animation network. Just this week, SS-M's second season was confirmed for a Canadian station before the U.S. is even sure if it will remain on the CW or will move elsewhere. U.S. Network Cartoons have been crippled for quite some time; the advent of easily accessed cable, DL's, and reliance on cheaply dubbed anime, in addition to the latest generation of kids outgrowing action figures sooner than 80's or even 90's kids, have all but shattered what used to be a strong and stable market even by the end of last century.

Being on NickToons at least means standards for ratings will be lower; cable channels usually score millions of fewer viewers on average than a large network station, so the standards are lower. The core audience of 9-13 year olds may not be as readily DL'ing it as the hardcore X-Fanbase, and most X-Fans will simply watch the show again when it hits NickToons at their own convenience (and to be able to watch it on a larger screen at highest quality).

I agree that waiting a year to show this show in the U.S. while releasing it all over the world was a dumb tactical move. But one that has happened before with X-Men cartoons. Kid's WB once sat on the final 12 episodes of X-MEN EVOLUTION for a full 8 months to better "synergize" with X-MEN 2. They didn't even air reruns. The result was that ratings likely slipped. Granted, neither WB or Marvel were happy with the compromises both sides had to make to get Evo on the airwaves, and to heck if it was popular, especially among girls. Petty internal squabbles have sunk many a show. FoxKids decided to cancel their #1 rated Saturday show, SPIDER-MAN, after 5 seasons pretty much because Ari Arad pissed off their exec with a lot of his posturing.

Frankly, it would have been better to air W&TXM in the U.S. this year to build support for the show.

The only other problem is that this series presumes a healthy knowledge of the X-Men universe among the audience, even beyond the movies. While it focuses on some characters, it focuses more on story and action. X-MEN EVOLUTION, by contrast, majored in characterization and it was usually the action that got put aside. Which is better? Depends on your personal tastes. Granted, the X-Men have had two shows within the past 15 years that lasted at least 4-5 seasons in addition to a trio of films, so some knowledge may be justified. I don't think a casual audience will be THAT thrown, espiecially in comparison to, say, tuning in to a random episode of NARUTO in the middle of an arc.
 
You need about as much knowledge to watch this show as you did for 1992.

1992 wasn't exactly an origin for the X-men series.

Most kids and young adults know who these characters are. They might not know oh in this and this story this and this happened to the characters.

The X-men have been a huge worldwide brand name and practically a household name for many years.
 
I didn't make a major deal about the assumed X-knowledge this show has, just noted that compared to, say, Evolution, this show has BUCKETS of X-Lore in barely 6 episodes. I did make a point to mention the X-Men's influence on the market since 1992 and comparing to a show like NARUTO, where a casual viewer can easily get lost even if they miss 1-2 episodes.

I should note that both shows spent an episode explaining who the X-Men are, what they can do, and more time introducing the characters. W&TXM assumes you know who the X-Men are, what they do, and most of the characters to the point that the status quo is shattered after a few minutes. Of course, this show has hindsight and the movies in that regard.

The show's biggest strength in terms of finding an audience is that Wolverine is the central character and on the title. Regardless of any feelings anyone has about him or spotlight or whatever, to the casual viewer, Wolverine is the X-Men. He may be the only one they really recognize. It is like how Justice League, no matter what, always had Batman on the core cast and featured episodes centered around him often (and how Batman is now getting his second show of the decade). After Spider-Man and before Iron Man, Wolverine is Marvel's most well known character at this stage. I may not always like how he is a hog, but from an executive standpoint, focusing on the franchise's #1 character will do wonders to attract an audience, at least on paper.
 
I didn't make a major deal about the assumed X-knowledge this show has, just noted that compared to, say, Evolution, this show has BUCKETS of X-Lore in barely 6 episodes. I did make a point to mention the X-Men's influence on the market since 1992 and comparing to a show like NARUTO, where a casual viewer can easily get lost even if they miss 1-2 episodes.

A Naruto book still probably gets the young readership that Marvel would desperately want for Spider-man but doesn't get anymore.

I think a large part of the appeal of Naruto is serialized storytelling. Something X-men also uses for this new show.
 
Nickeloden seems too kiddy IMO for this show. Im surprised its not on Cartoon Network
 

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