Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel ratings drop in 2023
Variety has published its report on the state of TV viewership in 2023. Like last year, there’s no surprise about the overall outcome: cable viewership's cratering. (The writers and actors strikes also didn’t help.) That’s especially the case for animation-related cable channels, with some channels down more drastically than others.
Below’s a look at the current viewership numbers for animation-related cable channels.
Animation cable network ratings for 2023
Note the numbers below are taken from primetime viewers, but I doubt the daytime numbers would be much of an improvement.
The figures below are based on all viewers (versus specific demographics). The numbers in parentheses: viewership ranking; average primetime viewer numbers; and viewership percentage change from 2022. For the sake of thoroughness, I also threw in the major sister channels, even if they’re largely live-action (such as TeenNick, which has aired cartoons occasionally).
Nick At Nite (#47; 245,000; -13%)
Adult Swim (#52; 217,000; -11%)
FXX (#55; 204,000; -17%)
Nickelodeon (#60; 190,000; -34%)
Cartoon Network (#76; 146,000; -19%)
Disney Jr (#79; 133,000; -27%)
Disney Channel (#80; 132,000; -26%)
Nick Jr. (#87; 112,000; -34%)
Nicktoons (#109; 58,000; -11%)
TeenNick (#115; 51,000; +19%)
Boomerang (#122; 41,000; -21%)
Disney XD (#131; 32,000; -40%)
Discovery Family (#134; 28,000; -26%)
Universal Kids (#137; 21,000; -9%)
Cable’s aging demographics extend to cartoons
The numbers above are a strong sign that kids have stopped heavily watching linear TV, in favor of YouTube, streaming services, etc. The average viewer age has crept up for some of these channels, famously so for Cartoon Network (a recent survey showed 43% of CN viewers are over 30, and 75% are over 18)---and a reason why Adult Swim’s start time was moved up to the late afternoon/early evening.
Excluding Nick at Nite, the top three animation-related TV networks for 2023 are: Adult Swim; FXX; and Nickelodeon. Two of these three channels primarily target adults, keeping with cable’s aging viewership.
Cartoon Network/Adult Swim (and related channels)
Cartoon Network saw a smaller drop versus Nick or Disney Channel, though as noted above, it doesn’t seem to have much grabbing kids’ attention. While “Teen Titans Go” isn’t spammed on the schedule as much as it once was, it’s still the flagship show.
Preschool block Cartoonito still airs for a few hours in the mornings, with “Batwheels,” “Cocomelon,” “Bugs Bunny Builders” and “Craig of the Creek” spin-off “Jessica’s Big Little World” headlining the schedule.
Adult Swim, of course, is the real ratings winner, even if the Fox portions of its lineup (“Bob’s Burgers,” “Futurama,” etc.) can also be found on FXX.
Boomerang not only still exists, but is now beating Disney XD in the ratings. (Baby Boomer-era reruns beating Gen Z-era reruns?) But more on Disney below...
Disney Channel (and related channels)
Disney Channel and its sister networks have all seen drops. However, the biggest drop of all is Disney XD, which is down a whopping 40%. Not helping is Disney XD’s repetitive lineup, which consists heavily of “Big City Greens,” plus several other shows: “Kiff,” “Hamster & Gretel,” “Hailey’s on It!,” “Gravity Falls,” and “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.” (Also “Phineas and Ferb” in overnight hours.) Almost all of these shows also air on Disney Channel proper, and of course are available on Disney+.
Unlike back in the 2010s, there doesn’t seem to be any Disney Channel-originated show taking the world by storm. The only shows drawing attention are from Disney+, such as “Bluey.”
Between the above and the Spectrum cable deal likely also hurting viewership, I can’t see much of a long-term future for these secondary Disney channels. Granted, the same’s true for Boomerang, Nicktoons, etc.
Nickelodeon (and related channels)
Nick maintains its relative popularity, thanks to the strength of “SpongeBob” and “Paw Patrol.” Both shows and their spin-offs still dominate Nick’s schedule; the timeslots from 7 AM to 2 PM (PT) are filled with nothing but “Paw Patrol” and its spin-off “Rubble & Crew.” “The Loud House” also still puts in appearances, along with “The Smurfs.”
Nick at Nite is a pale shadow of its former self, consisting almost entirely of “Friends” reruns, plus a few episodes of “Mom” and “Mike & Molly.” Over-the-air broadcaster MeTV conveys the old “Nick at Nite” spirit a lot better these days, and has the ratings to prove it. MeTV comes in at #21, with an average of 631,000 primetime viewers.
The various spin-off channels, like Disney’s, also probably aren’t long for this world. That said, Teen Nick is the only one of the aforementioned channels to see a viewership increase over 2022. Which is very odd; checking its “schedule,” it’s literally just “Henry Danger” reruns 24 hours a day.
Conclusion
At this point, things look grim for cable’s future. Even if the general public gets fed up with streaming services (which have their own problems), a mass return to traditional cable probably isn’t happening.
Along with cable’s declining viewership and aging demographics, I notice the most popular shows on each major channel are either holdovers from previous decades (“Teen Titans Go,” “SpongeBob,” etc.) or basically come from a sister streaming service. (“Bluey” is a hit thanks to Disney+, not the now-shuttered-in-parts-of-the-world Disney Channel.) Despite that we’ve now reached the middle of the 2020s, there doesn’t seem to be any cartoon hits this decade that originated from cable. (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.)
My guess is Cartoon Network, Nick, and Disney Channel stick around. However, things look less rosy for their sister channels (Boomerang, Disney XD, etc.). I could see things reverting to the way they were in the 90s, when these channels were either alone or only had one sister channel.
Left to right: "Teen Titans Go" (Cartoon Network); "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Nickelodeon); "Bluey" (Disney)