Adult animation continues to be one of the biggest drivers of viewership for both cable and streaming networks according to dual reports from various sources. Let’s start with cable television. Yes, not as powerful as it once was, but according to a new report from Variety, adult animation continues to be a main driver to the networks that still focus on that one thing they are good at. Examples wouldn’t include say a FOX network because while that’s a fantastic resource for adult animation, the network also features sports, dramas, and other types of genres at it’s disposal. Better examples would be more like FXX, Adult Swim, and Comedy Central.
The latter network is important, in terms of adult animation premieres, Comedy Central featured a new season of South Park which is by far the net’s biggest animated show, but we also got to see new attempts like Tooning Out The News and Fairview, not exactly what I’m thinking when I’m thinking of Chris McCarthy’s vow a few years ago to turn the network into an adult animation destination. That said, it didn’t hurt much for the Paramount-owned network, as the network hit just under the top 50. Likewise, according to Czech Republic-based website (yes, that’s important) Flixpatrol, South Park is the biggest adult animation franchise on Paramount+ in both movies AND television rankings, so clearly the franchise still makes tons of money.
The real talk of the adult animation town is 20th Television Animation and it’s stranglehold on the top programming in cable all over the dials. For example, American Dad not only is the #3 comedy on all of cable television and one of the only ratings bright spots on TBS, but Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Bob’s Burgers continue to pull in big numbers not just for the FOX network, but for Hulu, Disney+, Disney Star, and in the case of cable television, FXX, which saw the network increase it’s viewership by nearly 25% year over year, buoyed mostly by reruns of Family Guy and The Simpsons. In fact, according to Variety, FXX even beat out the so-called “leader in adult animation” Adult Swim in overall viewership. FXX also premiered two new series this year, social media darling Dicktown and Little Demon which got all sorts of free press thanks to the PTC and the religious right’s objections about an adult animated comedy, so while it’s prudent to just put all of the clamor at the feet of Family Guy (which is justified), the REAL winner here is the launch of Little Demon which might be one of the bigger new series launched on FXX in years.
The aforementioned American Dad is also featured on Adult Swim, the home network for Rick and Morty which does well on not only HBO MAX, but e-tailers like iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon. You may recall our report from earlier this year where we noted the overnight ratings decrease for Rick and Morty whence compared to prior seasons on Adult Swim was evident. The network responded with a retaliatory press release, but we also noted that the network seems primed to have a nice bounce back year providing they actually do marketing of their new series that isn’t the dumbest shit we’ve ever seen.