Assessing Broadcast/Cable TV’s Streaming Strategies For Adult Animation: ViacomCBS/Comedy Central (2021)
For the next several weeks, we’re going to analyze broadcast networks and their strategies as it relates to streaming their original adult animation series for the widest possible audiences. With all of this talk about a “BOOM” in the industry, it’s high time we evaluate whether or not the networks are taking this industry seriously or is it all just a bunch of guff for shareholders. This week, we check out ViacomCBS’s Comedy Central which might have one of the better, albeit sometimes confusing, strategies.
STRENGTHS
ViacomCBS networks have a legendary lineage with adult animation…more so on the Viacom side of things rather than the CBS side of things (until recently with the recently rebranded CBS All Access which has been pretty good). During the nineties, MTV was THE destination network for adult animation with franchises like Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria, Liquid Television, and more. Nickelodeon’s Nick@Nite tried with Glen Martin., DDS, but today sticks to mainly fringe primetime animation. And of course, there’s the iconic series South Park which is still going strong today and crushing in the overnight ratings.
The future looks bright. ViacomCBS has played the part of studio for new adult animation to showcase elsewhere (Clone High), a wholesaler of rights for South Park (HBO MAX), and a producer of new original series (Ren & Stimpy, Jodie) for their Comedy Central brand. Moreover, ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ has a promising future for adult animation with the likes of Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Harper House, and other series in various stages of production. In terms of next day streaming strategy, new episodes of South Park stream the next day on HBO MAX which is an even better deal than what HBO MAX sibling Adult Swim gets with it’s original series. How that strategy will parlay with future IP remains to be seen.
WEAKNESSES
ViacomCBS has a graveyard of intellectual properties for adult animation that were struck down by “one and done” seasons. PlutoTV’s CC:Animation channel is a clear indicator of this, but franchises like Jeff & Some Aliens, Legends of Chamberlain Heights, Good Vibes and others are just a small sampling of series that were canceled simply due to ratings in an era when ratings mean not as much for advertisers. The hope is that future adult animation franchises will get better treatment and actually given both a solid timeslot and a chance to both survive and thrive.
A solid next day streaming strategy of broadcast premieres, of which as of now we don’t have as it pertains to how long it will take new episode premieres from the cable networks to show up on Paramount+. Moreover, we need to see more of a variety of where adult animation comes from and where it can potentially go to. Dramas, romance, horror, are all animated genres that can be cultivated for potential streaming and make the Paramount+ a must have streaming option.
OPPORTUNITIES
With new intellectual properties comes new possibilities. It seems both Paramount+ and Comedy Central are going to be getting the bulk of that budget with ViacomCBS even bringing in adult animation-specific VPs to help cultivate content. South Park could continue to bring in the syndication bucks for eons to come much in the same way The Simpsons does and has already seen syndication deals on different networks of all types including broadcast, streaming, and even AVOD partners.
Adult animation also doesn’t have to come from Comedy Central in terms of broadcast networks. Nickelodeon, MTV, and even CBS could all jump in and provide for a stream of adult animation content possibilities. Whether or not this comes to fruition is anybody’s guess.
THREATS
Of all the conglomerates, ViacomCBS has been the most active in lending out IP’s to other streaming services either as originals or after they premiere. In the case of South Park, it’s HBO MAX. Nickelodeon has had a whole bunch of classic IP show up on Netflix. So, is ViacomCBS’s plan to move through to the highest bidder or really taking on the onus of launching a streamer at a time when everybody else has a streamer. A streamer needs content. Adult animation is a combative content field where differentiation and growth are going to be key components. ViacomCBS is going to need a plan.
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