The PTC doesn’t like the scheduling changes for Cartoon Network/Adult Swim

Last year the PTC bitched and moaned about Family Guy and now this year they’ve started in early having commented on the recent schedule changes for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Last week, we told you guys how Adult Swim will be starting a hour earlier from now on starting March 31st leaving Cartoon Network to focus more on digital. Welp, I guess the PTC got all up in arms about the fact that shows like King of the Hill and The Cleveland Show will be on starting at the 8 o’clock hour instead of programming ”more suitable for children”. The Council even put out a press release, and you guys know what we like to do with press releases right? That’s right…BREAK IT DOWN!

“Parents beware: not all cartoons are created equal. And what’s particularly dangerous about Cartoon Network and ‘Adult Swim’ is that the content changes from being kid-friendly to adult-oriented not with the click of a remote but with the tick of the clock,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

First thing’s first. Animated television has been airing in prime time since the 1960s with series’ like The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and more, and at the time that programming used to cater to an older audience by constantly posting up advertisements featuring Fred Flintstone lighting up stokes. ”Kid-friendly” programming at that time was aired on Saturday Mornings in what used to be a long-standing tradition on broadcast television that being Saturday Morning Cartoons. Not any more!

“Cartoon Network’s ‘Adult Swim’ has a long history of marketing explicit animation to children. The network’s announcement that it is moving this programming block to an even earlier hour when children are more likely to be in the audience is disturbing on a number of levels. The network claims that they’re targeting adult males by moving ‘Adult Swim’ to an earlier hour, but in the process children are being thrown under the bus.

Actually, the reason why Adult Swim moved up an hour is because they did research showing that a younger male audience in the 12-17 age range are getting more of their animated content ON THE INTERNET. Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu all know this and have spent millions of dollars to acquire animated content for both younger and older audiences and as a result Cartoon Network wanted to make sure it got in on the action.

“Our own research on animated programming documents the troubling amount of sexual content airing on cartoons, and ‘Adult Swim’ in particular included some of the highest levels of explicit content. Also in our study, we found that Cartoon Network failed to use the TV ratings system to warn parents about sexual content, suggestive dialogue and explicit language 100 percent of the time.

The research the PTC is actually referring to is actually a bit of a joke. Back in 2011, the PTC did all this research into the Nielsen ratings for Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nick at Nite and noted that a bunch of that content got awesome ratings with the 12-17 demographic whereas they feel these networks may be putting up content that is too ”severe” for that audience. Welp, Disney Channel usually airs its animated shows @ 9pm on Friday Nights, and Nick at Nite doesn’t even have any cartoons so they must be referring to all of that Degrassi-type bullshit which, I have to agree, is just all terrible. Not because of the subject matter, but if you’ve seen any of that shit it’s all poorly acted high school situations that usually play out to nothing. Cartoon Network and Adult Swim is expected to have a bunch of content for that age group, but it’s not the PTC’s job to tell parents what is suitable for children…that’s a parent’s job. If parents let their kids watch Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, then  it’s certainly a lot better than the force-fed bull shit we have to deal with on FOX News. Also, the audience for 13-17 is typically a high school audience in that they are growing adults. If TV is the WORST that happens to kids in that age group, then I’m all for it.

“Cartoon Network and ‘Adult Swim’ provide a powerful example of why the current cable model is broken and why it must be changed. Parents must be given the opportunity to unsubscribe from the Cartoon Network on their cable bills, instead of having to subsidize explicit content in order to receive the programming they do want coming into their homes. Bipartisan and bicameral legislation pending in the Congress – bills introduced by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) – would give parents this much-needed right.

I’m actually all for the ala carte option for Cable/DirecTV, but not for the reasons the PTC list. I would love nothing more than to unsubscribe from all of the silly networks showcasing the same Olympic games that everyone knows the results for having read them on the internet earlier in the day.

“The cable industry must be exposed for their contemptible bundling scheme that forces families to underwrite explicit content. And until the system is fixed, parents must be on high alert.” 

The only networks that parents should make sure their kids never watch are the news ones. FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, all of that shit is garbage and as a matter of fact, and if you need proof of that look no further than PTC-founder and all around scumbag Leo Bozell of whom went on FOX News back in 2011 and referred to Barack Obama as a “skinny ghetto crackhead“.

Dear, PTC…you have nothing.