KidsClick

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For the Hong Kong children's program, see Kids Click.

KidsClick
NetworkThis TV (2017–18)
TBD (2018–19)
Syndication (2017–19)
LaunchedJuly 1, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-07-01)
ClosedMarch 31, 2019; 7 years ago (2019-03-31)
Country of originUnited States
OwnerSinclair Broadcast Group
Key people
  • Daniel Barnathan
  • (Vice President, Family and Children's Programming and Sales)
  • Jonathan Dern
  • (Executive Producer)[1]
FormatWeekday/weekend morning cartoon block
Running time3 hours
Original languageEnglish

KidsClick was a daily children's programming block distributed by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which premiered on July 1, 2017. The block, which primarily consisted of long-form animated series as well as some short-form content, was carried in the U.S. on terrestrial television network TBD, and on Sinclair-owned/operated television stations in several markets.[2] At launch, the block was available in 75 million households.[1] The block marked the return of traditional weekday cartoons and Saturday morning cartoons to terrestrial television,[3] as well as the first children's programming block on U.S. free-to-air television not to comply with Children's Television Act regulations since the Saban Brands-produced Vortexx closed on September 27, 2014.

The This TV iteration of the block accompanied an existing, unbranded lineup of educational programming on weekend mornings, which had aired on the network since November 1, 2013, after the closure of Cookie Jar Toons (which coincided with original co-owner Weigel Broadcasting transferring its 50% interest in the network to Tribune Broadcasting, as well as the Cookie Jar Group's absorption into DHX Media [now WildBrain]); it also marked the first time that This TV had carried children's programming on Monday through Saturday mornings since Tribune (whom Sinclair later attempted and failed to acquire)[4][5] assumed partial ownership of the network. On July 1, 2018, This TV stopped carriage of KidsClick, which was transferred to Sinclair's TBD channel, which had been carrying the block on a transitional basis since May 7 of that year.[6]

On March 29, 2019, shortly after closing sister site Circa News, KidsClick's Facebook page announced the block's closure on March 31, 2019.[7][8]

History

On May 2, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would launch a multi-platform children's programming block on linear television and online platforms. The company partnered with MGM Domestic Television Distribution to develop and distribute KidsClick, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Toon Goggles, which it planned to air nationally on This TV and select network affiliates (particularly those affiliated with The CW, and the MyNetworkTV programming service, as well as some Fox-affiliated stations that do not carry local morning newscasts in the block's designated timeslots) and independent stations owned or operated by Sinclair on July 1, 2017. Its content encompasses short- and long-form material and is distributed online, through web browsers and mobile apps in video-on-demand and live streaming formats.[2][9][10][11] The network's distribution and website utilized Imagine Communications' cloud technology from Sinclair's Las Vegas studios for their market triopoly.[12]

Sinclair returned to the children's television market with KidsClick several years after The Program Exchange closed (a barter syndicator of programming which ended up as the last company providing non-educational children's content to television stations before its 2016 dissolution), an industry estimated to be worth $1 billion, which is currently largely split in advertising revenue between Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.[2][13] Speaking to the return of children's programming on American commercial broadcast television, Steven M. Marks, COO and EVP of Sinclair Television Group, said in an earnings report on May 3, 2017: "That's a $1 billion-plus spot business that we don't get a dime from. So again, it's an illustration of going back into the marketplace and fishing in ponds that we haven't fished in. So that's $1 billion that is pretty much split between [two] cable networks: Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network. Disney is a subscription network. 18 years ago, we were the kings of reaching kids every day. There's no reason in the world why we can't be successful in that space."[14]

On March 29, 2019, KidsClick announced on Facebook that the block would shutdown on March 31. Sinclair also closed sister property Circa News three days prior to the announcement.[8] Sinclair would later claim that the block was closed "for business reasons", but that its use of cloud technology was a successful testing ground to use the technology for its digital broadcast networks.[15]

KidsClick ceased operations on March 31, 2019, with an airing of Oggy and the Cockroaches as its final program; all advertising made no mention of its shutdown, and the promotional spot at the end of the show mentioned it would return the next Saturday morning. For the vast majority of stations carrying it, temporary or permanent paid programming, religious programming, other syndicated content, or alternate E/I-complaint shows overlaid the former timeslot until more permanent programming was scheduled in the fall; this would turn out to be the national news service from Sinclair, The National Desk, for many Sinclair stations. Paid programming and some Internet-originated content series replaced it on TBD. Several days later, the block's website was taken down, with the domain redirected to the main Sinclair corporate page.

In 2022, three years after KidsClick's shutdown, nineteen stations, along with Sinclair itself and Nexstar Media Group, were proposed to be fined $3.4 million for a violation of children's ad guidelines, involving advertising for Mattel's Hot Wheels airing during episodes of Team Hot Wheels without being screened out, which under said guidelines, made the entire half-hour a program-length commercial.[16]

Scheduling

The block was preferred to air every Monday-Friday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m., and Saturday and Sundays from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. local time,[2] though scheduling variances existed in certain markets due to network programming obligations (such as One Magnificent Morning airing from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., which delayed or preempted the KidsClick Saturday Morning lineup on CW-affiliated stations that carried both blocks), existing contracts for other syndicated programming or with paid or religious programming providers, or a preference to air news and sports programming in those slots.[17] It aired in a downscaled letterbox format via This TV, as that network had yet to upgrade to an HD master feed; it otherwise aired in HD or at least in widescreen on most of its affiliates and via the TBD network later on.

Because the programs featured on KidsClick did not meet educational content guidelines defined in the Children's Television Act by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), This TV continued to air a block of live-action travel and wildlife series from Steve Rotfeld Productions immediately after the weekend broadcasts of the KidsClick lineup to fulfill the mandate (accordingly, the network's E/I block switched from a singular, three-hour block aired only on Sunday mornings to two separate 90-minute-long blocks that will air on Saturdays and Sundays).[18][19] Sinclair-operated independent stations that aired KidsClick also continue to provide E/I-compliant programs acquired from the syndication market through individual distributors, from Fox's Xploration Station block managed by Rotfeld, or via the Litton Entertainment-distributed Go Time block to meet the quotas.

Programming

Former programming

Original programming

Some of the following programming made their debut or some previous programming that premiered on other networks aired new episodes on KidsClick.

Title Premiere date End date Original network Moved to Source(s)
Scary Larry July 1, 2017 December 10, 2017 Originally aired
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir July 3, 2017 March 29, 2019 Nickelodeon Disney Channel
Rocket Monkeys
Super 4 August 24, 2018 Netflix Primo TV
Netflix
Team Hot Wheels September 16, 2017 January 20, 2019 Cartoon Network
Netflix 		[20]
Zak Storm September 30, 2017 January 7, 2018 Originally aired Discovery Family [20]
Mecard June 16, 2018 January 20, 2019 [21][22]
The Legendaries July 8, 2018 Primo TV [21]
Lego Friends: Girls on a Mission December 10, 2018 January 22, 2019 Kabillion [23]

Acquired programming

Title Premiere date End date Original network Moved to Source(s)
RoboCop: Alpha Commando July 1, 2017 September 10, 2017 Syndication
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures March 31, 2019 Disney XD Discovery Family
Primo TV 		[24]
Pink Panther and Pals March 31, 2019 Cartoon Network [25]
Max Steel July 3, 2017 June 15, 2018 Disney XD
Netflix
Angry Birds March 31, 2019 Toons.TV
Netflix 		Netflix
Winx Club October 9, 2017 March 2, 2018 4Kids TV (Fox)
The CW4Kids (The CW) 		Nickelodeon [20]
Dinosaur King February 5, 2018 August 24, 2018 Primo TV [26]
Oggy and the Cockroaches June 18, 2018 March 31, 2019 Fox Kids (Fox)
Nickelodeon 		[27]
Transformers: Energon August 27, 2018 November 3, 2018 Cartoon Network [28]
The Jungle Book March 29, 2019 Disney XD [29]
Barbie Dreamtopia September 24, 2018 Starz [30]
Monster High: Adventures of the Ghoul Squad Monster High YouTube channel
Transformers: Cybertron September 30, 2018 March 31, 2019 Cartoon Network
Kids' WB! (The CW)

Special programming

Title Initial broadcast date Source(s)
A Monsterous Holiday October 27, 2018 [31][32]
Under Wraps October 28, 2018 [31]
Dear Dracula October 29, 2018
A Monster Christmas November 22, 2018 [28]
Frozen in Time
The Naughty List November 23, 2018

Scrapped programming

Title Planned premiere date Original network Source(s)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero July 1, 2017 Syndication [33]
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Fox Kids (Fox)
ABC Kids (ABC) 		[33]
Oddbods August 27, 2018 Disney XD
Sonic X July 1, 2017 4Kids TV (Fox)
The CW4Kids (The CW) 		[33]
Transformers: Prime Discovery Family
Transformers: Robots in Disguise Cartoon Network [33]

Affiliate list

See also: List of TBD affiliates

The following is a list of stations that carried KidsClick in syndication as of its March 31, 2019, closure, which included the possibility that a TBD affiliate on a station owned by Sinclair or another owner would air the programming block in the same market near or at the same time:

City of license/Market Station Channel Affiliation Owner
Albany–Schenectady–Troy, New York WCWN 45.1 The CW Sinclair Broadcast Group
Baltimore-Annapolis, Maryland WUTB 24.1 MyNetworkTV Deerfield Media
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Birmingham–Tuscaloosa–Anniston, Alabama WABM[34] 68.1 Sinclair Broadcast Group
Bristol-Johnson City-Kingsport, Tennessee/
Bristol, Virginia		 WEMT 39.1 Fox Cunningham Broadcasting
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Buffalo, New York WNYO[35] 49.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Cape Girardeau, Missouri/Paducah, Kentucky WDKA
Cedar Rapids-Dubuque, Iowa KFXA 28.1 Fox Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd.
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Charleston, South Carolina WCIV[36] 36.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Champaign-Danville-Springfield-Urbana, Illinois WBUI 23.1 The CW GOCOM Media, LLC
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Chattanooga, Tennessee WFLI[37] 53.1 MPS Media, LLC
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Chico-Redding, California KZVU-LD
KRVU-LD		 21.1
22.1		 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Cincinnati, Ohio WKRC-DT2 12.2 The CW
Columbus, Ohio WWHO 53.1 Manham Media
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Corpus Christi, Texas KTOV-LP (analog)
KSCC-DT3 (digital)		 21 (analog)
38.3 (digital)		 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Des Moines, Iowa KDSM[38] 17.1 Fox
El Paso, Texas/Las Cruces, New Mexico KDBC-DT2 4.2 MyNetworkTV
Eureka, California KECA-LD2 29.2
Flint-Saginaw, Michigan WSMH 66.1 Fox
Florence–Myrtle Beach, South Carolina WWMB[39] 21.1 The CW Howard Stirk Holdings
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Fresno–Visalia, California KFRE[40] 59.1 Sinclair Broadcast Group
Gainesville-Ocala, Florida WGFL-DT2 28.2 MyNetworkTV New Age Media, LLC
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Grand Rapids, Michigan WWMT-DT2 3.2 The CW Sinclair Broadcast Group
Green Bay–Fox Cities, Wisconsin WCWF[41] 14.1
Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem, North Carolina WMYV 48.1 MyNetworkTV
Greenville-Jacksonville-New Bern, North Carolina WYDO 14.1 Fox Cunningham Broadcasting
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina/
Asheville, North Carolina		 WMYA 40.1 MyNetworkTV
Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Pennsylvania WHP-DT3 21.3 The CW Sinclair Broadcast Group
Las Vegas, Nevada KVCW-DT2 33.2 MyNetworkTV
Lexington-Frankfort, Kentucky WDKY 56.1 Fox
Lincoln-Superior-Grand Island, Nebraska KFXL 51.1
Madison, Wisconsin WMSN 47.1
Milwaukee, Wisconsin WVTV 18.1 The CW
Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota WUCW[17] 23.1
Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida WFGX[42] 35.1 MyNetworkTV
Nashville, Tennessee WNAB 58.1 The CW Tennessee Broadcasting
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News-Virginia Beach, Virginia WTVZ 33.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma KOCB 34.1 The CW
Omaha, Nebraska KXVO 15.1 Mitts Telecasting Company
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania WPNT 22.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Portland-Auburn-Augusta, Maine WPFO[43] 23.1 Fox Cunningham Broadcasting
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville, North Carolina WRDC 28.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
Richmond-Petersburg, Virginia WRLH-DT2 35.2
Rochester, New York WHAM-DT2[44] 13.2 The CW Deerfield Media
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Salt Lake City, Utah KMYU 12.1 MyNetworkTV Sinclair Broadcast Group
San Antonio, Texas KMYS[45] 35.1 The CW Deerfield Media
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Savannah, Georgia WTGS 28.1 Fox Sinclair Broadcast Group
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania WQMY 53.1 MyNetworkTV New Age Media, LLC
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Sioux City, Iowa KPTH[46] 44.1 Fox Sinclair Broadcast Group
South Bend, Indiana WSBT-DT2 22.2
Syracuse, New York WSTQ-LP (analog)
WSTM-DT2 (digital)		 14 (analog)
3.2 (digital)		 The CW
Tallahassee, Florida WTWC-DT2 40.2 Fox
Wheeling, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio WTOV-DT2 9.2
Wichita, Kansas KMTW[47] 36.1 MyNetworkTV Mercury Broadcasting Company, Inc.
(operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group)

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