News Pokémon shifting broadcasts from Thursday to Sunday

[RileyXY1]

But still, a franchise being massively successful does not mean that it is immune to failure.

 

[Sudhakki]

Pokemon is also one of the most popular and influential franchise around.
And if shrinking birth rates are an issue for Pokemon, they’re also an issue for the other shows too.

The situation is not so dire.

Yes the Pokémon franchise as a whole is massive, but the truth is that the anime ratings have been steadily declining over the years. This is in spite of its Thursday slot, which didn't even have too much competition. Now, by moving it to a jam packed Sunday timeslot of 6-7 pm, which is the exact time that two of the most popular anime air, it's not looking too good for the Pokémon anime's viewership.

 

[Rath]

Wasn’t Star Wars the largest franchise?

Used to be, Pokemon is ahead of it now.

Yes the Pokémon franchise as a whole is massive, but the truth is that the anime ratings have been steadily declining over the years. This is in spite of its Thursday slot, which didn't even have too much competition. Now, by moving it to a jam packed Sunday timeslot of 6-7 pm, which is the exact time that two of the most popular anime air, it's not looking too good for the Pokémon anime's viewership.

Live viewership for everything is down due to the internet. Ratings mean jack shit these days. Especially for a product placement anime like Pokemon.

 

[Ashpower]

look super hero time both kamen rider and super sentai survive wiht toy selling too so changing the time not affects as you still have their comercials and even events

 

[Daenerys]

'Boruto' is Killing The Anime Ratings Game

Pokemon is TVTokyo's second most profitable anime. So yeah, cancellation would be sheer stupidity.

I guess second best is as good as it gets.

But still, a franchise being massively successful does not mean that it is immune to failure.

I guess so, but I'm not really worried about the show getting cancelled until we get actual signs of that happening (this schedule change doesn't count imo).

 

[RileyXY1]

I guess so, but I'm not really worried about the show getting cancelled until we get actual signs of that happening (this schedule change doesn't count imo).

It's going to be in a death slot. It will be forced to compete against two of the biggest anime.

 

[Daenerys]

It's going to be in a death slot. It will be forced to compete against two of the biggest anime.

It's always been competing with other popular shows, though. Hell, it was competing with Naruto for years and has been competing with Boruto since SuMo began.

 

[HiroHunter]

Well great now i'm going to have to wait until Monday to get the subs...

 

[Hidden Mew]

It's going to be in a death slot. It will be forced to compete against two of the biggest anime.

It doesn't sound like it's going to be put in a death slot though. If they're moving the show in an attempt to have families watch it on Sundays, then it sounds like they're still expecting people to still watch it, if not attract more people to watch it on Sundays since I don't think kids have school that day in Japan.

As far as competing with other series goes, I think that's a nonissue. It's not like Pokemon didn't have any competition on Thursdays for all these years and it was doing well enough to be on that slot for two decades. I also have a hard time putting that much stock on ratings for a few reasons. I don't know how the Japanese TV industry looks at ratings and if it is different from how the U.S. handles them. Most importantly, the Pokemon exists to promote the games and merchandise. I don't think ratings matter, or at least aren't the deciding factor for the show's continuation, especially when TV ratings aren't even an accurate way to indicate how many people watch the show in this day and age. Plus, unlike those other two series, Pokemon has a pretty big international market, which gives it a huge advantage over series that just air in Japan.

 

[KennyC222]

Wasn’t Star Wars the largest franchise?

List of highest-grossing media franchises - Wikipedia

According to Wikipedia, Pokemon is still the highest grossing media Franchises. 2nd is Hello Kitty. Unfortunately, Star Wars has been demoted to 3rd place.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Wait a second Pokémon has made more money than Star Wars?! And more money than Mario and Mickey Mouse TOGETHER?!! IN LESS THAN HALF THE TIME???

 

[Shadao]

Wait a second Pokémon has made more money than Star Wars?! And more money than Mario and Mickey Mouse TOGETHER?!! IN LESS THAN HALF THE TIME???

Well, Pokémon hasn't overtaken Mario in terms of games alone. Mario is still number one there.

It's just that Pokémon has a lot more branches to compensate for that: Anime, TCG, Manga, etc.

 

[Dogasu]

I think some people are really overreacting here.

The big thing people seem fixated on is this idea that Chibi Maruko-chan and Sazae-san are unstoppable juggernauts, these gods of Sunday night that nobody can even think about touching. But let's think about that for a minute. Why do we think this is the case? What makes them so freaking powerful in the first place?

It sure as hell ain't because the shows are actually any good or anything. As far as I can tell nobody in Japan actually *likes* either Chibi Maruko-chan or Sazae-san; people know of them and have all caught an episode or two back in the day, of course, but no one ever looks forward to watching these families' adventures week after week. And that's because both shows are about as exciting as watching paint dry. They're not comedies, or adventure shows, or dramas...they're just shows about families doing boring, mundane family things. The plotlines are too simplistic. Nothing ever happens. The animation is about as low budget as you can get while still techincally qualifying as "animation." And so on and so on.

So why are they so highly rated? Well, no competition, for one. If there's nothing else on TV from 5:30pm - 6:30pm then everyone's just going to turn to the one thing they (or their grandparents) do know, right? They're both non-violent shows without any objectionable content in them so they're easy to put on while the kids are around. Old people like to watch these shows because they're nostalgic. It's become a tradition to watch these boring-ass shows on Sunday nights, for some reason.

The current head of TV-Tokyo's animation division, Hirokazu Oshida, has been with the network for years and years but he only just took over the animation division about two months ago. This decision of his is probably a way for him to make his mark, sure, but it's also challenging this long-held belief that Chibi Maruko-chan and Sazae-san are the unstoppable gods of Sunday night. Maybe, just maybe, the people who watch those two because nothing else is on will change the channel to TV-Tokyo if given the opportunity. If there are any shows that can go up against those two juggernauts and actually *win,* he's probably thinking, it's Pocket Monsters and Boruto. I'm inclined to agree.

If there ever comes a time when one of TV-Tokyo's shows beats Chibi Maruko-chan and/or Sazae-san then Mr. Oshida will be lauded as a visionary who helped secure TV-Tokyo's spot in the big leagues. And if the shows get trounced in the ratings? Well, so what? Both shows are big enough to take the hit and still survive without any issue whatsoever.

Pocket Monsters isn't moving to a "death slot," and the show's not in any danger of being cancelled. The sky isn't falling. Everything's going to be OK.

 

[SammyW27]

Besides, in this era of DVRs, On Demand, and especially streaming, time slots barely mean anything now

It's also boring as fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

about as exciting as watching paint dry

The plotlines are too simplistic. Nothing ever happens.

They're both non-violent shows without any objectionable content in them so they're easy to put on while the kids are around. Old people like to watch these shows because they're nostalgic.

Funny, some people could say the same about a lot of Sun & Moon...

I have a bigger concern that the Show trying to be more "family oriented" means the Gen 8 era and onwards will be as "meh" as much of SM has been...

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Funny, some people could say the same about a lot of Sun & Moon...

Too bad for them Pokémon tends to change its tone per series, unlike the other shows described here.

 

[SammyW27]

^ I don't know, the Shonen Jump shows tend to shift in tone from time to time (mainly how fillers are more humorous & lighter than the main story)

Though I get what you're saying.

 

[Rath]

Besides, in this era of DVRs, On Demand, and especially streaming, time slots barely mean anything now









Funny, some people could say the same about a lot of Sun & Moon...

I have a bigger concern that the Show trying to be more "family oriented" means the Gen 8 era and onwards will be as "meh" as much of SM has been...

Pokemon has always been a "family oriented" show. Nothing is changing. It's being moved BECAUSE it's a family friendly show, not being made MORE family friendly BECAUSE of the move.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Funny, some people could say the same about a lot of Sun & Moon...

They either:
1. Are saying it in comparison to other Pokémon series
2. Certainly haven't watched stuff like Sazae-san

 

[SammyW27]

They either:
1. Are saying it in comparison to other Pokémon series
2. Certainly haven't watched stuff like Sazae-san

Actually, yes. That's what I was getting at.

 

[Alola]

While this is indeed a shakeup for me since I've been accustomed to the Thursday time-slot for years, Sunday may actually be better because now I can watch an episode without work or school getting in the way.

I think it's a good move. I feel that their target audience will be more likely be able to watch the series, given that it's now airing on a weekend rather than a weekday where work, school, extracurriculars, and so on can interfere.