How anyone can enjoy watching Spongebob is beyond me. Personally, I think that is the most retarded show Nick has come ever up with. Why the fuck do people watch that shit?!
1)
Holding onto your audience- Nick has aggressively tried to market to the tween/teen audience for the past few years now. In their minds, they realize that the 6-12 y/o demographic have more mature taste now, which is why they are trying to cater to them.
2)
Bringing in a new audience- People who might have otherwise watched Nick might do so if properly marketed. Romeo had a number 1 single at the age of 13, so needless to say, he is popular. A Romeo TV show adds interest, thus causing people to watch.
3)
They have flexibility- Nick has launched Nogin and Nick2, so they can expand their programming options. If "Teen Nick" is a bust, they can move it around to their other stations. Right now, "Teen Nick" is an experiment by the networks to see whether a tween/teen audience would respond to such programming.
IMO-
I grew up with shows like Doug
, Hey Arnold (when it was actually watchable), Alex Mack, Ahh! Real Monsters, Rocco's Modern Life, Wild and Crazy Kids, Keenan and Kel, Are you Afraid of the Dark?, and other
quality shows.
Shows like Spongebob are ridiculousy stupid. In comparision, the old school shows kicked ass. Whatever the fuck they put on now is crap. Maybe its because I got older, or kids today are dumber, but the quality of the shows has deteriorated. At least shows like Doug portrayed a person that almost all kids can relate to. It had a personal message, and told a remarkable stories.
To be fair, Nick does have a separate network for the old-school shows. However, kids today aren't being exposed to great television I watched as a kid. In all honestly, wtf is the point of Spongebob?! Furthermore, "All That" (the new ones) and "the Amanda Show" are stupidly unfunny. At least the "Teen Nick" shows are somewhat 'real' to the tween/teen audience. I applaud their efforts for shows like "As Told By Ginger", "Rugrats All Grown Up", "Josh and Drake", and especially "Nick News".
I should point out that Nick started "Teen Nick" in response to the Disney Channels efforts towards marketing TV programs more palatable for the tween/teen audience (i.e Even Stevens, Lizze McGuire, and their monthly TV movies). In that sense, "Teen Nick" is just vying for a competitive share of the teenage market...most likely the flavor of the week.
Damn, I really hope I didn't type all that for naught.
