ListNook

axolotlorange Apr 14, 2026 +1024

The market died. Like truly died. It’s a shame. But there was no money in them hills.

1024

wrosecrans Apr 14, 2026 +435

People are massively in denial about the extent to which watching actual live TV has become a niche hobby. The business just doesn't work anything like it did when I was a kid.

435

AndNowAStoryAboutMe Apr 14, 2026 +260

Seriously. My mom will still ask me if I saw a certain commercial or saw anything on the news and I'm like... I have a phone, mom. I haven't had cable since 2013.

260

byneothername Apr 14, 2026 +97

My kids don’t even really know what commercials are. They don’t watch much tv, less than I did at their age, and what they do watch is on ad-free streaming services. My folks, though, every time they come over, on goes the tv.

97

mmmsoap Apr 14, 2026 +50

I have more than one student who believes they “never” see ads and are impossible to influence (and are above corporate influence in general). They have no idea how much more insidious advertising is now.

50

byneothername Apr 14, 2026 +14

Oh, they see ads. Product placement. Also, certain shows themselves are just product placement. But the old school ad is pretty rare. My kids are very young.

14

igotyournacho Apr 15, 2026 +5

I might buy it if they said they never see *commercials*. But if they scroll any kind of feed they get ads. I got several while scrolling to this. Also, people who think they can’t be influenced by ads are the people who are most influenced by ads. Source: I make ads

5

mmmsoap Apr 15, 2026 +1

Exactly!

1

PrivateFrank Apr 14, 2026 +5

To be fair we all think that yet companies do keep advertising to us.

5

OppositeRun6503 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Yeah, now that consumers are using premium services to avoid advertising on television the advertisers have to work with appliance and even automobile manufacturer's to slip in ads on the infotainment screen on vehicles or screens built into the refrigerator door.

1

mmmsoap Apr 15, 2026 +1

Now that consumers are using premium services to avoid advertising on television, the advertisers are putting the ads within the shows instead of during breaks.

1

PrivateFrank Apr 14, 2026 +22

For behavior management I can only see this as a good thing. I have a 2.5yo and the shows he likes are always there and can be paused or restarted if we need to. We usually only watch shows on weekends. When we, as parents, simply need to rest a little we can sit with him and watch what he likes and what we can (mostly) tolerate. We can channel him towards low-intensity age appropriate shows and even avoid ads fo other shows. We can practice turn taking by alternating between his and our preferred episodes. He doesn't get used to an endless supply of novelty which uncontrollably changes every 10 minutes. He has recently started to ask for the same episode to be repeated immediately. I'm fine with that - he is too young to take it all in at once anyway. He wants to extract all the information he can from a challenging story, and all stories are challenging right now, and through repetition he gets to do that. When it's time to eat or leave the house we can honestly say that he can see whatever it is later on, though he usually forgets anyway!

22

khavii Apr 14, 2026 +2

I cut cable ages ago thanks to high water levels to take boats out in and my oldest was about 4. We have absolutely no shortage of commercial free entertainment so my kids grew up choosing for themselves a lot, which they mostly chose YouTube, which is also commercial free in this house. It has weird side effects. My kids never want anything, like at all. Neither wanted to drive, I couldn't get them to spend money on their birthdays. I used to take my daughter to Toys R Us and tell her she could have anything she wanted at all. She would grab a small toy that was $20 and be ready to go. My son came along and he is exactly the same way which blows my mind. The consumer part of being in a consumerist society just never took hold. My daughter did buy a house at 23 while working as a dog groomer at a pet store so it had some damn good effects too but it's so different to how I grew up it blows my mind.

2

PrivateFrank Apr 14, 2026 +2

So far we have avoided YouTube. I want him watching stories, preferably well made ones. I'm pretty sure he would choose the largest tractor or steam train toy he sees if we went into a large toy shop.

2

OppositeRun6503 Apr 15, 2026 +1

I will NEVER subscibe to any premium service on social media platforms such as listnook or YouTube aka screwtube because they've deliberately created a problem (the incessant advertising) so that they can get twice as rich from marketing the "solution" (a premium service)....not only is Google getting rich from the ad revenue but they're also getting rich from selling more premium subscriptions. They should just put the platform behind a pay wall and be done with it instead.

1

PrivateFrank Apr 15, 2026 +1

Well they're not going to provide a service for free. You either pay by tolerating ads or giving them money for the premium subscription.

1

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

> My kids never want anything, like at all. Neither wanted to drive, I don't believe that's because they aren't consumerists. The marketing of car commercials (before the 21st century) used to imply autonomy (control of one's life, the ability to "go" when you want), positive self-image, and status (except back then, it was "impressing" girls). Kids today aren't encouraged to be self-reliant or "responsible". Worst of all, parents drive their kids everywhere, so in effect, parents are now chauffeurs (servants) of kids. Who in their right mind would *want* to drive or own a car?

1

inbox-disabled Apr 14, 2026 +3

Are the ads not inevitable though regardless of age? I've no kids so I'm admittedly out of my element there, but advertising is only growing more pervasive and now even paid streaming services have normalized ads, app pause screens show ads, streaming devices are injecting ads wherever they please, browsers like Chrome are doing their damnedest to kill adblockers, etc. If it doesn't have ads now, it will eventually. I've been warring against ads for ages and the only surefire way to avoid them that I've found is something like pihole, dns filters, modified apps like revanced or straight up piracy, separating the content from the service completely. And let's be honest, your average stream viewer isn't doing any of that.

3

relevant__comment Apr 14, 2026 +2

My kid is 3 and already knows how to hunt for the “skip ad” button. Truly the end times.

2

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +2

1) At least he will be a "survivor" in the end times. 2) Its your "fault" the 3 year old kid knows how to hunt for the "skip ad" button. You're letting them watch TV.

2

notathrowaway75 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Wait that's crazy depending on how old they are. Linear cable TV is what's dying out. Commercials are still common.

1

byneothername Apr 15, 2026 +1

We have ad-free Disney for them and PBS kids. They do not have access to anything unsupervised and those are the primary apps they use. We do have HBO and Netflix (ad free tier), but those are rarer and more for us than them.

1

notathrowaway75 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Sure that makes sense. Once they can watch stuff unsupervised they will quickly find out what commercials are. You keeping that from them just may a more difficult conversation than Santa not being real or the sex talk. Good luck lmao

1

byneothername Apr 15, 2026 +1

Yeah, my kids are still young. We are in a Bluey and Daniel Tiger and Cars era.

1

OppositeRun6503 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Eventually those "ad free" services won't be far long because once these services reach global market saturation they'll be forced to run advertising to make money for their greedy CEOs and especially shareholders.

1

I_Am_Robert_Paulson1 Apr 14, 2026 +5

It's so surreal going over to my mom's house, plopping down on the couch and watching actual TV on cable. She's almost always watching some movie she has on DVD or a rerun of a show she could be streaming if she chose to, but she chooses to sit through 20 minutes of commercials per hour, at minimum. The last time I went over, she had just put one of the Harry Potter movies on, so I went and grabbed the DVD to put it on instead. We watched the whole thing, even stopping a couple of times to grab snacks or use the bathroom, and when we switched back to cable, the movie was only like two-thirds of the way through. The craziest part is that even she complains about it. She'll be watching a movie, it'll go to commercial, come back for 10 minutes and then go to commercial again, and she'll sit there grumbling over it.

5

arealhumannotabot Apr 14, 2026 +4

But a most of those ads run on social and video platforms too, and the same companies running tv news have online publications that also get posted on here all the time… so actually that’s not odd lol

4

strbeanjoe Apr 14, 2026 +12

My parents get some new tv dongle / apple tv / google tv / whatever every year or so, and rotate between different live TV streaming services. Boomers are really addicted to paying to watch ads.

12

sjlopez Apr 14, 2026 +8

Born in 89 and I've never had cable in my adult life lol

8

anon0937 Apr 14, 2026 +2

Same here. Technically I have basic cable since it came packaged with my internet and a phone line when I bought my house (new home-owner deal). Their set top box is still in the box never to be used and I don't have a phone to plug into the landline. The package is still cheaper than the internet on its own. I have 7 months left on the promo before they jack the price back up, but I'm gonna tell them I'm switching telcos if they don't keep my current rate, or just give me internet for cheaper than my current rate.

2

AFlockOfTySegalls Apr 14, 2026 +1

88 here, and I haven't had it for at least a decade. I'll used to sign up for YTTV for college basketball/NFL season, but bunny ears and a sling day pass were more than sufficient this year. And saved me so much money.

1

Familiar-Banana-8116 Apr 14, 2026 +3

We live with a senior citizen and he is the only reason we keep paying for cable TV. I mean, I love the guy and if cable TV does it for him then it isn't going away. But really, he is the only holdout and without him it would be throwing away money.

3

TheGlenrothes Apr 14, 2026 +1

i haven’t had cable since 2004

1

TulsaOUfan Apr 14, 2026 +15

The only people left doing it are over the age of 50, and those that are left are glued to foxnews and judge Judy, not cartoon network and south park. I'm 49 in Oklahoma, and even most 50 year olds that watch foxnews are watching it on streaming or online services. My parents in their 70s and my grandparents in their 90s are the only people I know who pay for cable.

15

checker280 Apr 14, 2026 +8

M65. I miss my Saturday AM cartoon fix. And 4pm fix. I mean really crave it some time. Tried to recreate it with streaming but it doesn’t hit the same. I also really hate I can finally afford to buy my own cereal for the c**** trinket but they don’t do that anymore. I guess blind boxes are the same thing without the calories but the price point doesn’t seem worth it.

8

typewriter6986 Apr 14, 2026 +6

Try MeTV.

6

CptNonsense Apr 15, 2026 +2

They literally spun off in the last 6 months a new channel that is literally just old cartoons all damn day.

2

gyph256 Apr 14, 2026 +5

toonamiaftermath.com is great for that

5

Zanki Apr 14, 2026 +2

If you really want something kinda like it, look into setting up your own Plex server, then stick it on shuffle. You don't get to choose what comes on and it's kinda like TV before we started streaming, without the ads. I end up watching the most random mix of TV shows and it hits a weird spot. Are you Afraid of the Dark, Rugrats, Pirates of the Dark Waters, Crow (TV series), Saved by the Bell, NCIS LA, Cobra Kai, Arthur, Seven Days, I think that's everything that came on yesterday. I do the same with movies but there's more skipping in that. I have a lot of horror and sometimes I don't want to watch horror. I'm missing a lot of newer movies and TV shows because they never got a dvd release so they're not ripped to my server.

2

AFlockOfTySegalls Apr 14, 2026 +2

In-laws are in their 70's, and this is spot on. When they were over for Christmas, my FIL went to the grocery store. MIL and I were just having coffee and chatting on the couch. She was like, "You can put the TV on if you'd like." I asked what for we don't watch live TV. Because FIL always has Fox on, so she thought that was normal lmao.

2

User-no-relation Apr 14, 2026 +1

I know that kind of person and sports people who pay

1

Malvania Apr 14, 2026 +2

M40. Also for kids because I don't want Frozen on repeat, so I can pretend we only have those 4-6 Disney and Nickelodeon channels

2

cattywampus42 Apr 14, 2026 +5

I work in advertising I can do linear media. It has more viewership than you would think, but it’s definitely in its swan song. That’s why all linear advertising agencies are pushing digital so hard

5

Iceman9161 Apr 14, 2026 +3

I don’t think I know anyone under 40 that pays for cable tv, or even live tv streaming. We have Hulu tv because we like watching sports, but none of our friends do. The entire model has fallen apart and it’s going to slowly go away.

3

OppositeRun6503 Apr 15, 2026 +1

The fad of streaming and miniseries programming marathons took over in much the same way that scripted fake reality trash TV programming did. I swear when I move to a new apartment in a couple of weeks from now I'm debating wether or not we should bother getting cable because it's 5000 channels of c***.

1

Rmans Apr 14, 2026 +70

As someone that worked at Cartoon Network, no. What you're repeating is propaganda put out by the people that killed CN. Same propaganda about "People not seeing movies anymore." Same propaganda about "People love short form content now, so long form is dead." We've let the worst people imaginable rise to the top of most media companies. These people spent decades making poor decisions, driving companies like Warner Brothers deep into debt. The only way that debt could then be shed is through merging with other companies who then fire entire teams, and sell the remaining IP for parts. This is what happened to CN. Bad managers made bad decisions (CN Real). So there was small company debt, so then they got acquired by Warner Brothers to offset that debt with Turner in 2019. Then Zadislev (head of WB) fired everyone in the CN offices. Merged them into WB animation. Closed the CN office. And Sold CN IP to everyone else. So CN is now just a brand name, and can't sell enough ads to justify being an entire channel so was pulled. All of these events were then repackaged by the same company, and sold back to you as "the market died / no people watch TV anymore" When in reality it's "Bad executives got greedy and don't want to be blamed for murdering companies so merged with others to hide the bodies."

70

SwindlingAccountant Apr 14, 2026 +20

Its like people blaming Red Lobsters bankruptcy on their "endless shrimp." It was because Red Lobster was bought by private equity, sold the properties, and then charged Red Lobster exorbitant rent for the properties they had originally owned.

20

JQuilty Apr 15, 2026 +5

Zaslav made me pine for the days of Mike Lazzo being a weird d***** at times.

5

Sir_Auron Apr 15, 2026 +3

Sorry this is just false. Netflix and Disney+ killed children's network viewership utterly and completely. Disney+ offered a century of content, on demand, ad free for like $10/mo at launch. Every parent of a child under 10 in America set that up for their kids immediately and Cable TV was snuffed out for an entire generation.

3

Xanthu Apr 14, 2026 +2

Once again, money-tenders get between Art/culture & the audience. I’m fascinated/obsessed with that timeframe and the surging Steven Universe internal conflict, Rebecca Sugar being told “a lesbian marriage will kill your show” and wondering if that winds up a key thread in the entire dissolution of CN. I fully acknowledge I may be asking a chicken-or-the-egg question.

2

munchi333 Apr 15, 2026 +2

You’re in denial. None of those things are propaganda lol, just look it up. Movie viewership is down, cable network viewership is way down. The reality is CN was replaced by Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+.

2

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

> We've let the worst people imaginable rise to the top of most media companies. Its because our society rewards "leaders" that generates a media company the most profit *every* financial quarter. Turns out, the people best able to do that are psychopaths.

1

bigupsmebumbo Apr 14, 2026 +47

Them king of the hills * :(

47

IllVagrant Apr 14, 2026 +2

The market didn't die. The network was literally killed off after new executives became frustrated that their efforts to replace shows with live action and reality fair didn't work. Since they came in with the intent of getting rid of cartoons and couldn't do it, they never bothered to do anything to promote new shows or develop new talent who could create new shows. The network had a long-standing development program called "what a cartoon" that was started by Fred Seibert that allowed animators to create shorts, then those shorts would be voted on by kids to become new shows. When the new executives took over, that program still technically existed, but now they just left decision-making on what went on the air to themselves, then just locked the shorts away in their archives and sat on them.

2

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +2

The market didn’t so much die, as it was never born. As birth rates decline we need to be ready to understand that the largest cohort of the population will be older and older.

2

[deleted] Apr 14, 2026 +31

[deleted]

31

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +8

Right and Cartoon Network is fundamentally a children’s TV channel. There isn’t as much money going at under 13s anymore because there are less of them. See also how McDonald’s isn’t targeting children anymore.

8

[deleted] Apr 14, 2026 +9

[deleted]

9

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

> but immigration of young adults and their children to the US tends to counteract that pressure. Used to counteract that pressure. (Hail Trump!)

1

[deleted] Apr 15, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

> You're right, if immigration rules continue to tighten I suspect they'll still stay tight, even if Trump is deposed. The Minnesota ICE occupation was more about giving the federal gov't power to treat American citizens like Iraqis/Afghanis/Gazans, and unfortunately, I think it was a successful experiment for the federal gov't. If one pays attention to what Border Patrol/ICE does to immigrants in CA, the southwest & southeast, its going to be closer to the "new" immigration standard Trump wanted to set. > Among other things, it is a bad sign for the survival of Social Security which is funded by payroll taxes. You depend on Social Security to stay alive as an elderly person? Ha ha ha. "You voted for this."

1

checker280 Apr 14, 2026 +4

You should study some marketing. Kids do influence a lot of oddball things like where to buy the home, the shape of the kitchen appliances, and the color of the family car. Just look at Snoopy as a mascot of MetLife.

4

jyok33 Apr 14, 2026 +6

Snoopy appeals to older generations dude c’mon

6

checker280 Apr 14, 2026 +3

Snoopy has been a MetLife pitchman for 31 years. Back in the 80s kids who grew up on the Christmas special were fans. But yeah, to your point, it’s been so long that MetLife finally dropped him.

3

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +1

Kids are great to market to, but they have to exist. A lot fewer kids are being born these days.

1

SwindlingAccountant Apr 14, 2026 +1

Not really about the number of children as it is the disposable income of the parents.

1

CalaveraPrimera Apr 14, 2026 +1

Those kids would still be streaming, not using cable 😭 the cable market is dead, it's been dying And you're here ranting about population decline being the biggest factor? 😅

1

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +1

Cartoon Network would still be a strong brand; the specific medium is less of an issue.

1

CalaveraPrimera Apr 14, 2026 +1

Cartoon Network isn't even thriving in streaming...... they've removed plenty of shows that were beloved classics and aren't investing into new shows like at all, it's done 👍

1

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +1

Right... that's my point.

1

CalaveraPrimera Apr 14, 2026 +1

No, you started some schizo population decline theory as the reason

1

Coneskater Apr 14, 2026 +1

Products and brands marketed towards kids are going to struggle as we have fewer kids, what's so crazy about that?

1

CozySlum Apr 14, 2026 +1

You can’t pay me to watch commercials. Cable television is 12 minutes of commercials for every 18 minutes of content. Let that shit die.

1

NeuHundred Apr 14, 2026 +2

I just hit the mute button and wait 'em out. I don't remember the last time I actually watched a commercial.

2

casualreader22 Apr 14, 2026 +112

Growing up a kid of the 90s I can still remember what a game changer it was going from 13 channels to 36. With 13 all a kid had was Nickelodeon, and they showed old 60s and 70s sitcoms past 8 O'clock which, while good, my kid brain didn't care for. But with 36 we got Cartoon Network, and this was the pre-Adult Swim days so to just realize they showed cartoons literally all night was great. I remember some really weird shows on post 1AM like O'Canada and Late Night Black and White. Sigh...memories.

112

AlligatorTaffy Apr 14, 2026 +22

O’Canada! Was downright terrifying at times. Like the soft boiled egg monstrosity? Wtf was that? Nightmare fuel. However it did introduce me to the G rated Bob & Margaret.

22

ilikeme1 Apr 14, 2026 +14

Good ol Nick At Nite. My dad would watch all sorts of stuff on there. I still remember the “Nick at Nite, the place for TV hits.” Jingle That would play when it switched from Nickelodeon to Nick @ Nite.

14

casualreader22 Apr 14, 2026 +19

Yeah, they'd show some solid shows like Get Smart, D*** Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, but I was way too young to appreciate them. All I knew was it meant the cartoons ended for the day. Then around 5/6AM they'd have on Mr. Wizard and Flipper. I was usually only awake for those if I was sick and got up extra early though lol.

19

dragonstar982 Apr 14, 2026 +5

Shoot back in my day it was pinwheel and I think fraggle rock starting the day off.

5

casualreader22 Apr 14, 2026 +2

I know of Fraggle Rock but never watched it. Had to look Pinwheel up and apparently it last aired on Nickelodeon in 1990 and I turned 2 that year so yeah, makes sense I never saw that one lol. The Mr. Wizard show I watched ended in 89 but was still shown in those early morning time s**** through 2000 if wikipedia is to be believed. Given my age and memory it was definitely still airing reruns in the mid 90s at least.

2

dragonstar982 Apr 14, 2026 +4

Lol graduated in 93... "you can't do that on television" was a staple as well.

4

casualreader22 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I saw a few episodes of that growing up but it wasn't shown that often after a certain point. Replaced I suppose with the likes of What Would You Do? and later All That.

1

NeuHundred Apr 14, 2026 +3

Oh yeah, Nick & Nite was not only selective about their choice of shows, but often they'd do new transfers so they were the best looking versions of those shows out there.

3

YellowHammerDown Apr 14, 2026 +2

I remember tuning into Nick at sign on around that time some years ago and saw it was when they were burning off ChalkZone

2

bigupsmebumbo Apr 14, 2026 +4

That’s the real good stuff of life

4

cuatrodemayo Apr 14, 2026 +4

Back in the day in some international markets Cartoon Network would turn into TNT in the evening. They would transition with an animation of the cartoons packing up/exploding and leaving for the night.

4

yohoob Apr 14, 2026 +3

The nick at night commercials. With random things about the old sitcoms. I remember watching get smart and the wonder years. There was a dancing squirrel at one point I think.

3

CaraDePinto Apr 14, 2026 +493

Streaming killed the TV cable star

493

blaqsupaman Apr 14, 2026 +151

This is it. I don't think I know anyone under 40 who still has cable. The bleeding of cable has slowed down but it's basically boomers and Gen X keeping it alive at all. Cartoon Network was meant to appeal to kids and to a lesser extent young adults. These days those audiences have almost completely switched to streaming.

151

Cross55 Apr 14, 2026 +87

Part of that is that it's f****** expensive. It's not uncommon for plans to run upwards of $200-$300 *a month with ads.* $20? Sure. $200? Hell no.

87

BeckQuillion89 Apr 14, 2026 +29

I can't even afford to pay that if you count the 4 different streaming services I'd have to own to watch my 3 favorite shows and movies. I literally just stream everything off of p****** sites. With how enshittification has gotten worse, I really couldn't care less anymore.

29

NeverNotAnIdiot Apr 14, 2026 +11

I was paying $300 for cable and internet. When I cut cable out of the equation, I now pay $80 for hi speed Internet and $30 for a triple play streaming package for Disney, Hulu, and HBO. Less than half the cost, and no commercials. No brainer.

11

MikoSkyns Apr 14, 2026 +3

>Part of that is that it's f****** expensive. For some of us, we wouldn't pay for it if it was dirt c****. A few years ago I was introduced to a type of Grey Market Streaming service that could stream all of the network and cable tv channels to my android tv box for a very c**** price \*(everyone knows what it's called but I don't want to mention it in case I break a rule here). I figured, why not? I bought a three month subscription and had just about every American channel that exists. All of the cable channels had pretty shit programing and the network channels were all easy to get with an antenna and most of the programing on there was pretty mid too. I didn't even think they were worth the very c**** price I was paying and didn't renew after the three months I'd paid. If I won't pay 15 bucks a month to have it, I'm certainly not going to pay whatever the hell the cable companies want these days.

3

SaltyShawarma Apr 14, 2026 +2

I take care of my parents and they want TV. I cannot get them away from this broken format. The Hulu TV package is so much ...

2

Maestrosc Apr 14, 2026 +47

Not to mention picture quality. I was at my retired parents house and the amount of stuff they watch that was still not even high def was WILD. Paying to watch tv and it’s not even 1080p is wild.

47

DustyDGAF Apr 14, 2026 +8

My parents are boomers with cable but goddamn they always have the best f****** tv.

8

Ziko577 Apr 14, 2026 +6

It's nuts how some of the channels have poor upscaling, static, and a lot of letterboxing as many of those shows never got a proper HD release. My grandpa and mom have that stuff on later on in the evening.

6

kingkongworm Apr 14, 2026 +14

Roku live tv is a great substitute (outside of commercials…)it’s free though, and they play really strange stuff next to really great evergreen classics. Any service that has 24 hours of Columbo and unsolved mysteries is perfect imo

14

YellowHammerDown Apr 14, 2026 +6

Add in PlutoTV with Roku and you can replicate that live TV feel pretty well

6

kingkongworm Apr 14, 2026 +2

Thanks for the tip!

2

TheLordJames Apr 14, 2026 +11

I have it but only because it was free with my internet and security system. So I watch sports on it instead of subscribing to the sports apps.

11

LADYBIRD_HILL Apr 14, 2026 +10

I moved out from my parents' place in 2018, and never once had the desire to pay for cable on my own. It just made more sense to pay for a couple of different streaming services and sail the high seas for everything else.

10

CT_Hoops Apr 14, 2026 +4

GenX and I haven't had cable for a decade

4

Zanki Apr 14, 2026 +2

My friends have a TV licence so they can watch TV. I only have streaming and Plex, so I never see British TV really. The odd series here and there if it makes it to Netflix and I'm interested. It's weirdly dystopian and I'm guessing TV in America has gone the same way. They don't see it though, but I think I've been away from TV for so long the weird shift is very noticeable to me. There's weird reality shows, like the Traitor, that I don't understand. It's not a nice show and my friends are really into it. I know, I'm weird and have never really liked those shows, but they weren't this bad when I used to have TV, or maybe I just avoided them. It just felt so weird being at my friends, seeing this show and thinking, this is so depressing and dystopian. What happened? Kids TV is just gone. I don't even know if sky has kids channels anymore. I'm still sad Fox Kids doesn't exist anymore. It was my goto channel as a kid, a close second was Nickelodeon, followed by sky one, Discovery, National Geographic (before they switched from real documentaries), Bravo (it had old shows like Martial Law, Seven Days etc) and whatever channel aired Smallville.

2

kirbyverano123 Apr 14, 2026 +1

It's more like the adults that are paying for cable have switched to streaming. Realistically though, most youths today are staring at smartphones.

1

ViktorMaitland Apr 14, 2026 +79

In all fairness cable kinda killed itself with not adjusting its prices to fit in with streaming. People still like to watch tv apps. The prices are just absurd.

79

IBJON Apr 14, 2026 +41

Agreed. If I could just choose 10-20 channels and pay like $15-20 I'd do it in a heartbeat. I don't want to pay $130 or whatever the hell it is nowadays for a million and one channels I'll never watch

41

PlasticCraken Apr 14, 2026 +2

Wasn’t that the whole point of Sling? No idea if they’re even still around

2

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

The cable model can't compete with streaming channels that only put out one-two products that people can watch on demand. Cable is forced to mediocritize itself to chase after different groups of viewers while making only the most successful shows run at a specific time. Its streaming prices that are "absurd". They're charging more for their content, but overall, it ends up cheaper to charge full price for "one" product, where the cable TV forces you to subsidize multiple products on a channel that you don't watch (and don't get me started on sports channels).

1

Memphisrexjr Apr 14, 2026 +7

Cartoon network did it to themselves. They only care about Teen Titans Go. Hulu had to bring gumball back and what ever shows may or may not be on HBO whatever.

7

Nelrith Apr 14, 2026 +3

The radio star finally gets to rest easy after being avenged.

3

SteamedGamer Apr 14, 2026 +9

I know I 'cut the cable' and never looked back. (Didn't actually cut the cable because I need it for my internet, but you get the idea. ;) )

9

rayword45 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Netflix came and broke your heart

1

MrPotatoButt Apr 15, 2026 +1

Did it? Aren't they now streaming entertainment stars?

1

muad_dibs Apr 14, 2026 +56

Still on in my area.

56

rosen380 Apr 14, 2026 +15

Same here...

15

Verite_Rendition Apr 15, 2026 +2

Only some linear TV providers have evicted it from their expanded basic cable (or equivalent) tier. Most notably Comcast.

2

Mangoaxe5 Apr 18, 2026 +1

You're lucky.

1

Jagermonsta Apr 14, 2026 +34

Cartoon Network has been a dying husk of itself for almost a decade. They run blocks of the same 4 shows during the day and the occasional movie. Adult swim is the only thing keeping it alive and even that isn’t what it once was. Cable channels in general are trash compared to 10-15 years ago. I think the only ones putting in effort anymore are AMC, FX, and maybe Disney/Freeform. I haven’t watch much cable recently so I can’t say for certain.

34

Key_Feeling_3083 Apr 14, 2026 +7

> Adult swim is the only thing keeping it alive Yeah, hell they opened an aduklt swim channel on LA cable providers, it had some weird quirks on the south american feed, but still a full AS channel.

7

auntiesamautism Apr 14, 2026 +83

Yeah, I noticed this a few months ago when I was up at the time the new Smiling Friends was about to air and I decided to watch it live on TV for once instead of p****** copies on Twitter. Then I realized I just flat out don’t have the channel.

83

Os-Kalinowe Apr 14, 2026 +9

P****** copies on twitter you say?

9

CucumberWisdom Apr 14, 2026 +16

Ya people upload whole films on there. The Mario 2 movie leaked early for example. Finding anything on Twitter is asscancer though

16

ThyShirtIsBlue Apr 14, 2026 +16

Asscancer, you say?

16

arthurconan Apr 14, 2026 +2

To shreds, you say?

2

Starkville Apr 14, 2026 +20

It’s on mine, but I don’t count on it being there forever.

20

Courwes Apr 14, 2026 +17

What provider do you have? It’s still part of the cable package with my provider

17

DangerWildMan26 Apr 14, 2026 +62

Kids are too busy watching streamers and YouTubers they don’t care about cartoons anymore

62

moduspol Apr 14, 2026 +24

Why do I need Cartoon Network when I can have endless AI slop of spider-man and Elsa?

24

Yodiddlyyo Apr 14, 2026 +15

You're behind the times man, now it's all about those anthropomorphic vegetables and animals giving birth to babies that are clearly the doctor's or neighbor's.

15

jesuspoopmonster Apr 14, 2026 +1

Kids still like cartoons. They just aren't watching them on cable

1

pootsforever Apr 14, 2026 +29

Still on my basic cable!

29

ncopp Apr 14, 2026 +21

Shows up on most if not all hotel TVs I've stayed at in the last year. It was even one of the few English TV channels on in Portugal when I visited

21

Vericatov Apr 14, 2026 +3

I was thinking it probably depends on who the provider is.

3

PaodeQueijoNow Apr 14, 2026 +10

Kids are watching YouTube unfortunately

10

p-Star_07 Apr 14, 2026 +7

A ton of the classic CN shows are on Tubi and they keep releasing complete series DVDs. I still watch it. Its part of my family's FIOS package.

7

MF-Dot-JPEG Apr 14, 2026 +33

Was never on basic cable for me as a kid growing up. This was 20+ years ago

33

iveo83 Apr 14, 2026 +12

I was confused by OPs wording also. When they say basic they just mean available. Because the basic cable package was just like 20 channels or something and cartoon network wasn't in that you had to pay extra for MTV and comedy central and all that.

12

StanielReddit Apr 14, 2026 +22

Same. I’m baffled by this. I’ve never seen it as a basic cable program…like…ever. I remember it was always Chanel 53 as a kid.

22

nowhereman136 Apr 14, 2026 +5

I feel like with the exception of Netflix, Disney, and Universal. Every studio has been fighting against the move into streaming, often to their own detriment

5

TheGRS Apr 14, 2026 +3

Really formative and great content that they put out. I watched in the early era when they had a LOT of older cartoons like scooby doo and Hannah Barbara. And just a lot of looney tunes. But then they introduced me to anime. They produced samurai Jack and Dexter’s lab. Really liked that got into original content, it’s probably not something everyone remembers that they were mostly rerun content.

3

Resident-Trouble4483 Apr 14, 2026 +3

I’m losing a lot of channels. Kinda defeats the purpose of paying for cable. I’m not upgrading. It’s cheaper to just switch and eat the contract fee since it’s not worth shit.

3

IBJON Apr 14, 2026 +7

Cartoon Network has been on life support for at least a decade now. I don't think their model worked well with streaming as a competitor, even ignoring the loss in revenue from toy sales and advertisers pulling out. Even when they had content, the model didn't work well for episodic shows. Miss the premier of a new episode on Saturday at a specific time? Welp. Hopefully it airs again at some point in the next week at a time where you're allowed to watch TV. Oh, your sibling wants to watch Disney Channel or Nickelodeon? Well, you need to share the TV so you're SoL. It's not really a surprise streaming out competed them. The problem with streaming is that it's a completely different revenue model. There are fewer (or no) ad breaks (unless you're on Hulu), so there's less opportunity for ad revenue. Also, with the batched content releases, you can't really hook kids long term like you could with an endless stream of cartoons.

7

StarHunter_ Apr 14, 2026 +12

Cartoon Network would show a new episode on Saturday/Sunday but then repeat it several times during the week and then before the next new episode. Then there would be a binge of the last few weeks of episodes. That is why they would have 4 hour blocks of shows. That’s why they would get annoying with all the repeats.

12

Cross55 Apr 14, 2026 +5

Actually, most streaming services have ads now, and have various plans to limit or remove ads. HBO, Amazon, etc... all have 3-5 minutes of ads now as standard you need to pay to remove. So if you don't have the premium plans? Sucks for you. They literally just reinvented cable but with the internet.

5

schwiftydude47 Apr 14, 2026 +4

No literally. They had their shows on Netflix back in the day, but it was only ever like one or two seasons each. If you wanted to watch any of the new episodes, you either waited for it to air again or hope you have it on the DVR. And since all the continuity-heavy shows only aired like once a week, good luck catching it in between the abundance of Teen Titans Go reruns. And even *those* would be from older seasons, so good luck finding an episode you haven’t seen yet.

4

pbghikes Apr 14, 2026 +7

Wait, I thought basic cable was like, local networks? Because I definitely didn't have cartoon network growing up

7

NSpmFW Apr 14, 2026 +3

That’s broadcast (free over antenna) TV. Basic cable is what people call the most basic cable packages without any add-on channels. I grew up in a house that only occasionally could afford cable so I spent a lot of time watching PBS over broadcast.

3

pbghikes Apr 14, 2026 +2

I was a kid in the 90s and you had to pay for "basic cable" and that was like UPN, ABC, PBS, CBS, FOX. We didn't even have enough to pay for that but if I put the cable on my tongue I could watch WB kids after school. Cartoon Network was for rich kids.

2

Eaglethornsen Apr 14, 2026 +2

Those channels you listed are free over the air channels. All you needed was an antenna and you got those.

2

pbghikes Apr 14, 2026 +2

The rabbit ears got maybe 1 or 2 channels sporadically. You had to get an exterior antenna for consistent, clear signal.

2

AffectionateKey7126 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Cable started as a way to get the OTA channels in areas that had bad reception. Our basic package growing up was the OTA channels and WGN which I believe wasn’t OTA for us at that time. Then you had the next tier that had roughly 40 channels including ESPN. Then the next tier that had around 70 channels including thing like CN and the History channel.

1

mjzim9022 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I was born in 1990. Basic cable was analogue cable that you paid for, I feel like there were 60 channels or so but not all of them were things you'd watch. You got all the locals, and then cable channels like CN, Nick, MTV, Comedy Central, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, Lifetime, Spike, TNT, USA, TBS, VH1, Tech TV, at this point Disney Channel wasn't an add on anymore, there was Disney XD too. And then we started intermittently upgrading to "digital cable", where you'd get a DVR and On Demand channels, along with a bunch more niche channels you didn't get with basic cable like all the Music Choice channels, things like IFC, Fuse, G4, and Logo come to mind. Picture quality was better (the box used component cables). HBO was a $15/mo add on. Whenever the promotional period for digital cable ended, we'd revert to basic, which sucked because we got used to the fancy cable. Then when we upgraded from a CRT to a Plasma TV we got digital again and my dad kept it for about 17 years, until about a year ago when he cancelled and now gets by with a mix of streaming and OTA television.

1

pbghikes Apr 14, 2026 +1

I feel like this might be a tax bracket vocab difference

1

mjzim9022 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I knew that some kids had only antenna, that got you all the network affiliates and PBS, plus usually some religious stuff. I never knew anyone who paid anything for those, paying for basic cable got you the non-premium tier of cable channels, pumped straight from the coax in the wall to the coax in the TV. My first apartment building had those basic OTA channels from the wall coax but I don't know if that was connected through the cable company or to an outdoor antenna

1

pbghikes Apr 14, 2026 +1

We didn't have rabbit ears but even if we did, you'd get maybe 1 or 2 stations clearly. I think the only people who got all of those channels crystal clear for free had the big antennae installed on their roof. Can't really do that in an apartment and wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway

1

homer_3 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Yea, but that didn't have CN either.

1

primal_slayer Apr 14, 2026 +5

Zaslav didn't care about cartoons

5

vendettaclause Apr 14, 2026 +2

They were off of my companies "basic" tier cable over 10 years ago. along with comedy central, fx, tnt, scifi, etc... had to get the "basic+" package lmao.

2

falacer99 Apr 14, 2026 +2

Tubi has a ton of classic cartoons now. Added cartoons back in March I believe.

2

theycallmemomo Apr 14, 2026 +2

They're adding a new batch of cartoons on May 1st as well. Cartoons that were previously announced but not released on March 1st (like Cow and Chicken) will be dropping in this next wave.

2

Stavvystav Apr 14, 2026 +2

They stopped animating. Why would anyone want a rerun channel on as a basic feature? You can just find whatever show online nowadays anyway. It's dead, Jim.

2

tribeoftheliver Apr 14, 2026 +2

Cartoon Network is still on basic cable (I'm subscribed to Spectrum), but not Xfinity (most expensive plan).

2

Guns107 Apr 15, 2026 +2

🎵Video streaming services killed the cable star🎵

2

dakowiml Apr 14, 2026 +3

Its their own fault. They never took the online thing seriously when everything was clearly going that way. While they also missed out on the anime hype....... which is completely insane because they were the first ones on it with Toonami in the late 90s and early 2000s. They should've kept focus on that and dropping their own Crunchyroll before Crunchyroll. They could've had a powerhouse service with a mix of western and Japanese cartoons. Classic cartoons, modern day cartoons, anime etc.

3

Awkward_Silence- Apr 14, 2026 +1

The funny part is they, or at least Cartoon Networks parent company, did end up owning Crunchyroll for a while there. But never passed anything really onto Toonami. Basically kept them independent to the detriment of both. Then sold Crunchyroll to Sony. Only to say a year or so later they wanted to get back into anime...

1

Amazing-Steak Apr 15, 2026 +1

they actually streamed their shows online a bit earlier than a lot of channels did back in the mid to late 00s. i remember this vividly as a kid who didn't have cable and happy to find i could watch shows online when they started doing it. they like everyone else cut down on that offering when hulu and netflix began to consolidate the market.

1

AndarielHalo Apr 14, 2026 +2

Capitalism

2

TristanDuboisOLG Apr 14, 2026 +2

We only had basic growing up. Cartoon Network was never on it.

2

philbofa Apr 14, 2026 +1

YouTube and cocomelon

1

Thebaldsasquatch Apr 14, 2026 +1

It’s [not](https://www.spectrum.com/cable-tv/channel-lineup), just the website is gone.

1

CJTus Apr 14, 2026 +5

The channel still exists, but many providers have moved it off their basic cable plan and to a higher tier. I lost access to CN last August and would have to upgrade my plan for an extra $10/mo. to get it back.

5

williamtheturd Apr 14, 2026 +1

My greedy cable company took it off basic and moved it up 3 tiers, as they did Turner Classic Movies. Just damn.

1

Sea_Housing_6490 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I don't think teens and kids even know what those are anymore lol

1

Rareexample Apr 14, 2026 +1

It’s free on the internet channel

1

Darklumiere Apr 14, 2026 +1

I think it's more than basic cable isn't feasible as a concept anymore, free ad powered TV streaming defeats it. Cable, even premium cable was always filled with commercials, and you didn't even get to absolutely pick what you wanted to watch besides in a limited fashion, On-Demand. Modern free streaming apps like Tubi, Roku and Freeplay have ads just like cable, but you actually get to pick the exact show and often times episode you want to watch. Why should Cartoon Network continue to operate a cable channel for a few people, when a majority will just select an episode from their's or a third party's website?

1

nemofbaby2014 Apr 14, 2026 +1

It isn't? Does basic cable even exist anymore?

1

Apprehensive_War173 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Yeah, it feels weirdly surreal. It used to just always be there when you were flipping channels, like part of the default TV experience. I guess with streaming and everything, kids aren’t really growing up the same way with channels like that anymore. still kind of sad though, it felt like a shared thing everyone had.

1

Wodentinot Apr 14, 2026 +1

I have Spectrum cable and it has the Cartoon Network on channel 53.

1

Longjumping-Word-935 Apr 14, 2026 +1

I have the Entertainment pack from DirecTV and was able to record & watch Smiling Friends on Adult Swim on Sunday night. Channel 296 for DTV subscribers and it also is still Cartoon Network too.

1

CanalVillainy Apr 14, 2026 +1

Sports & news are the only things people will watch live with consistency. Everything else is dominated by streaming.

1

NosDarkly Apr 14, 2026 +1

If its Xfinity, they've kind of been at war with TimeWarner for years.

1

Comfortable_Bird_340 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Nobody watches cable anymore, it’s all about streaming

1

nojam75 Apr 14, 2026 +1

No one under 50 has cable anymore.

1

disabledinaz Apr 14, 2026 +1

Still on my basic cable

1

SurlyJSurly Apr 14, 2026 +1

Do you have Youtube TV? If you do 'Cartoon Network' and 'Adult Swim' are actually separate channels now and one or the other is off line while the other is active.

1

tultommy Apr 14, 2026 +1

Still having cable is pretty lame lol.

1

break_card Apr 14, 2026 +1

I used to watch CN all the time as a kid, but talking with others in adulthood a lot of parents didn’t let their kids watch it. Either because there were some shows parents didn’t want their kids watching, or because they saw adult swim and didn’t want their kids anywhere near that programming. And honestly, I get it. When I was like 8 I watched *that* scene in full metal alchemist, and it f****** tortured me to the point where I vividly remember where I was and how I felt when I saw it to this day.

1

mattyGOAT1996 Apr 15, 2026 +1

Thank streaming

1

Big_Tap3530 Apr 15, 2026 +1

It’s crazy that people still have cable!

1

MrRasmiros Apr 17, 2026 +1

Cash grab to push people onto streaming paid apps. Everything is a cash grab

1

Excellent-Base-637 Apr 19, 2026 +1

MeTV TOONS is the new Cartoon Newtwork

1

Pretend-Mango-1295 Apr 14, 2026 +1

Hbo or Warner Bros. owns it now. It's great having the catalog for both whenever you feel like watching any show. Worth it

1

Careless-Economics-6 Apr 14, 2026 +8

They’ve owned it since 1996

8

zowietremendously Apr 14, 2026 +1

Read the book project 2025. This was trump and maga's plan the entire time. They are out to destroy everything you love. They start with television. Not limited to television. They wrote a book about it. And the black lady warned everyone about it.

1

WebMD_PhD Apr 14, 2026 +1

Our cable provider cut Comedy Central over a decade ago saying that their parent company charged too much. Yet they keep raising the cost of cable and never brought CC back.

1

TheyTheirTheyre Apr 14, 2026 +1

You don’t know how television works A small fraction of the customer base will cancel cable because they lost Comedy Central Cable prices keep going up because sports channels. NFL, NBA, etc renew tv contracts every 4-5 years and it’s always a monumental jumps in price. Why? Because it’s one of the few forms of media where people watch live. Cable companies cannot drop ESPN/ABC, TNT, etc because people will cancel. It’s a losing battle.

1

DCDHermes Apr 14, 2026 +1

It’s crazier people still pay for cable.

1

It’s crazy Cartoon Network isn’t on basic cable anymore

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