Fox Kids: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Line 32:

According to James B. Stewart's book ''[[DisneyWar]]'', Fox Kids' history is intertwined with that of the [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] children's program block ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]''. ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]],'' the series that served as the launching pad for ''The Disney Afternoon'', premiered in syndication in September 1987, airing on Fox's [[Fox Television Stations|owned-and-operated stations]] as well as various Fox affiliates in many markets. This may have been due to the fact that [[the Walt Disney Company]]'s [[chief operating officer]] at the time, [[Michael Eisner]], and his then-[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] counterpart, [[Barry Diller]], had worked together at [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and at [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref name="Stewart">{{Cite book |last=James B. Stewart |url=https://archive.org/details/disneywar00jame_0/page/94 |title=Disney War |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-6848-0993-1 |location=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/disneywar00jame_0/page/94 94–95] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

In 1988, Disney purchased [[Independent station (North America)|independent]] [[television station]] KHJ-TV in [[Los Angeles]], changing its call letters to [[KCAL-TV]] the next year. The station's new owners wanted ''DuckTales'' to be shown on KCAL, effectively taking the local television rights to the animated series away from Fox-owned [[KTTV]]. Furious at the [[breach of contract]], Diller pulled ''DuckTales'' from all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same,<ref name="disney">{{Cite news |last=Michael Cieply |date=February 22, 1990 |title=Disney, Fox Clash Over Children's TV Programming |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-22-fi-1569-story.html |access-date=May 11, 2011 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> though most did not initially. As Disney went forward in developing ''The Disney Afternoon'', Fox (whose schedule at the time was limited to [[prime time]] programming on Saturday and Sunday nights) began the process of launching its own children's programming lineup.

Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes battle was underway with serious implications on the Los Angeles station's future—and that of its owner. In 1965, [[RKO General]] faced a threat to its license for KHJ-TV from a group called Fidelity Television.<ref name="FCC TV Table">{{cite web|url=http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs//document/view.action?id=1004990001|title=Petition for Rulemaking|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|format=PDF|date=February 5, 1991|access-date=July 20, 2015}}</ref> At first, Fidelity's claim focused on channel 9's programming quality. Later, Fidelity levied a more serious claim that KHJ-TV was involved in reciprocal trade practices. Fidelity alleged that RKO's parent company, General Tire, forced its retailers to purchase advertising on KHJ-TV and other RKO-owned stations as a condition of their contracts with General Tire. An administrative law judge found in favor of Fidelity, but RKO appealed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} In 1972, the FCC allowed RKO to keep the license for KHJ-TV, but two years later conditioned future renewals on the renewal of sister station [[WNAC-TV (defunct)|WNAC-TV]] in [[Boston]].<ref name="Fidelity TV v. FCC">{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/515/f2d/684/fidelity-television-inc-v-federal-communications-commission|title=515 F. 2d 684 - Fidelity Television Inc v. Federal Communications Commission|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=June 30, 1975|volume=F2d|issue=515|page=684|access-date=July 20, 2015|last1=Circuit|first1=District of Columbia}}</ref>

Six years later, the FCC stripped WNAC-TV of its license for numerous reasons, but largely because RKO had misled the commission about corporate misconduct at General Tire. The decision was affirmed after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in April 1982.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-04-26.pdf|title=It's all over for RKO's WNAC-TV.|date=April 26, 1982|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 6, 2020|pages=27–28}}</ref> The FCC awarded a replacement license for channel 7 in Boston to New England Television, a merger of two competing groups for a new channel 7. RKO General sold off WNAC-TV's non-license assets to New England Television,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-04-26.pdf|title=The heirs presumptive for Boston ch. 7|date=April 26, 1982|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 6, 2020|pages=28–29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/1982-05-10-BC-OCR-Page-0128.pdf|title=In brief.|date=May 10, 1982|periodical=Broadcasting|access-date=April 15, 2019|page=128}}</ref> who used them to launch WNEV-TV (now [[WHDH (TV)|WHDH]]) in place of WNAC-TV that May 21.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Jack|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/437223949|title=At Channel 7, an era ends, an era begins.|date=May 21, 1982|periodical=The Boston Globe|access-date=April 15, 2019|page=25}}</ref><ref name="Broadcasting3">{{cite news|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/BC-1982-05-24-Page-0041.pdf|title=Overnight in Boston: WNAC-TV turns into WNEV|date=May 24, 1982|work=Broadcasting|access-date=July 19, 2011|location=Washington, D.C.|page=41}}</ref> The WNAC-TV decision also meant KHJ-TV and sister station WOR-TV in [[New York City]] had lost their licenses, but an appeals court ruled that the FCC erred when it tied channel 9's renewal to that of WNAC-TV and ordered new hearings for KHJ-TV and WOR-TV.<ref name=":0" />

The hearings dragged on for five years; as a result of this, the station was forced to air an unusually large amount of public-affairs programming; a combination of this and the station's cash reserves being drained by RKO's legal battles led to decreased ratings (and the station's perception as an "also-ran").<ref name="lat" /> For a time, KHJ-TV's large slate of sports programming was virtually the only thing keeping the station afloat.

On August 11, 1987, FCC [[administrative law judge]] Edward Kuhlmann found RKO General unfit to be a broadcast licensee due to numerous cases of dishonesty on both its part and that of parent company [[GenCorp]] (the renamed General Tire), including fraudulent billing and lying about its ratings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965303,00.html|title=Turning Off RKO's Licenses: A harsh ruling from the FCC|date=August 24, 1987|work=[[Time Magazine]]|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> Kuhlman ordered that all of RKO General's broadcast licenses be revoked.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mesce|first=Deborah|url=https://apnews.com/88a0d0a56519773dd21fa1761e843780|title=RKO Faces Loss of 14 Radio and TV Station Licenses|date=August 12, 1987|work=[[The Associated Press]]|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Boyer|first=Peter|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/12/business/renewal-rejected-for-rko-stations.html|title=Renewal Rejected for RKO Stations|date=August 12, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=D1}}</ref> This ruling notably excluded WOR-TV, which had already been divested to [[MCA Inc.]] nine months prior, and was renamed [[WWOR-TV]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/27/arts/fcc-approves-sale-of-wor-tv-to-mca.html|title=F.C.C. Approves Sale Of WOR-TV to MCA|date=November 27, 1986|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=C-18}}</ref> GenCorp initially filed an appeal,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Molotsky|first=Irvin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/20/arts/rko-general-appeals-permit-renewal-ruling.html|title=RKO General Appeals Permit-Renewal Ruling|date=October 20, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=C-22}}</ref> only to withdraw it after the FCC warned that any appeal would almost certainly be denied outright. The FCC strongly advised GenCorp to divest its remaining properties in order to avoid the indignity of additional license stripping without any compensation.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Grace|first=Roger|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/reminiscing120502.htm|title=REMINISCING (Column): KHJ Enveloped in Scandal|date=December 5, 2002|work=[[Metropolitan News-Enterprise]]|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=18}}</ref>

In the midst of RKO's corporate issues, the company reached terms to sell KHJ-TV to [[Westinghouse Broadcasting]] in November 1985.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1985/BC-1985-11-11.pdf|title=Group W white knight to RKO's KHJ-TV for $313 million|date=November 11, 1985|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|pages=39–40}}</ref> However, the protracted legal issues delayed FCC action on the transfer and Westinghouse ultimately withdrew its offer. A short time later, RKO General agreed to sell the station to [[The Walt Disney Company]];<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1987/BC-1987-03-16.pdf|title=Gillett buys WTVT Tampa; Disney tries for KHJ-TV|date=March 16, 1987|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=43}}</ref> however, this transfer was also held up for over a year for the same reasons. Fidelity Television, the group that originally challenged the license in 1965, also argued against the sale. In July 1988, the FCC allowed Disney to acquire channel 9 for $324 million in a complicated settlement. RKO dropped its bid to renew the station's license, handing it to Fidelity Television. Disney then bought the channel 9 license from Fidelity for $105.4 million and KHJ-TV's non-license assets ([[intellectual property]], studios, etc.) from RKO for $218.6 million. According to FCC general counsel Diane Killory, the settlement had the same effect as finding RKO unfit to be a broadcast licensee, and RKO thus had no choice but to "get out of the business of broadcasting" (though it would take another three years for RKO to unwind its broadcasting interests).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1988/BC-1988-07-25.pdf|title=FCC gives RKO green light to sell stations|date=July 25, 1988|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|page=33}}</ref>

Soon after taking over, Disney fired KHJ-TV's entire management team, including longtime general manager Charles Velona. In the following months, several of the station's newscasters were pushed out as well.<ref name="lat" /> During the RKO/Fidelity/Disney transition, KHJ-TV's [[city of license]] was changed to the Los Angeles suburb of [[Norwalk, California|Norwalk]], also as part of the FCC settlement. For all intents and purposes, though, it remained a Los Angeles station; the license was moved back to Los Angeles proper on October 28, 1991.<ref name="fcc-kcalnonorwalk">{{cite web |last=Ruger|first=Michael C.|title=Report and Order (Proceeding Terminated) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq0jem_4RMoC&q=Fidelity%20KCAL%201991&pg=PA5317 |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=June 8, 2020 |date=September 11, 1991}}</ref>

On December 2, 1989, Disney changed the station's callsign to KCAL-TV, and relaunched the station as "California 9", selected from a shortlist of three possible monikers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MacMinn |first=Aleene |date=October 3, 1989 |title=NAME CHANGE? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-03-ca-423-story.html |access-date=August 19, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Channel 9's longtime radio sisters had changed their calls to [[KRTH]] some years before, so Disney was theoretically free to continue trading on the KHJ call letters' 66-year legacy in Southern California. However, newly hired station manager Blake Byrne said that market research revealed the station was seen as a "non-entity" in the market, leading Disney to conclude that it needed a fresh start. Disney did, however, keep a fresco mural of RKO stars in the station lobby.<ref name="lat" /> The station also continued to overhaul its format in the wake of its ownership change, adding a three-hour prime time newscast on March 5, 1990,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wasko|first1=Janet|title=Hollywood in the Information Age: Beyond the Silver Screen|date=May 2, 2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0745669021|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoBnAgAAQBAJ&q=The+Disney+Afternoon+news+-wiki&pg=PT59|access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref> featuring veteran newscasters [[Jerry Dunphy]], [[Pat Harvey]], Larry Carroll and [[Jane Velez-Mitchell]]. KCAL also added many more children's programs, including cartoons from the Walt Disney animation library (including the syndicated series ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]'' and ''[[Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (TV series)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'', and later ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]''). The station also added a few more family-oriented off-network sitcoms and syndicated programs and then broadcast the popular [[anime]] series ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'',<ref name=wip>[[Michael Eisner|Eisner, Michael D.]] (March 22, 2011). Chapter 7: Animation. Chapter pages 48-52. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dutn82mnePoC&dq=The+Disney+Afternoon+station&pg=PT431 Work in Progress: Risking Failure, Surviving Success]. Hyperion.</ref> that lasted well into 1997. In the early 1990s, family sitcoms were gradually phased out and KCAL added more first-run syndicated talk, [[Reality television|reality]] and [[court show]]s, as well as [[newsmagazine]] series. The station's new owners wanted ''DuckTales'' to be shown on KCAL, effectively taking the local television rights to the animated series away from Fox-owned [[KTTV]]. Furious at the [[breach of contract]], Diller pulled ''DuckTales'' from all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same,<ref name="disney">{{Cite news |last=Michael Cieply |date=February 22, 1990 |title=Disney, Fox Clash Over Children's TV Programming |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-22-fi-1569-story.html |access-date=May 11, 2011 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> though most did not initially. As Disney went forward in developing ''The Disney Afternoon'', Fox (whose schedule at the time was limited to [[prime time]] programming on Saturday and Sunday nights) began the process of launching its own children's programming lineup.

Fox Kids was launched on September 8, 1990, as the '''Fox Children's Network''', a [[joint venture]] between the Fox Broadcasting Company and its affiliates.<ref name="Fox Kids" /> Originally headed by division president [[Margaret Loesch]], its programming aired for 30 minutes per day on Monday through Fridays, and for 3 hours on Saturday mornings.