How do we save Adult Swim's ratings?

Have Adult Swim offered an explanation for the ratings?

Ratings have entered a black hole over the last 5 years and the trend of lowered viewership has accelerated across the board on all but premium networks, and even they've begun to slip. Streaming, downloading, and apps are doing away with the old TV model at long last; cable TV may be a thing of the past by the middle of the next decade at this rate.

You can't "save the ratings", you dipshit. Cable TV is a dying content delivery system and [adult swim] was a niche network/programming block well before the decline of cable TV. What the fuck makes you think ratings can ever be saved for a programming block that is basically endless reruns of Seth MacFarlane shows?

>>94363014
Why do they air so much McFarlane?

>>94363426
Because it lets them spend money on more extravagant stuff like Rick&Morty and Toonami's packaging.

MORE SETH MCFARLANE SHOWS

>Fuck with viewers for years
>Ratings go down.
I hope Lazzo goes down with them.

>>94363426
When Adult Swim started, it was an experiment in filling the niche for adult animation that had some small scale successes in Aqua Teen and Space Ghost before acquiring the rights to Futurama and Family Guy in 2003 among a number of other failed network tv shows. These two shows brought a new audience to the network and word of mouth helped boost ratings to the point where both shows' popularity would help them be revived into the adult animation giants they still are today.

By 2005, Adult Swim was it's own technical network and dominated in the late night ratings and coveted 18 - 35 demographic and helped start the careers of Tim and Eric and launched big hits like The Boondocks and Robot Chicken as well as acquiring the first syndication rights to new Seth McFarlane hit American Dad as a "thank you" from him for saving his career. They would continue to increase in popularity as a showcase for surreal humor and experimentation among geeks and stoners alike, crossing the boundaries between newer internet humor/styled content as well.

In 2008, they lost the rights to Futurama, their second highest rated show, which was a huge blow for them. They soon acquired King of the Hill to fill its place. Still the network continued to grow, with acquisitions like The UK Office and the cult classic movie "The Room" expanding their reputation as countercultural and internet cultural tastemakers.

>>94364194
Around their 10th anniversary in 2011, however, they made a shift towards increasing their broadcast hours as well as the number of FOX reruns aired, with the Cleveland Show having been acquired in 2010 and Bob's Burgers in 2012. They also struck huge hits with shows like Rick and Morty and Eric Andre in 2013, they year they had the best ratings in their history, helped by FOX shows like Family Guy consistently pulling well over 3 million viewers every night. This caused them to even moreso purge their schedule of the older and really avant-garde shows that had helped them build their legacy and simply redirect towards airing as many FOX reruns and producing as many Eric Andre and Rick and Morty-esque originals for the current "social media" generation to latch onto.

This move alienated many longtime fans and at the same time, online streaming became the dominant format and cable cutting much more prevalent. Adult Swim and the rest of cable TV began to bleed viewers. As a result, Adult Swim continued to make their schedules as rigid with FOX reruns and only the most popular AS originals in order to hold onto what was left of cable viewership and appeal to the largest common denominator. As it now stands, FOX reruns now make up roughly 80% of AS programming on most nights of the week. Why? Because normies and casuals who still watch cable love them. The other 20% is predominantly reruns of normie garbage like Robot Chicken or other shows that draw in large crowds of current youth-aged casuals like Rick and Morty and Eric Andre.

Just a couple years ago, Adult Swim could run the whole 10 hour broadcast with an audience of at least 1 million viewers at all times if not far higher. Now, Adult Swim is lucky if they have 1 million viewers for 2 hours a night, much less two or three.

>>94364221
Last Saturday, the highest rated program was Family Guy with 941,000 viewers. By contrast, exactly two years prior to that, the highest rated program was also Family Guy, but this airing had 3,000,084 viewers.

Less Reddit and morereddit and less McFarlane. More aqua teens and metalocalypse, less live action shows, unless it's ironic.

>>94364362
> less live action shows, unless they're ironic

did adult swim ever air any live action shows that weren't ironic?

>People saying get rid of family guy

That's literally what is funding the network faggots

>>94365854
Honestly, keep Family Guy but kill Cleveland and make King of the Hill a 5:30 AM only show like they used to do with Home Movies and Inuyasha once the ratings got too low.

File: DAKqdeLU0AEcj8d.jpg (164KB, 900x1200px) Image search: [Google]

164KB, 900x1200px

>>94362769

Cable TV is dying in favor of streaming.

Adult Swim probably does not cost too much to maintain, but they have always offered streaming alternatives.

if the 3m viewers are on tube, the actual views have to be much higher since the premier simultaneously premiered on their website.

You also gotta take merch into account. People eat up R&M merch. Remember the Rick Mobile? That was just an excuse to sell shit. Nothing else happened at that event.

Adult Swim is fine, even if people pirate the show, they can't pirate Mr Poopy Butthole beach towels and R&M Monopoly.

File: the_destiny_gang_by_24_crayons-d5l05xs.png (654KB, 900x1010px) Image search: [Google]

654KB, 900x1010px

>>94362769
Have a mature Adventure Time continuation/spin-off of pic related from the main timeline.