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Date Posted: 07:51:27 02/10/02 Sun
Author: Invader Nix
Subject: More info on why Zim was cancelled

Hey guys. I found this on the GIR boards. I think it makes more sense than the other rumours going around about why Nick cancelled Zim so I decided to share it with you.

"Viacom is in a cash crunch right now. A serious one. Not as serious as, say, NBC, but they're getting low on money.

Let's just assume that Nickelodeon gave Zim 4 seasons.

Here's some numbers for you.

An average Nicktoon costs between $300,000-$400,000 to produce per episode.

This would mean that a show like Spongebob Squarepants costs about $6 million per season.

Invader Zim costs $1.2 million dollars per episode.

So, to compare:

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, 1 SEASON = $6,000,000
INVADER ZIM, 1 SEASON = $24,000,000

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, 4 SEASONS = $24,000,000
INVADER ZIM, 4 SEASONS = $96,000,000.

Invader Zim costs between 3 to 4 times the amount of money that other Nicktoons cost.

(This excludes Klasky-Csupo cartoons, as K-C pays themselves. K-C then sells these shows to Nick, and gets an initial sum of money and then residuals.)

With that in mind, can you at least understand a little more why Zim was cancelled?

Yes, it was unfair to kick people out in the middle of a season.

But January is when Nick begins their new budget, and Zim was pulling underwhelming ratings. Yes, it is all of our fault. I seriously doubt anyone in here watched every Friday episode, the timeslot where it mattered most. I didn't. I had other things to do, but it's still partly my fault, as it is all of yours.

Zim had .5 ratings share below the show that initially occupied its Friday timeslot(before Zim moved in) and it had a terrible dropoff rate since April.


So the point of all this?

Zim's cancellation was inevitable, but for the wrong reason that many of you seem to think.

NICK COULDN'T AFFORD INVADER ZIM.

Let me repeat. If Nickelodeon gave Invader Zim 4 seasons, Nickelodeon WOULD HEAD STRAIGHT TOWARDS BANKRUPTCY.

Zim's cancellation was a business decision to keep from going under.

Thus, Invader Zim really should have premiered on another network. If we had a time machine, I would love to tell Jhonen to develop his show for Cartoon Network instead of Nickelodeon. But we don't.

The good news is that Jhonen said at Comic Con that he was considering a Squee cartoon. Now granted, that was WAY BACK IN AUGUST, but perhaps him being kicked out of Zim will give him a chance to do it, for a network such as Cartoon Network.

And if Jhonen got Squee on Cartoon Network, don't you think CN would also want to buy the rights to Zim, to bring more draw from Jhonen afficiandos?

There isn't much reason for this post, but I felt like posting it, because every day, someone keeps posting "This was because of 9/11!"(a false rumor started by disgruntled employee Micah Ian Wright, who was fired and banned from the studios for supporting the WGA) or "Jhonen threw the show!" or "Nick hates Zim and WANTED TO DO THIS BECAUSE THEY'RE EVIL!"

And I just wanted to set the record straight.... there is no conspiracy, there is no stupidity (Nick's move makes sense in a way). It's just a lose-lose situation for all involved and there was little anyone could do to stop it."

(Edited by Ultra Peepi at 10:38 pm on Feb. 9, 2002)

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