| Type | Online Network (2008-present) Saturday morning cartoon block (2002-2008) On-demand channel (2008-Present) |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National International |
| Slogan | What's inside the Fox Box? (2002-2003) The Fox Box rocks! (2003-2005) The Game Station (2007-2008) |
| Owner | 4Kids Entertainment/News Corporation (television)/STAR TV (Asia) |
| Key people | Alfred R. Kahn |
| Launch date | September 14, 2002 |
| Dissolved | December 27, 2008 (television) |
| Former names | FoxBox (2002-2005) |
| Former affiliations | Fox The CW |
| Official website | http://www.4kidstv.com |
4Kids TV (often shown as "4K!DS TV") is the name for a current Internet-based video on demand children's network and a former Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule. 4Kids TV was the result of a four-year agreement reached in January 2002 between 4Kids Entertainment and Fox to lease the network's Saturday morning programs.
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The block launched under the name "FoxBox" on September 14, 2002 as a joint venture between Fox Broadcasting Company & 4kids Entertainment, replacing Fox Kids which was dissolved following the purchase of Fox Family Worldwide by The Walt Disney Company . It was re-branded 4Kids TV on January 22, 2005 . 4Kids Entertainment is wholly responsible for the content of the block and collects all advertising revenues from it .
The programming block aired on Saturday mornings in most areas of the United States, though some stations carried it on Sundays . 4Kids actually ran two competing Saturday morning lineups; on May 24, 2008, 4Kids Entertainment replaced the Kids' WB programming block aired on The CW Television Network on Saturday mornings with a new block, The CW4Kids.[1][2]
It was announced in November 2008 that 4Kids TV would conclude at the end of the year due to intervening conflicts between Fox and 4Kids, as 4Kids had not paid the network for the time lease for a time, while the network was unable to maintain the guaranteed 90% clearance for the block due to affiliate refusals and an inability to secure secondary affiliates to carry the programming. The block ended on December 27, 2008.[3] Fox announced that the time would no longer be used for kids programming, owing that it was no longer viable due to the burden of E/I programming and the insurmountable competition from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel and Discovery Kids since the time was used for kids programming since 1990.[4] On January 3, 2009, the network gave two hours back to affiliates (likely began to encourage them to begin Saturday morning newscasts or began to make fulfilling their E/I requirements easier), while the other two hours became an informercial block titled Weekend Marketplace.[5] The 4KidsTV logo now only exists as the closing logo for 4Kids Entertainment for 4Kids shows run outside of The CW4Kids block (to become Toonzai in September 2010) outside of the United States.
4Kids launched an online video player on their website on September 8, 2007, and has been adding full episodes and more videos and content since then. However, it was revamped on September 25, 2008, though in beta testing . Promotions stated that 4Kids TV would be "moving online" starting in January 2009, implying that the video player would take full effect then, but it was still in beta testing . However, 4Kids seemed to increase the rate that shows were added to the player at that point . On September 9, 2009, the beta symbol was removed, and the player was revamped again .
Currently released
| Show | Currently released episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chaotic | Episodes 1-79 | Complete series. |
| Cubix: Robots for Everyone | Episodes 1-26 | Complete series |
| Dinosaur King | Episodes 1-79 | Complete series. |
| Dragon Ball Z Kai | Episodes 1-50 | New episodes air each Saturday on Toonzai. |
| GoGoRiki | Episodes 1-2, 4-11, 14-31 | Mostly up to date with a few skipped episodes. |
| Huntik: Secrets & Seekers | Episodes 1-52 | Season 2 will be airing in November 2011. |
| Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight | Episodes 1-40 | Complete series, including the final 2 episodes which never aired on US television. |
| Magi-Nation | Episodes 1-26 | Complete series on 4KidsTv. |
| Rollbots | Episodes 1-9 | Unknown |
| Sonic X | Episodes 1-78 | Complete Series |
| Tai Chi Chasers | Episodes 1- | |
| Viva Piñata | Episodes 1-79 | Complete series |
| WMAC Masters | Episodes 1-26 | Complete Series. |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! | Episodes 1-224 (and Capsule Monsters episodes 1-12) | Complete series, including the Capsule Monsters OVA. The Capsule Monsters episodes are listed as part of Season 5, between the Grand Championship and Dawn of the Duel episodes, which is their spot in the show's continuity. |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's | Episodes 1-110, 123-129, 131-136 | Complete series, and 31 episodes were not dubbed because of the lawsuit. |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! GX | Episodes 1-155 | Unknown when new episodes are added, and has yet to be decided upon for a return. |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal | Episodes 1- |
4Kids had Papercrafts, where you can make paper characters from 4Kids shows.
| Show | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Chaotic | Chaor, Maxxor, H'earring, Intress |
| Dinosaur King | Chomp, Max |
| GoGoRiki | Ottoriki, Pogoriki, Rosariki, Docoriki |
| Huntik: Secrets & Seekers | Dante Vale, Sophie Casterwill, Zhalia Moon, Lok Lambert |
| Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight | Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, Kamen Rider Torque, Kamen Rider Strike |
| Kirby: Right Back at Ya! | Kirby, Tiff, Tuff, Meta-Knight, King Dedede |
| Sonic X | Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Dr. Eggman, Rouge |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, Splinter, Casey Jones, The Shredder, Foot Ninja |
| DarkEye Trio | - |
New stamps appear on the site each day. There are also covers to select as one's stampbook. Bonus stamps are awarded for collected the number of required stamps in a given set. Below are a few examples.
| Show | Stamps |
|---|---|
| Dinosaurs | Apatosaurus, Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Pteranodon, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor |
| Dragon Ball Z Kai | Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Bulma, Shenron |
| Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight | Kit Taylor, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Len, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, Kase, Kamen Rider Siren, Xaviax (bonus) |
| Kirby: Right Back at Ya! | Escargoon, Falala, Fololo, Kirby, King Dedede, Lady Like, Meta-Knight, Sir Ebrum, Tiff, Tuff, Waddle Dee, Kirby Bonus! (bonus) |
| Ocean Life | Crab, Dolphin, Fish, Manta Ray, Octopus, Penguin, Seal, Sea Turtle, Shark, Whale |
| Outcast Bandicoot | Crunch Bandicoot, Tani Tiger, Doctor Neo Cortex, Koala Kong, Coco Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot, Kris Roo, Tiny Tiger, Dingodile, Fake Crash,Outcast Bandicoot logo (bonus) |
| Sonic X | Amy, Big the Cat, Cheese, Chris, Cream, Eggman, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Sonic X logo (bonus) |
| Super Mario Bros. | Bowser, Bowser Jr. Daisy, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Mario, Peach, Toad, Waluigi, Wario, Yoshi, Star (bonus) |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward | Bishop, Cody, Donatello, Hovershell, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Serling, Splinter, Starlee, Tank, The TMNT (bonus) |
| Viva Piñata | Paulie Pretztail and Fergy Fudgehog |
| Wild Animals | Armadillo, Crocodile, Elephant, Giraffe, Gorilla, Hippopotamus, Kangaroo, Lion, Ostrich, Rhinoceros, Tiger, Zebra |
| Winx Club | Amore, Bloom, Chatta, Flora, Layla, Lockette, Musa, Piff, Stella, Tecna, Tune, Digit (bonus) |
The block had a somewhat unusual relationship to the Fox Network. The programming was produced for Fox and offered to Fox affiliates first, so the Fox affiliate in any given area has right of first refusal. In the event a Fox affiliate or in some cases an O & O, Owned and Operated, Fox affiliate opts not to carry 4Kids TV the block then is available in the market for another television station to pick up. In fact, it was due in part to this relationship that 4Kids dissolved the block in 2008, as they had been promised clearance on at least 90% of Fox affiliates.
Most 4Kids TV programming did not meet the criteria to be considered educational and did not count toward the 3 hour per week mandatory educational children's programming quotas. The only exceptions were Winx Club, The Adrenaline Project, Magical DoReMi, Stargate Infinity, reruns of Back to the Future: the Animated Series, and Cubix (why this clause was not realized and these shows not aired together at any one time is unknown).
Note: These CW affiliates ran 4Kids TV on Sundays, due to their obligation to carry the The CW4Kids Saturday block or, as in the case of WUPA, Atlanta's CW Affiliate (who runs The CW4kids on Sunday[7] because of other programming content on Saturday)
Dating back to the Fox Kids days, the stations that Fox acquired from New World Communications in 1996 generally did not air 4Kids TV. In some of the New World markets, 4Kids was not aired on any station. In a majority of these markets, an independent station carried this block: in others, the MyNetworkTV affiliate carried it: in still others, the CW affiliate carried it. The exception was St. Louis, Missouri, where KTVI carried 4Kids TV (2 hours early, beginning at 5:00).
KASW signed on in September 1995 on channel 61. It was originally owned by the Brooks family and immediately secured a local marketing agreement with MAC America Communications, then owner of KTVK. KTVK bought the entire broadcast day on the station to run shows that did not fit into KTVK's schedule. The WB affiliation also went from KTVK to KASW. The station ran syndicated cartoons, Kids' WB! cartoons, first-run shows from The WB Television Network, classic sitcoms, recent sitcoms, old movies, and eventually Fox Kids by the end of 1996.
KNXV officially became Phoenix's ABC affiliate in January 1995, and KTVK nominally became the market's WB affiliate. However, it only showed WB programming on Saturday nights, so it was essentially an independent station. It also ran Fox Kids in the early afternoons and weekend mornings for about a year. The station aired Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and several off-network sitcoms during prime time.
KTVK owned a huge programming inventory, but lacked enough time in its broadcast day to air it all even after dropping ABC. As such, when the Brooks family launched a new station, KASW, in September, KTVK immediately entered into a local marketing agreement with the new station. KASW became a WB affiliate, and KTVK bought the new station's entire broadcast day. KTVK then reinstated Saturday morning newscasts.
Ironically, since 2001 Fox owned both KSAZ Fox 10 and KUTP My 45 (then UPN 45). It was thought that 4Kids TV would move to Channel 45 but Fox still passed on it even for their second station in that market. It therefore remained on KASW.