4Kids TV facts for kids
"The Game Station" logo used from September 8, 2007 to December 27, 2008
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| Network | Fox |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 14, 2002 |
| Closed | December 27, 2008 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner | 4Kids Entertainment |
| Formerly known as | FoxBox (2002–2005) |
| Original language(s) | English |
4Kids TV (often stylized as "4K!DSTV" and formerly known as FoxBox from 2002 to 2005) was a television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kids Entertainment. It originated as a weekly block on Saturday mornings on the Fox Broadcasting Company, which was created out of a four-year agreement reached on January 22, 2002, between 4Kids Entertainment and Fox to lease the five-hour Saturday morning time slot occupied by the network's existing children's program block, Fox Kids. It targeted at children aged 7–11. The 4Kids TV block was part of the Fox network schedule, although it was syndicated to other broadcast television stations in certain markets where a Fox affiliate declined to air it.
Programming
Former programming
Original programming
| Title | Premiere date | End date | Source(s) | Rights now owned by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultraman Tiga | September 14, 2002 | March 1, 2003 | ||
| Kirby: Right Back at Ya! | August 6, 2005 | Nintendo (Amazon Prime Video) | ||
| July 8, 2006 | January 6, 2007 | |||
| June 21, 2008 | December 27, 2008 | |||
| Ultimate Muscle | September 14, 2002 | May 22, 2004 | ||
| June 10, 2006 | August 19, 2006 | |||
| Fighting Foodons | September 14, 2002 | August 30, 2003 | Discotek Media (Crunchyroll) | |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | February 8, 2003 | December 27, 2008 | ViacomCBS (Mirage Studios) (Paramount+) | |
| WMAC Masters | July 5, 2003 | August 30, 2003 | ||
| Sonic X | August 23, 2003 | June 3, 2006 | Discotek Media (TMS Entertainment) (Netflix/Hulu) | |
| May 5, 2007 | December 27, 2008 | |||
| Funky Cops | August 23, 2003 | July 3, 2004 | Mediatoon | |
| Shaman King | August 30, 2003 | September 3, 2005 | ||
| Cubix: Robots for EveryoneE/I | September 6, 2003 | June 12, 2004 | Hasbro (Allspark) (Netflix) | |
| Winx ClubE/I | May 22, 2004 | December 27, 2008 | ViacomCBS (Rainbow S.R.L.) (Netflix/Paramount+) | |
| F-Zero GP Legend | September 4, 2004 | March 5, 2005 | Nintendo | |
| One Piece | September 18, 2004 | November 12, 2005 | Funimation (Crunchyroll) | |
| Mew Mew Power | February 19, 2005 | July 22, 2006 | Warner Bros. Entertainment (Kodansha/Pierrot) (HBO Max) | |
| Magical DoReMiE/I | August 13, 2005 | August 19, 2006 | ||
| G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 | August 27, 2005 | December 30, 2006 | Hasbro (Allspark) (Netflix) | |
| Viva PiñataE/I | August 26, 2006 | August 2, 2008 | Xbox Game Studios (Amazon Prime Video) | |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! | September 2, 2006 | August 25, 2007 | Konami (Crunchyroll/Hulu) | |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters | September 9, 2006 | November 25, 2006 | Konami (Crunchyroll/Hulu) | |
| Chaotic | October 7, 2006 | December 27, 2008 | Epic Story Media (Netflix) | |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! GX | September 1, 2007 | June 14, 2008 | Konami (Crunchyroll/Hulu) | |
| Dinosaur King | September 8, 2007 | September 6, 2008 | Discotek Media (Sunrise) (Crunchyroll/Netflix) |
Acquired programming
| Title | Premiere date | End date | Source(s) | Rights now owned by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stargate InfinityE/I | September 14, 2002 | March 15, 2003 | MGM Television (Netflix) | |
| The Cramp Twins | February 8, 2003 | August 19, 2006 | ||
| Pirate Islands | March 8, 2003 | August 2, 2003 | ||
| Back to the Future: The Animated SeriesE/I | March 22, 2003 | August 30, 2003 | NBCUniversal | |
| Martin Mystery | May 8, 2004 | June 19, 2004 | Zodiak Media (Amazon Prime Video) | |
| The Menu | June 5, 2004 | August 27, 2005 | ||
| Alien Racers | May 7, 2005 | July 23, 2005 | ||
| Bratz | August 20, 2005 | April 7, 2007 | Lionsgate (Netflix) | |
| Di-Gata Defenders | July 28, 2007 | December 27, 2008 | ||
| The Adrenaline ProjectE/I | September 29, 2007 | April 5, 2008 | ||
| Biker Mice from Mars | August 9, 2008 | December 27, 2008 |
Short-form programming
| Title | Premiere date | End date | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incredible Crash Dummies | September 18, 2004 | 2005 |
4KidsTV.com
Online network
4Kids launched an online video player on its website on September 8, 2007, and gradually added full-length episodes as well as additional video clips and online-exclusive content. However, it was revamped on September 25, 2008, in beta testing. Promotions stated that 4Kids TV would be "moving online" starting in January 2009, implying that the video player would be fully operational at that time; however it remained in beta testing by that month. However, 4Kids seemed to increase the number of shows that were added to the player at that point. The site fully launched on September 9, 2009, with the player receiving a revamp once again. The online network was shut down on November 2, 2012.
Relationship with Fox and broadcast ambiguities
The block had a somewhat unusual relationship to the Fox network. The programming was produced for Fox and offered to the network's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates first, so the Fox station in any given area had the right of first refusal. In the event that a Fox affiliate or in some cases, an O&O of the network—opted not to carry 4Kids TV, the block then became available for the local broadcast rights to be acquired by another television station. In fact, it was due in part to these carriage ambiguities that 4Kids dissolved the block in 2008, as they had been promised clearance on at least 90% of Fox's stations.
Most of Fox's owned-and-operated stations opted to carry 4Kids TV, these were mainly stations that had been owned by the network since Fox launched in October 1986 or were Fox charter affiliates that Fox Television Stations had acquired since that point. However dating back to the existence of the Fox Kids block, the twelve stations that Fox acquired from New World Communications in 1996 (and had earlier affiliated with the network through a 1994 multi-station affiliation deal—which prior to then, had been affiliated with ABC, NBC, or CBS) generally did not air 4Kids TV. In some of the New World markets, 4Kids was not carried on any station. In a majority of these markets, an independent station carried the block; in others, it was carried by either a UPN, or later, a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliate. The lone exception was in St. Louis, Missouri, where Fox O&O (now affiliate) KTVI carried the block (although it aired 4Kids TV two hours earlier that the network's recommended scheduling for the block, beginning at 5:00 a.m., due to the station's Saturday morning newscast).
Some of 4Kids TV's programming (such as Winx Club, The Adrenaline Project, Magical DoReMi, Stargate Infinity, reruns of Back to the Future: the Animated Series, and Cubix) met the criteria to be considered educational and informational under the requirements defined by the Children's Television Act, and counted toward the three-hour-per-week mandatory educational children's programming quotas outlined by the Federal Communications Commission. Outside of Fox, 4Kids TV's programming aired reruns on The WB every Sunday morning after a new episode aired on Saturday on Fox, and new episodes on The WB's children block Kids' WB.
Markets where 4Kids TV did not run at all
| City of license/market | Fox station | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham, Alabama | WBRC | WBRC (channel 6) dropped 4Kids TV predecessor Fox Kids upon becoming a Fox owned-and-operated station in September 1995, when it reached an agreement to allow outgoing Fox affiliate WTTO (channel 21) to continue carrying the block, WTTO dropped Fox Kids in 2000, resulting in 4Kids TV not being available in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa/Anniston market as it was not picked up by WBRC or any other television station in the market. |
| Greensboro/Winston-Salem/ High Point, North Carolina |
WGHP | WGHP (channel 8) dropped 4Kids TV predecessor Fox Kids in March 1996, when it reached an agreement for WB affiliate WTWB-TV (channel 20, now CW affiliate WCWG) to carry the block, WTWB-TV dropped Fox Kids in 2001, resulting in 4Kids TV not being available in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point market as the block was not picked up by WGHP or any other stations in the market. |
| Greenwood, Mississippi | WABG-DT2 | When ABC affiliate WABG-TV (channel 6) launched a Fox-affiliated digital subchannel in September 2006, the subchannel initially did not start broadcasting on Saturdays until 4:00 p.m. (or earlier if there were sports events scheduled to air), resulting in 4Kids TV not being available in the market during the last two years of its run. |
Markets where 4Kids TV ran on a MyNetworkTV affiliate
| City of license/market | Fox station | MyNetworkTV station carrying block |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Illinois | WFLD | WPWR-TV | Duopoly owned by Fox Television Stations, WPWR (channel 50) was a UPN affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas |
KDFW | KDFI | Duopoly owned by Fox Television Stations, KDFI (channel 27) was an independent station at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Detroit, Michigan | WJBK | WMYD | WMYD (channel 20, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) aired 4Kids TV on Sunday mornings, that station was a WB affiliate (under its former callsign WDWB) at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Miami, Florida | WSVN | WBFS-TV | WBFS (channel 33, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) was a UPN affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota |
KMSP-TV | WFTC | Duopoly owned by Fox Television Stations, WFTC (channel 29) was a former UPN affiliate that became a MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Portland, Oregon | KPTV | KPDX | Duopoly owned by the Meredith Corporation, KPDX (channel 49, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) was a UPN affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| San Antonio, Texas | KABB | KMYS | Duopoly owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group (KMYS has since been sold to Deerfield Media), KMYS (channel 35, now a CW affiliate) was a former WB affiliate (under its former callsign KRRT) at the time it took 4KidsTV from KABB. |
| Tucson, Arizona | KMSB-TV | KTTU | Duopoly owned at the time by Belo (KMSB has since been sold to Sander Media, LLC, KTTU has since been sold to Tucker Operating Co., LLC); KTTU (channel 18, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) was a UPN affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
Markets where 4Kids TV ran on a CW affiliate
Note: These CW affiliates ran 4Kids TV on Sundays, due to their obligation to carry The CW4Kids Saturday block (or, as in the case of Atlanta CW affiliate WUPA, which ran The CW4Kids on Sundays because of other programming airing on Saturdays).
| City of license/market | Fox station | CW station carrying block |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, Georgia | WAGA-TV | WUPA | WUPA (channel 69) was a UPN O&O at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV; it dropped the block before the station switched to The CW. |
| Cleveland, Ohio | WJW-TV | WBNX-TV | WBNX (channel 55, now an independent station) was a WB affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Fresno, California | KMPH-TV | KFRE-TV | Duopoly owned by Pappas Telecasting Companies (the stations have since been sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group), KFRE (channel 59, now a CW affiliate) was a WB affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Omaha, Nebraska | KPTM | KXVO | Duopoly owned by Pappas Telecasting Companies (the stations have since been sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group), KXVO (channel 15, now a CW affiliate) was a WB affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
| Phoenix, Arizona | KSAZ-TV | KASW | KASW (channel 61, now a CW affiliate) was a WB affiliate at the time it began carrying 4KidsTV. |
Markets where 4Kids TV ran on an independent station
| City of license/market | Fox station | Independent carrying block |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin, Texas | KTBC | K13VC | K13VC (channel 13) aired only the FoxBox incarnation of the block from September 14, 2002 until the low-power station shut down on March 29, 2003 to allow Univision owned-and-operated station KAKW-TV to launch its digital signal. |
| Kansas City, Missouri | WDAF-TV | KMCI-TV | KMCI (channel 38) aired the block on a one-hour delay starting at 8:00 a.m. |
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WITI | WMLW-CA | WMLW-CA (channel 41, now Me-TV affiliate WBME-CD; its programming and the WMLW call letters have since moved to a full-power station on channel 49) aired the block on Sundays starting at 8:00 a.m. |
| Tampa, Florida | WTVT | WMOR-TV | WMOR (channel 32) aired the block on Sundays starting at 8:00 a.m. |
See also
In Spanish: 4Kids TV para niños
