MEN AT WORK: June 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

Friday, June 27, 2014

CN HQ's ratings

Last year, I found this
"Por que será que os miúdos estão a preferir as ‘séries’ aos desenhos animados? A Disney acaba de se empoleirar no cocuruto do top dos canais mais vistos da TV paga – o Cartoon Network liderava desde 2002.

Ler mais em: http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/detalhe/noticias/lazer/tv--media/brincando-em-servico"
So it seems that Cartoon Network was the most-watched kids channel (and, simultaneously, English-speaking channel) for seven years. If anyone from Portugal has old pay TV ratings in general, please write them in the comments.
PS: that article only talks about Disney Channel's live-action shows and has no other mention of CN whatsoever

Boomerang shows with a Portuguese soundtrack available

Full dubs available:
Bably Looney Tunes (RTP 2, 2006ish; Canal Panda, 2013)
The Looney Tunes Show (RTP 2, 2012-2014)
Gerald McBoing Boing (RTP 2, 2008)
Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (RTP 1, 2002)
Tom and Jerry (DVD dubs)
Tom and Jerry Tales (RTP 2, 2010)
Jelly Jamm (RTP 2, 2013-now)
Pink Panther and Pals (DVD dubs)
The Flintstones (DVD dubs)
Wacky Races (DVD dubs)
What's New, Scooby-Doo? (two Biggs dubs, 2013)

Thursday, June 26, 2014

CN HQgate - part 2

Well, you've asked for it, and you deserve it: I told you that part 2 of the CN HQgate would be published only when Portugal would be disqualified from the World Cup... Uh... wait... there was no promise!

So basically...

8: I wish that I had a time machine. What would I do? Go back to 2010 to launch a Cartoon Network awareness campaign so that the channel would get more ratings. If such a thing happened:
a) CN HQ would still broadcast to Portugal only in English;
or b) CN HQ would still broadcast to Portugal in two languages: English first, then Portuguese in second because not all shows were dubbed.

9: Portugal needs a Turner office. Where? In Lisbon. More and more international companies are opening separate offices in Portugal, thus separating from Spain.

10: same as 8, but way back: I would travel back to 2004 and make a "CN Team" event in Lisbon, days before the start of Euro 2004. Sadly there are no time machines and I can't do anything.

11: Once again, travel back in time to the Portuguese dubbing studios and insist them in dubbing seasons that weren't dubbed and aired only in English.

12: Insist RTP in launching a CN block on RTP 1 (because they need to attract younger audiences) on weekend mornings (from 07:00 to 10:00) and on weekday mornings when kids are not at school (from 10:00 to 13:00).

13: Publish CN HQ and PT's schedules on TV magazines and probably bring CN HQ back, but if that channel is expensive nowadays, well I'm actually divided by this.

Now I'm waiting for an answer from Renata.

Full list of CN shows with a Portuguese translation

Full dubs available:
Ben 10 (SIC, 2009-2010)
Ben 10: Alien Force (SIC, 2010-2010)
The Powerpuff Girls (TVI, 2001-2006)
Cow and Chicken (TVI, 2000-2003)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (RTP 2, 2010)
Grojband (SIC K, 2013)
Hero: 108 (RTP 2 and (Panda) Biggs, 2011)
Skunk Fu! (Biggs, 2014)
Samurai Jack (RTP 2, 2002-2003, 2005-2006ish)
Time Squad (TVI, 2002ish)
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (Canal Panda, 2009)
Bakugan Battle Brawlers (TVI and (Panda) Biggs, 2009/2010)
Bakugan: New Vestroia ((Panda) Biggs, 2011)
George of the Jungle (Nickelodeon, 2009)
Dragons: Riders of Berk (SIC, 2013; CN, 2014)
Ongoing dubs available:
Regular Show (CN, 2014-now)
Adventure Time (CN, 2013-now)
Uncle Grandpa (CN, 2014-now)
Steven Universe (CN, 2014-now)
Ben 10: Omniverse (CN, 2013-now)
The Amazing World of Gumball (CN, 2013-now)
Green Lantern: The Animated Series (RTP 2, 2014)
Mixels (CN, 2014)
Dragons: Defenders of Berk (SIC, 2014; CN, 2014)
Partial dubs available:
Dexter's Laboratory (seasons 1-2, SIC, 2000-2001)
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (episodes with two segments only + full-length episodes; RTP 2, 2007, CN, 2014)
Johnny Test (seasons 1-3, (Panda) Biggs 2010-2011/CN 2013-now)
Sheep in the Big City (season 1, RTP 1 and 2, 2002)
Johnny Bravo (season 1 and probably season 2?, SIC, 2001)
HiHi Puffy AmiYumi (season 1, RTP 2, 2006)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (early seasons, SIC, 2008/2009)
No dubs available:
Ed, Edd n Eddy
Chowder
The Marvelous Misadvantures of Flapjack
I Am Weasel (standalone season)
Spaced Out
Robotboy
Teen Titans GO!
Generator Rex
Sym-Bionic Titan
Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)
Bakugan: Gundalian Invasion
Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Squirrel Boy
Camp Lazlo
My Gym Partner's a Monkey
Class of 3000
Best Ed
Mike, Lu & Og
Grim and Evil (original format)
Evil Con Carne (standalone show)
Megas XLR
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
Out of Jimmy's Head
No need because they weren't THAT popular in the USA:
The Problem Solverz
The Incredible Crew
Level Up
Robotomy
Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?
Cartoonstitute

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

CN HQgate

I found something that will potentially increase the number of views to 1000 by the end of the week.
If you're on the Toonzone Forums, then RegularCapital told me to e-mail Humphrey Black about CN HQ (and BM HQ returning). Almost two months later, I received an answer from Renata da Silva Araújo at Turner's office in Madrid, also talking about a hypothetical return of CN HQ to Portuguese shores, following Vodafone's footsteps in December 2013.

And now, for your delectation, my take on the e-mail I received from her:
1: The main reason why Turner invested on a "localized" channel for Portuguese audiences were the ratings. Down in the sewers. I can imagine a channel like any news channel in English having more or less viewers than CN HQ this time last year. I have to tell you that the channel's audiences were very low, very residual. Sadly, the aforementioned core target of channels aimed at kids in general is not composed of people who can speak English very perfectly but those who are learning it. The channel was an "educational" tool for twenty years and, that way, that perception is not right. If, in this very moment, CN is trying to conquer the ratings and reach the top 10 (or, in this case, return to the top 10), it's exactly because the channel's target disliked it for the fact that it was in English. Those who were born in the late 1990s and remember seeing the channel from an early age liked it and was their favorite channel. There were some advantages, like learning English any time (incluiding days without any school classes) and at home, without any language courses.

2: And it's right if, without a cartoon channel in English (two in this case, counting Boomerang), the language's exposition diminishes but we are probably not the best in Europe to speak Portuguese perfectly. In the past, 90% of all foreign content aired in their original language (or in another language, like what happened with the Shin-Ei animes on Canal Panda) and only the most popular shows were dubbed (when RTP had a TV monopoly). Later the market grew and 99% of all shows aimed at children (incluiding live-action shows, which used to be subtitled) are now dubbed. If you turn on FOX, AXN, Canal Hollywood and others, literally ALL the shows they air are subtitled! And the only "entertainment" channel (in English, without subtitles) focusing more on shows I get is BBC Entertainment! Let's just say that this is a characteristic that is decades old and it will SURELY never change. Also, twenty years ago, cable TV consisted solely of the terrestrial channels and tons of foreign channels (VIVA? Anyone?) and Portuguese-speaking channels were growing at a very slow rate.

3: That excellent characteristic (cue the Chef Excellence theme) is also another reason about why there's no dubbing "school" in Portugal. Portuguese dubs are sub-par compared to Spanish, French, Italian or Hungarian dubs because we don't have a dubbing tradition. They say that new dubs are underway to replace those awful ones.

4: As for the relation with Portugal and Spain: yes, I'm fully aware of it. You can see tons of Spanish products (products from Spanish companies) in Portugal. We have two full-scale El Corte Inglés department stores and a few supermarkets (incluiding one in Braga, where I live). Most companies have offices in Spain and also focus on Portugal for geographical purposes. For example: AXN, FOX, Disney and others. Their channels come from offices in Madrid (Nickelodeon/MTV has offices in Lisbon but takes their signal from Spain). However, both the closure of CN ES and the launch of CN PT aren't tangentially related to each other. Spain has the complete opposite of the pay TV situation: they launched the Spanish version of Boing with Mediaset España and CN ES closed down because Boing was more popular and all that. In the channel's final months it had a very meagre schedule. Boing is terrestrial and can be watched by literally anyone in Spain or anyone visiting Spain. Over here it can be watched in the border line, terrestrially.

5: We're sure that the team is the same: CN PT, Boing ES, the former CN ES. CN ES closed due to low ratings and became a web platform. Telecable, a local TV provider in northern Spain was aware of the upcoming situation and decided to remove it, replacing it with Disney XD. She agrees that when CN PT launched, the channel wasn't conveniently translated (incredibly enough, there was a difficulty in finding the right people and translators because they weren't on their better days...!). Here's the example I talked with her:
PT: "...ele é a mascote preferida das crianças"
ES: "...es la mascota favorita de los niños"
Disney had that problem. On the brighter side, we thank them for inventing, in 2011, the definitive Portuguese word for frenemy: "aminimigo". Promos are now adapted by Portuguese people and come from the USA, London or other offices in the EMEA region. Promos are made specifially for CN PT (and also for Boing ES) and there's promo interchange between European feeds, so the same promo can be seen on CN FR, IT, DE, UK and others. I'm aware of that, the RS premiere promo was the season 3 premiere promo from CN HQ (the one on CN HQ had a calm announcer).

6: Finally, the channels that appear on each provider have a serious period of negotiation and money. The reason why the Arab World gets two CNs is because there's still market for channels in English (because of the huge amount of expatriates and the fact that most Middle Eastern countries used to be British colonies up until the last century). It doesn't have to do with satellites... or is it? CN Arabic is FTA, MBC 3 airs Nickelodeon shows and Jeem TV airs Disney shows. Let's not forget the ridiculously HIGH number of expatriates living in the Algarve: if they want channels in English, then they have to use IPTV "providers" containing an unusually high number of British terrestrial channels (some of those providers carry Irish terrestrial channels) but not legally. We don't know if there are any hotels in the Algarve carrying CN HQ. As for the Arab World having two CNs, it depends on your pockets because you need OSN or another TV provider to watch it.
This petition I'm making for Turner would also apply for NOS, however those channels are (or may be) expensive, but those channels could be cheap and have ratings reaching up to 1%. CN HQ and TCM HQ are (in this case, were) cult channels in the past few years (Boomerang was, but to a very limited extent). All those times I went to ZON's store at Braga Parque (or NOS) and was talking about CN HQ and trying to bring it back resulted in stuff like "you need to go to England" or "we can't".

7: Concluding, she says that other Turner channels will arrive to Portugal, whose formats will be analyzed. A wider view at the Portuguese market did not satisfact everyone. Sadly, she couldn't comprehend it very clearly and didn't understand that I could get the English soundtrack since January and that I wasn't fully satisfied.

If there's something wrong, please correct me. Also, don't forget to comment!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

CN HQ Breakfast Club promo

Click here
Only airing on Saturdays from 07:00 WET. Oh how I miss this channel so much I really want it back.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

CN HQ World Cup promos

Song (WARNING: Very cringeworthy!)
Copa Toon ad
I know that these are annoying but they are way better than the ones on CN PT.
EDIT: 16/04/2014: It seems that CN PT now has the promo. Sadly enough, part of the song wasn't sung and also untranslated.

About CN HQ...

...there are problems.
If I had a time machine, I could convince Turner to launch a partial secondary audio track on CN HQ in order to preserve Cartoon Network as it is. It has remained unchanged for twenty years and then they launched the Portuguese feed in Portugal, thus officially ending a generation of learning English from cartoons and Portuguese children have no choice.
In case CN HQ wants to focus on European viewers again, there are my hypotheses:
-Relaunch it in Europe as an emergency feed or as a pay channel (pay in the "not available in basic cable" sense);
-Relaunch it in Portugal and put it on the top ten;
-Relaunch it in selected European nations.
Portugal needs CN HQ, we can't get it and we can't watch cartoons in English no more...
Please comment.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

CN HQ's ratings

The following image contains ratings from CN HQ, and yes, they were very low.
Some of the least-rated channels on March 19th, 2013. Try and spot Cartoon Network:

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Cartoon Network Warm-Up Week promo

Click here
Notice that at the end you can see CARTOONNETWORKHQ.NET written on the bottom of the screen, so what Red Arrow :D told me on the forums was actually wrong, so maybe there's still some hope.
CN PT is not doing something like that block, and I miss stuff like that...

Friday, June 6, 2014

About CN HQ's website...

A Toonzone user called RegularCapital went to cartoonnetworkhq.net and said that the website was updated to add this year's Toon Cup... *cough cough* I mean Copa Toon.
I didn't play Copa Toon 2014 because I was disappointed that you couldn't play as a country... These are the inconveniences of making a game from Brazil, where this year's World Cup will be hosted.
Weirdly enough, all four Toon Cups (2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013) were won by Romania...
Maybe that's the reason why they stopped using that funcionality...
But maybe there's still some hope for CN HQ to return to Portugal. If only it had a better schedule...

Hi, Romania!

Looking at this blog's statistics, it seems that this new blog is slowly becoming popular with Romanians.
Two of them are looking at this blog right now!

Why hello there

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU DARE DEFEAT...
...my wins?!
It's my triumphant return to the blogging industry after fourteen months outside of it!
Sorry for this but it seems that things are about to change right now. It's 2014 already and Portugal is no longer getting Cartoon Network HQ. We'll find out more about that later.
Anyway, here's the backstory on this blog:
The year was 2012. The month was February. I already turned 14 that month. Not too long after, on the 29th of February (2012 was a leap year, for those who don't know) and because I was sick for pretty much most of the month (two weeks, give it or take), something changed my life forever.
When I was in 8th grade, we did random stuff, and on that day, our class created blogs. Some of my friends already had blogs, others, like myself, didn't. So I hastily created a bad blog which had little to no potential audience and only one comment from another person. I also created a studies blog which also had that problem, but with almost no comments. Then another one about weird TV shows, also no success. The only successful blog I had was "Cartoon Network HQ and Boomerang HQ stuff" - because "stuff" looked better than "schedule" and I said that with that name, I could include content that's not just schedules. At the end of March 2012, the Portuguese blogging landscape added a new English-speaking blog, one of the fewest ones to exist in the English language. I used that blog to talk about CN HQ and BM HQ's schedules, highlights and other stuff.
All of a sudden, things changed. The biggest turning point I had was in... June. I posted a video of a previous Toon Cup and the list of countries taking part of the 2012 Toon Cup. Alan Partridge was there, however it weirdly enough made a solid spot in the top 10 list:

And yes, twenty years have passed from that world cup. The next one is about to start.
And thanks to my summer vacation, I could post more and more regularly on my blogs. By September, I focused more and more on the CN blog and it started to get out of control. I had a lack of ideas and started to post fillers, usually random CN clips or pictures of what is Darwin Waterman with a shirt on.
For those who don't know who Darwin Waterman is, it was based on a merman humanization of Flounder with blue and yellow hair and was weirdly enough wearing a blue shirt. Once I launch RandomMe Entertainment's blog I'll post more about him.
Anyway, I tried to make an advent calendar but I stopped halfway through because it was mostly fillers and all that. I made a post about CN HQ's 7 Days of Christmas' highlights with some pictures of Darwin Waterman/kmy1205's Merman Flounder and two music videos: a One Direction one (just to attract more readers) and Gangnam Style (yes, I like that song, however it was about to be something to attract more viewers).
However, on December 30th, I joined the Toonzone forums and adopted a username that was way better than a mix of a weird blog from 2003 + Cat Face's blog from one of the first episodes + a reference to that bloke with a pencil in his eye. As the months progressed, I started to care less and less on Blogger and more and more on Toonzone. I had to post something at the end of March for the blog's first anniversary and a post explaning on the end of it. I assume that it ended with "but hey. that's life". I don't want to check that blog in the future. It looks like someone posted humiliating images of me on the internet.
Months later (around October or November), I was thinking about the blog. It needed a part 2. However I didn't make one, unfortunately.
Recently I e-mailed Ákos Abonyi (owner of "Cartoon Zone", which is now a popular European blog franchising company with four employees) about the start of Cartoon Media Group PT. It's now being greenlighted and another blog (another English one called Cartoon World Portugal) will be a part of Cartoon Media Group, where artnerfy from the Toonzone forums will post in there as well.
CN PT news will not be posted on this blog, but I'll post CN PT's saga - which involves CN HQ.
So please, let's make this blog having a potential audience of 500+ people rather than just 36 people. I'm hoping that this blog will be waaaay better than searching for the magical sounds of Ecuador.

MEN AT WORK

Monday, June 30, 2014

Cartoon Network HQ Schedule - July 2014

Friday, June 27, 2014

CN HQ's ratings

Boomerang shows with a Portuguese soundtrack available

Thursday, June 26, 2014

CN HQgate - part 2

Full list of CN shows with a Portuguese translation

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

CN HQgate

Saturday, June 21, 2014

CN HQ Breakfast Club promo

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

CN HQ World Cup promos

About CN HQ...

Sunday, June 8, 2014

CN HQ's ratings

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Cartoon Network Warm-Up Week promo

Friday, June 6, 2014

About CN HQ's website...

Hi, Romania!

Why hello there

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