Seun:

DSTV already repackages foreign cartoons. So if this is your dream, it's nothing special. Many Nigerian TV stations already broadcast foreign cartoons during the afternoons on weekdays and Saturday mornings. A dedicated cartoon channel will also have to show cartoons when students are at school or during the evenings when adults would have displaced the children in order to watch their favorite soap operas or evening news. So a dedicated cartoon channel doesn't sound viable at all. It only makes sense if you own a large library of cartoons already.

What does it matter is many others are doing the same? Have you not seen DISNEY, NICKELODEON, CARTOON NEtWORK, and so many other Cartoon Networks competing and still making it big in just the West alone? Why do you find it hard to WRAP your mind around the fact that this might actually be a great idea for the many cartoonists out in Africa who do not have the same chance to get their prdoucts on those BIG name Networks. There are ALL OVER THE WORLD dedicated CARTOON CHANNELS, why can't we have many of those in Nigeri and even in AFRICA as well?? Do you know that Cartoon Network, NICKELODEON and many of the other cartoon networks out there DO NOT EVEN OWN RIGHTS TO MANY OF THE TOONS they show on their networks?? Do you even know that Elmo on Sesame's street is not a property of Sesame Street SOLELY?

JUST TO CONTRIBUTE D LIL I THINK I KNOW

DO U GUYS KNOW THAT CARTOONS R NOT WATCHED BY ONLY CHILDREN??

FEMALES EVEN D MARRIED 1S LOVE CARTOONS??

SOME GUYS LIKE CARTOONS 2

N EVERY1 LOVES TOM N JERRY,SO IF 9JA CAN TURN PAPA AJASCO 2 MAYB AJASCO N ALINCO(jus kiddin)

BUT REALLY CARTOONS CAN MAKE SENSE,N CHANGE OUR WAY OF ADVERT LIKE SOME1 SAID B4

ITS A VERY BIG WORLD,BUT NOT 2 WORRY AS OUR MOVIE INDUSTRY GROWS IT LL GET DER 2

Seun:

DSTV already repackages foreign cartoons. So if this is your dream, it's nothing special. Many Nigerian TV stations already broadcast foreign cartoons during the afternoons on weekdays and Saturday mornings. A dedicated cartoon channel will also have to show cartoons when students are at school or during the evenings when adults would have displaced the children in order to watch their favorite soap operas or evening news. So a dedicated cartoon channel doesn't sound viable at all. It only makes sense if you own a large library of cartoons already.

Your argument is WEAK, and frankly disappointing, especially coming from a supposedly smart chap like yourself. You make it sound as though other THRIVING cartoon channels/stations aren't/weren't in existence before and AFTER the advent of CN, e.g. Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, e.t.c. You'll NEVER find CN showing Disney, Fox, or Nickoledeon cartoons [like 'the Proud Family', 'American Dragon: Jake Long', 'Sponge Bob', 'Rugrats', 'Wild Thornberrys', 'Hey Arnold', 'King of the Hill', 'Kim Possible', 'Lilo and Stitch', e.t.c]. They only show in-house produced toons or those they've bought broadcast rights to, a la some anime and old Warner Bros and Hanna-Barbera cartoons among others. Same way Disney has exclusive rights to broadcast, sell and distribute the ace Japanese Studio Ghibli's anime. Your argument's just like saying, "well, naija doesn't need any more t.v stations as they all pretty much cater to the same audience", or "africa doesn't need an mtv because we have other stations that already serve the purpose it intends to serve". What if I tell you that your website is purposeless simply because there are many other naija sites online that offer similar services? Or would you say that others with the intention of owning/running a web-board similar to yours should shelve their ideas simply because your site is doing so well? Don't be myopic bro, you smart pass all this your yarns, abeg -- atleast I'd like to believe that you are.

@KoboJunkie: Walahi, I no sabi explain how you and I dey think alike sef; I no even see your post before I pushed the 'submit' button on the previous one. Leave Seun make im dey yarn wetin im no sabi.

I agree with you there. His Arguement makes me wonder if He is really speaking of reality or some other world @Lafem

I have had this same idea since back in 2004 and since then I have watched as these cartoon networks have grown and grown. For someone to claim it is isn't so is baffling.

KoboJunkie

If you're going to start a TV station, it makes no business sense to restrict yourself to cartoons.
- A dedicated sports channel would be successful because Nigerians are soccer-crazy.
- An investment channel might be successful because investors have a lot of money to spend.
- A Nigerian movie channel might be successful because our movies can be picked up on the cheap.

But a cartoon channel? You've got to be kidding me. The overhead is high, because you have to obtain rights to lots and lots of foreign cartoons. The revenue potential is low, because most cartoons are meant for children. If I'm starting a TV station, I 'll definitely show some cartoons, but I won't restrict myself to them!

If you're a billionaire, you can go ahead with the plan. Maybe in fifteen years you will finally break even!!

You can start somewhere

"Step by step'

Consolidate your ideas

Seun:

If you're going to start a TV station, it makes no business sense to restrict yourself to cartoons.
- A dedicated sports channel would be successful because Nigerians are soccer-crazy.
- An investment channel might be successful because investors have a lot of money to spend.
- A Nigerian movie channel might be successful because our movies can be picked up on the cheap.


But a cartoon channel? You've got to be kidding me. The overhead is high, because you have to obtain rights to lots and lots of foreign cartoons. The revenue potential is low, because most cartoons are meant for children. If I'm starting a TV station, I 'll definitely show some cartoons, but I won't restrict myself to them!

If you're a billionaire, you can go ahead with the plan. Maybe in fifteen years you will finally break even!!

With the above, I'm now convinced that you're not as enlightened as you try to project. And bro, while you indeed are entitled to your opinion [heck, this na your site anyway, so na your prerogative to spit anything you like on am], it's also very o.k and indeed wise to sometimes keep/stay mum about subjects that you know little or nothing about, instead of arguing blindly merely for the sake of sounding smart. The above argument simply has no solid basis or premise whatsoever, as this sort of venture has been duplicated in countries similar to naija [with the relatively impoverished Eastern Europe as a case in point].  The simple and immutable fact remains that naijas are ENTERTAINMENT JUNKIES! You're just an irrational cynic, point-blank. Folks like you only hold back visionaries by creating imaginary hurdles to their ambitions.

And you KNOW that a cartoon channel will make 'no business sense' and that 'revenue potential is low' because you've conducted a feasibility study on the economic viability of such a venture? As if all the naija t.v stations are owned and run by billionaires. I'm sure you had your share of naysayers who tried to deter you from going ahead with your ambition of doing what you're doing now with this site, by throwing spurious stats/figures and reasons at you as to why they think you'd not succeed at this. I just hope you don't make it a habit to go about trying to create the sort of hurdles you're promoting here to people that approach you for advice on sound and novel ideas. My mantra is, 'if it's been done before, it can be duplicated/done again'. Me I'm done arguing back and forth over this subject, jare -- I don yarn my own.

Lafem:



Anyway, I'm not shocked nor perturbed by the naysayers'/cynics' responses -- most great achievements had their cynics and critics --

It is no surprise. Todd McFarlane of the Image Comics and Spawn Franchise was rejected 700 times but he was very adamant refused to listen to the nay sayers. Guess who's laughing now.

Seun,


Can I ask where you live?? Have you ever been outside of your place before I seriously am asking you this cause I can basically pull for you Channels that are only Cartoon oriented. Do you even know that there are channels that are focused solely on HISTORY topics?? and these are multiBILLION dollar networks??

There are HISTORY CHANNELS >>> focuses on programs on History
there are Movie Channels >>> focused on movies and nothing else
there are NEWS channels >>> focused on News and nothing else
there are SCIFI channels >>>> focused on Science Fiction programs and nothing else
there are Style Channels >>> Focused on all things Fashion and nothing more
There are Women Channels >>> focused on all things women and nothing more
there are Health Channels >>> focused on all things Health and nothing more
there are Cartoon Channels >>> Focused on Cartoons and nothing more
there are Anime Channels .>>> Focused on all things Anime, Now this is just ANIME and nothing more
Heck there is CSPAN , focused on Books and provides a forum for Authors to talk about their books ALL DAY LONG

I almost forgot, there are also the WEATHER channels , Focused on all things weather and NOTHING ELSE


So, Seun

again, I ask, Where in the world Are you

KobobJunkie

grafikdon:

It is no surprise. Todd McFarlane of the Image Comics and Spawn Franchise was rejected 700 times but he was very adamant refused to listen to the nay sayers. Guess who's laughing now.

Wow!! Now that's what I call REAL/DOGGED 'persistence of vision'.   I have a similarly remarkable example, it's from a book I own titled "How to Write for Animation", authored by Jeffrey Scott, a three-time Emmy Award winning writter for dozens of hit animated series, including "Superfriends", "Spider-Man", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Jim Henson's "Muppet Babies", and the PBS smash hit, "Dragon Tales".  

Here's what he wrote, in quote:

When I was working at Stephen J. Cannell Productions a gentleman came to my office to pitch me a project. He illustrated the pitch with old Japanese footage of robots and leaping characters in skin-tight, corny explotions, and frentic action. I just didn't get it, so I, regrettably, passed on the idea. He went on to sell it to Fox Kids. Infact, HE WENT ON TO OWN FOX KIDS!! . The show was the hugely successful "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers".

It's nice to watch u guys jabber on back n forth but I'd really like to get something started soon. So, If/when anyone is ready to kick something off, I'm down with the team. Contact me via y.msgr or nairaland.

If you want to make a cartoon I'm willing to join your team.
But a dedicated on the air cartoon channel in Nigeria in 2007? Ridiculous.

As for making a cartoon, it's safer to start with comics or graphic novels.
Then later you can animate your most popular comic for the masses.

Big things usually start small. You can't just start with a cartoon network!
You can start with a syndicated cartoon show, or better still, a comic.

Seun:

If you want to make a cartoon I'm willing to join your team.
But a dedicated on the air cartoon channel in Nigeria in 2007? Ridiculous.

As for making a cartoon, it's safer to start with comics or graphic novels.
Then later you can animate your most popular comic for the masses.

Big things usually start small. You can't just start with a cartoon network!
You can start with a syndicated cartoon show, or better still, a comic.

If you @Seun are going to be in on this, I am afraid , Maybe I will want to wait to join the next team to pursue such I don't know if anyone ever researched the dude who started the first private network station in Nigeria. The dude knew what he wanted and went for it . Anywho, I would like to research such an idea in the near future but would like to have people who believe in the dream on my group though and research can definitely help you see how this is a very viable idea.


KoboJunkie

Look, I love cartoons. To be more specific, I love Japanese Animes (cartoons for adults).
But business is not really about what you love. It's about what your customers love.
I recently started folding up our cartoon section because it's just not popular enough.

NO NO NO NO NO ,  I believe Business is about doing what you LOVE. I mean maybe for you it is different but for some of use out here,  it is about doing what you love and many businesses have been built on such and they are doing really great. Ask Bill Gate, Oprah, and the other tycoons out there doing what they love and getting people to love it too


KoboJunkie

Seun:

Look, I love cartoons. To be more specific, I love Japanese Animes (cartoons for adults).
But business is not really about what you love. It's about what your customers love.
I recently started folding up our cartoon section because it's just not popular enough.

I do have a question for you. What cartoon section are you speaking of??


Kobojunkie

My friend, i have been a cartoon and comic book freak all my life and i still am crazy about 'toons. Your dream is not impossible, in fact HELL YEAH! it's what we have been waiting for all this while. The key to this is not just starting a network on it's own because, it's a very huge investment to get involved in. Don't look at it as just owning a cartoon network but , owning a t.v station; and it covers alot of things like owning properties and satellites to broadcast from, hiring a lot of staff members that are not limited to just cartoonist, but every aspect of owning a successful business, owning broadcasting rights and lots more. It takes a lot of people to be involved in owning a station and the major one is money and i mean plenty of money.

But you can also start this way. Just like my cartoon hero "STAN LEE" the owner of Marvel comics, that parades the likes of "incredible hulk, fantastic four, spider man etc". Be good at what you do first, "drawing"

Secondly, organize how you want to make a particular comic script come to life through t.v. ( that means drawing up a business proposal)

Thirdly, view the marketability of that drawing by sampling various interest groups what they think of it.

( e.g, if only the cartoonists/artists for indomie noodles, knew the major money spinning catch they have on their hands, through the indomie cartoon super heros they use to market their products . If it was a cartoon t.v series, they would probably shelve making noodles for one day and rake in all the money from adverts, lol)

If a lot of people like your cartoon script or t.v cartoon script, then you can now finally pitch it to t.v stations and from there on, once it is accepted by one of them, it becomes popular and you get paid through percentages and royalties from the cartoon and before you know it, you will be like hanna babera churning out cartoons upon cartoons and by then, you would have a lot of money to own your own cartoon franchise and better still your own cartoon t.v station

Good luck my friend and hope to see your cartoons someday on t.v

remember nothing is impossible except  astronauts visiting the sun and landing there

cartoon Netwok? is this dude serious, like Ed,Edd and Eddy or Samurai Jack or Courage or Kids Next door? all i can do is LAUGH HARD, Nigerian cartoon Network ko, Ikot Epene cartoon Network ni

Naysayers PLC.

this i must say a great coincident. i am into animation am am currently working with a close friend and we are loking at creating a full lenght movie (3d animated ofcourse). though we are still in the early stages, he is writing the scipts (which is evolved around an old african tale the marriage of anasewa) and i am creating the characters we still have a long way to go and might need funding soon but not the less i think it very attainable

Hey Animay,

What is the name of your company and how soon do you think you will start production on this? Do you have a website??



Kobojunkie

@kobojunkie/lafem and others while it's nice to dream, i don't think you have any idea about cartoon network. you mention cartoon network having their own OPs (original properties) like the Powerpuff Girls, Ed Edd n Eddy etc. but do you know how long it took for them to get these going? cartoon network had been running for years before they even launched dexter's lab or the powerpuff girls.

do you remember the early days when CN used to finish at 6 or 7 and then switch to TNT now TCM? CN is successful now, but really, it was part of TimeWarner, they could afford to be unsuccessful for a bit. the overheads were relatively low, as TimeWarner already owned the library of cartoons. CN was basically a venture for them to air these old cartoons instead of letting them gather dust. for years, this was how it was, then little by little they started phasing in original programming. You mention Disney, which in itself if a multinational company. Even if they didn't have a dedicated channel, they had ABC, which is a major network in America to air their shows at first. when they saw it was viable, that was when they created the Disney Channel. you mentioned all these cartoon channels. but you forget that they are all part of big multinationals, media powerhouses. they had the financial backing. and im not talking about raising funds from banks or whatever it is you plan to do. im talking about massive financial imput, and then deals with major companies or properties like Mattel, PlayStation, XBox, Tyco, Hasbro etc which bring in ad revenue.

are you going to do similar deals in nigeria? what would be the benefit of PlayStation advertising in Nigeria when a game there costs the equivalent of 3 games abroad? children in the west have some form of purchasing power. their parents might give them an allowance, or they may work for it. you can imagine a kid working after school at mcdonalds or target, having enough money after a while to buy these products, or even younger kids babysitting or mowing lawns or cleaning houses or selling lemonade here. is there something like that in nigeria, ? you think the kids selling on the street are selling so they can buy God of War 2? or you think if a nigerian secondary school kid works in mr. biggs he will be able to afford a game sold in nigeria after a month. obviously, you'd have to use local companies for your revenue in which case, what concerns a 10 year old kid with dangote spaghetti. is he the one doing the shopping?

i think its an interesting idea. but there is really no such thing as an independent specialist channel. they all have massive financial backing from some of the biggest companies in the world. you could try and partner with HiTV or DSTv i suppose.

suprted:

@kobojunkie/lafem and others while it's nice to dream, i don't think you have any idea about cartoon network. you mention cartoon network having their own OPs (original properties) like the Powerpuff Girls, Ed Edd n Eddy etc. but do you know how long it took for them to get these going? cartoon network had been running for years before they even launched dexter's lab or the powerpuff girls.

do you remember the early days when CN used to finish at 6 or 7 and then switch to TNT now TCM? CN is successful now, but really, it was part of TimeWarner, they could afford to be unsuccessful for a bit. the overheads were relatively low, as TimeWarner already owned the library of cartoons. CN was basically a venture for them to air these old cartoons instead of letting them gather dust. for years, this was how it was, then little by little they started phasing in original programming. You mention Disney, which in itself if a multinational company. Even if they didn't have a dedicated channel, they had ABC, which is a major network in America to air their shows at first. when they saw it was viable, that was when they created the Disney Channel. you mentioned all these cartoon channels. but you forget that they are all part of big multinationals, media powerhouses. they had the financial backing. and im not talking about raising funds from banks or whatever it is you plan to do. im talking about massive financial imput, and then deals with major companies or properties like Mattel, PlayStation, XBox, Tyco, Hasbro etc which bring in ad revenue.

are you going to do similar deals in nigeria? what would be the benefit of PlayStation advertising in Nigeria when a game there costs the equivalent of 3 games abroad? children in the west have some form of purchasing power. their parents might give them an allowance, or they may work for it. you can imagine a kid working after school at mcdonalds or target, having enough money after a while to buy these products, or even younger kids babysitting or mowing lawns or cleaning houses or selling lemonade here. is there something like that in nigeria, ? you think the kids selling on the street are selling so they can buy God of War 2? or you think if a nigerian secondary school kid works in mr. biggs he will be able to afford a game sold in nigeria after a month. obviously, you'd have to use local companies for your revenue in which case, what concerns a 10 year old kid with dangote spaghetti. is he the one doing the shopping?

i think its an interesting idea. but there is really no such thing as an independent specialist channel. they all have massive financial backing from some of the biggest companies in the world. you could try and partner with HiTV or DSTv i suppose.

I have no idea what in the world you are going on and on about there. All you outlined there is basically information that matters not much. ALL businesses, start small, even HiTV and DSTV had there hay days, why do you suddenly have the notion that it all has to be mega big all at once? Have you ever heard of a business that did not start small or from some place?? I am sorry but your points are, nevermind,



Kobojunkie

what i am trying to say, and what you seem to be closing your eyes to is that the channels you use as an example and aim to emulate had backing from some of the biggest companies in the world. what do YOU have beyond a dream? cartoon network would never have failed due to the fact that before they even suggested the idea at a TimeWarner board meeting they would have had a long term business plan, and even if they had problems breaking even in the early days the parent company would have been there to prop them up.

i read this thread and i do not see any facts to back up your idea beyond the fact that its a nice idea.

it used to take six months for one episode of the simpsons to be created, did you know that? and that is hardly the height of animation. to produce 1 season of 22 episodes of the simpsons, it would take multiple teams. where are you going to find the manpower. do you have it in place?

ok, so maybe you won't do an OP from the start, you'll import cartoons from elsewhere, fair enough. will your channel be free to air? because if you're asking people to pay for it, then you have to give them something unique no? or are you banking on the its naija, so we'll go for it factor?

i dont mean to piss on your dream or anything, fair play if you think it will work, but all im seeing on this thread is a lot of nice ideas but no real plans of execution.

We are discussing that an idea such as this is viable and we know it is possible. Now you talk of backing from other corporations and I am asking you if those corporations which you mentioned HAVE ALWAYS BEEN as big as they are today ?? OR did they not themselves start off small and then grow into what we know them to be today ?

If your answer is that they have always been big, could I get an example. if you say the answer is NO, they started small as well, then my question is why then do you think a cartoon network /channel in Nigeria can not work.

Kobojunkie

Just start with a comic. Partner with a good writer.
Experiment with different stories. Start small, grow big!
What I'm really saying is this: avoid unnecessary risks.

I suggest you all tune in to watch BIG IDEAS With DONNY DEUTSCH on CNBC,  and He will show you every single night Millionaires and Billionaires we know today and How they almost all start with NOTHING. ONe particular guy was homeless when he started his business and now he is a mega millionaire why?? cause he knew and understood that it was not about how small you start but convincing people to fall in love with your idea and he made it. Anyways,  there are so many of those stories out there and I would so love it if more Nigerians are exposed to such.


Even ted turner and Bill gates were on the show a couple ago and they told of how they actually started with practically nothing but loans and a dream which they believed in. Now they have empires but they once did not have those.


About what you said earlier about expecting the likes of disney and the video game companies advertising on the channel. I will ask you this, have you been to south africa lately?? Those companies have a presence there and offer their goods and services there at affordable prices. I mean even gucci and many top line stores have opened shop down there and the prices there are not even as high as those here in America. Now given the products are not all the same but if you open a channel, trust that they will come flooding. Look at the situation in Nigeria as we speak. You could make the same claim that people are not able to buy cloth or food but guess what?? you and many others have been pushed to buy expensive computers and what nots. Even the cell phones some nigerians have are way way out there. Companies make billions each year off of nigerians buying cell phones they rarely need and what not. You might not believe it but Nigerians are not necessarily as poor as you think they are and there is definitely a huge market out there these companies are waiting to tap.


Kobojunkie

Even Ted turner and Bill gates were on the show a couple ago and they told of how they actually started with practically nothing but loans and a dream which they believed in.

Poor people don't get loans. They are, as a rule, not credit-worthy. So these guys were pretty rich.

Kobojunkie, can you draw? (Grafikdon can draw and so can Gamine, and one other guy) What about you?

I can draw. But beta still, am quite handy with pc tools. So wheneva (& whoeva) u r ready 2 get started, Kindly gimme a holla!


PS: Am really gettin tired of d jabbering back & forth, guys lets just bl**die get sumfin started!

I can draw and so can my brother. He is really into mangla but he is in medical school, however, yes, I can draw and if you want to start something, I would like to sign my brother up. He is really good, infact I just got a tablet I wanted to send out to him along with some toon software I got from another friend who happens to be into animation. I can draw stuff like vegetales characters and junk like that.


KoboJunkie

when those companies were small, your grandfather was a boy. the people who started them were generally rich or had some money. turner was not a poor person and even bill gates while not bucksed up to f__k was not poor.

anyway, i'll stop now. good luck, i hope you're in a position to say I told you so in the future.

Moved back to cartoon section.