Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American
children's programming service and brand of
The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to
The CW (a result of the merger of
Time Warner's
The WB and
CBS Corporation's
UPN), where it aired from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. After the block was discontinued, its Saturday morning programming slot was sold to
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
and replaced by its successor block,
The CW4Kids (later renamed Toonzai).
An online network version of Kids' WB launched on April 28, 2008, but closed on May 17, 2015. The service allowed viewers to stream content, such as ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. '',
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
, and
DC Comics. The website operated in different "zones" based on programming type: Kids' WB, Kids' WB Jr. (for shows aimed at younger children), and DC HeroZone (for action-oriented animated series). It was also available on Fancast, where it featured ''Looney Tunes'' shorts and full episodes of television series such as ''
Scooby-Doo'', ''
The Flintstones'', and ''
The Jetsons''.
History
1995–1999: Early years
Kids' WB launched in the United States on September 9, 1995, striving to compete against the dominance of
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
at the time, and airing on Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. and Monday through Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The block was structured to air in all
time zones, airing on a
tape delay outside of the
Eastern Time Zone to adjust the recommended airtime of the block to each zone. However, during its first five years, an exact timeslot was not announced on-air, leaving viewers to check their local WB station listings; since the programs had different airtimes depending on the local WB affiliate schedule in the market. On September 7, 1996, the Saturday block was extended by one hour, airing from 8:00 a.m. to Noon Eastern Time.
Although Kids' WB aired on almost all of The WB's affiliated stations (including those later affiliated with
The WB 100+ Station Group), the network's
Chicago affiliate
WGN-TV
WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...
– owned by The WB's co-parent, the
Tribune Company – declined to carry the weekday and Saturday blocks. Instead, it opted to air its
weekday and Saturday morning newscasts, (the first incarnation of the latter was canceled in 1998), another locally-produced programming (such as ''
The Bozo Super Sunday Show'') in the morning hours, and syndicated programming in the afternoons. Kids' WB programming instead aired on
WCIU-TV. However, WGN's
superstation feed carried the block from 1995 to 1999, making the network available to markets without a local affiliate. WGN-TV began clearing Kids' WB on its Chicago broadcast signal in 2004, taking over the local rights from WCIU-TV.
On September 1, 1997, a weekday morning block was added from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and the weekday afternoon block was extended by one hour, running from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. However, WGN's superstation feed, as well as some WB affiliates, had to wait until the next day, as they preempted the blocks to carry ''
The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon''. Some WB affiliates (such as
WPIX in
New York City,
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
in
Los Angeles and
KWGN-TV in
Denver,
Colorado) aired the weekday morning block in conjunction with the weekday afternoon block, extending it to three hours, running from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. On the same date, the block received an on-air rebranding – which included a revised logo and graphics package centered upon the
Warner Bros. Studios
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
lot theme that was also used in promotions for The WB's primetime programming during the network's first eight years on the air – which was developed by Riverstreet Productions, and lasted until 2005.
1999–2006: Introduction of anime
On February 13, 1999, Kids' WB made a breakthrough when the English dub of the
anime series ''
Pokémon
(an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise.
In terms of ...
'' by
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
moved to the network from
broadcast syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
. It became a major hit for the programming block,
helping it beat
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
with its animated lineup backed by
Warner Bros. Other anime shows aired on Kids' WB in later years, such as ''
Cardcaptors'', ''
Yu-Gi-Oh!'', ''
Astro Boy'', ''
MegaMan NT Warrior'', and ''
Viewtiful Joe''.
In July 2001, Kids' WB's weekday afternoon lineup was rebranded as ''Toonami on Kids' WB'', extending the
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
action-animated block
Toonami to broadcast television, and bringing shows such as ''
Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...
'', ''
Dragon Ball Z
''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', and ''
The Powerpuff Girls'' to broadcast network television. However, the sub-block was critically panned by industry observers, who noticed that the action branding of the block - which had added shows such as ''
Generation O!'', ''
Scooby-Doo'', and ''
The Nightmare Room'', a live-action series created by ''
Goosebumps'' author
R. L. Stine - did not translate content-wise. And while the cross promotion between Cartoon Network and Kids' WB did allow for series to be shared between the networks, most of these only lasted a short period of time. This included ''Dragon Ball Z'' and ''Sailor Moon'' appearing on ''Toonami on Kids' WB'' for only two weeks, and ''
Cardcaptors'' appearing on the main Toonami block on Cartoon Network for only two weeks. In spring 2002, Kids' WB announced that they would drop the Toonami name from their weekday lineup, once again making the Toonami brand exclusive to Cartoon Network.
On September 3, 2001, the Kids' WB weekday morning block was discontinued, with The WB giving that slot back to its local affiliates to carry locally-produced shows, syndicated programming and/or
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s.
On May 31, 2005, The WB announced that the weekday afternoon Kids' WB block would be discontinued "at the request of the local affiliates," as it became financially unattractive due to the fact broadcast stations perceived that children's programming viewership on afternoon timeslots had gravitated more towards cable networks – these stations began to target more adult audiences with
talk shows and sitcom reruns in the daytime. Kids' WB's weekday programming continued, but with redundant programming and theme weeks until December 30, 2005 (the block began to increasingly promote Cartoon Network, their afternoon
Miguzi block, ''
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', and the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup during the transition). The weekday afternoon Kids' WB block aired for the last time on December 30, 2005, and was replaced on January 2, 2006, by "
Daytime WB", a more adult-targeted general entertainment block featuring repeats of sitcoms and drama series formerly seen on the major networks. As a result, the Saturday morning Kids' WB lineup that remained was extended by one hour on January 7, 2006, running from 7:00 a.m. to noon, no longer affected by
time zone variances.
2006–2008: Move to The CW and closure
On January 24, 2006,
Warner Bros. Television (producer of ''Kids' WB'' and owner of the block's original broadcaster from 1995 to 2006, The WB) and
CBS Corporation (owner of
UPN and subsidiary of
National Amusements
National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts. It is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global.
History
The ...
who also owns film studio
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
' parent company
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
) announced that they would shut down both The WB and UPN and then merge them into
The CW, which would primarily air programs aired by its two soon-to-be predecessor networks as part of its initial lineup. The combined network utilized The WB's scheduling practices (inheriting the 30-hour weekly programming schedule that the network utilized at the time of the announcement) and brought the Kids' WB block, still run by Warner Bros. Television and maintaining the same name, to the new lineup (The CW's decision to use The WB's scheduling model was mainly due to the fact that it included children's and daytime programming blocks that were not offered by UPN, which had not aired any children's programming since the
Disney's One Too
Disney's One Too (later known as Disney's Animation Weekdays) was an American two-hour Sunday-to-Friday children's programming block that aired on UPN (and sometimes in syndication) from September 6, 1999 to August 31, 2003. A spin-off of the ''Di ...
block was discontinued in August 2003). Notably, during this time
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...
-then a sister company to Warner Bros.-was the main sponsor of CBS' own Saturday morning block
KOL Secret Slumber Party, but at no point did neither Kids' WB nor SSP advertise each other's programs-most likely because SSP was produced and operated by
DIC Entertainment and was aimed at girls, as opposed to the boy-centric Kids' WB.

On October 2, 2007, The CW announced that it would discontinue the Kids' WB programming block through a joint decision between corporate parents Time Warner and CBS Corporation, due to the effects of children's advertising limits and cable competition; the network also announced that it would sell the five-hour Saturday programming slot to
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
. The Kids' WB block aired for the final time on May 17, 2008 (for some stations that aired the block on a day-behind basis, the block's last airdate was on May 18, 2008).
On May 24, 2008, 4Kids launched
The CW4Kids in place of Kids' WB. The lineup for the block consisted of 4Kids-produced shows, such as ''
Chaotic'', as well as new seasons of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. The official site, TheCW4Kids.com, officially launched on April 20, 2008. The block was renamed
Toonzai on August 14, 2010, it was replaced by
Vortexx (programmed by
Saban Brands) on August 25, 2012, and it continued to air until it ended on September 27, 2014; the block that currently airs on The CW is
One Magnificent Morning, which debuted on October 4, 2014.
2008–present: Online networks
On April 28, 2008, Warner Bros. Entertainment announced that The WB and Kids' WB brands would be relaunched as online networks, with the Kids' WB network consisting of five subchannels: ''Kids' WB!'' (for WB shows for kids and families), ''Kids' WB! Jr.'' (for shows for younger children), ''
Scooby-Doo'', ''Looney Tunes'', and two different websites of ''DC Kids'': ''DC HeroZone.com'' and ''DC Beyond.com'' (for action-oriented animated shows for DC fans).
After the dissolution of
In2TV, the Kids' WB online portal absorbed most of that service's children's programming. The service was significantly scaled back in 2013, with most of the archival content being removed. The archival content can be easily accessed through the
Internet Archive's
Wayback Machine.
The site was split into 3 websites on May 17, 2015. These sites are: DCKids.com, LooneyTunes.com and ScoobyDoo.com. All three are grouped into WB Kids Sites. The decision to split the site into three ended, after almost twenty years, the use of the "Kids' WB!" brand name. Also, the WB Kids Sites got new YouTube channels: WB Kids for main Warner Bros. properties, and DC Kids for DC Comics properties. In July 2016, 2 of the 3 websites re-merged into "WBKids GO!". DCKids.com remains active.
Programming
References
External links
WBKids GO!DC KidsKids' WB TV Block on retrojunk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kids' Wb
Television programming blocks in the United States
Windows games
1995 American television series debuts
2008 American television series endings
Internet properties established in 2008
Internet properties disestablished in 2015
Children's television networks in the United States
The CW
The WB
Warner Bros. Discovery brands
Television channels and stations established in 1995
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2008