History AdoredByTheNetwork / SpongeBobSquarePants

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Most days of the week, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nickelodeon shows still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then (most likely due to the daily numerous airings). Thus it wound up becoming the highest rated children's television show for over a decade. The fact that merchandise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids, meaning [=SpongeBob=] doesn't have the same impact it used to. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. Thus it wound up becoming the highest rated children's television show for over a decade. The fact that merchandise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids, meaning [=SpongeBob=] doesn't have the same impact it used to. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

* CBS All Access keeps frequently promoting their service by using this show as the face of it. It's justified, as the show is Viacom's biggest cash cow and [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOnTheRun the third movie]] will premiere on there.

* Still Nickelodeon's top show after [[LongRunners 22 years]] [[note]]the first few years and the most recent one during parent Viacom's merger with "America's Most Watched Network" itself, Creator/{{CBS}}[[/note]], and they've obviously decided to [[CashCowFranchise milk it for all its worth.]] Today, Nickelodeon's typical schedule (not counting the Creator/NickJr or Creator/NickAtNite blocks) is comprised almost entirely of either ''[=SpongeBob=]'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. It's gotten so bad, the animation fandom (particularly Pan of WebVideo/RebelTaxi) has even coined the term "The [=SpongeBob=] Principle": If a new Nick cartoon comes out and it isn't an instant smash hit, Nickelodeon will just ignore it, never give it reruns, never promote it, move the premiere dates around and dump the last few episodes on their much less popular channel Nicktoons Network while they replace it with more [=SpongeBob=] reruns.

** Speaking of [=KCAs=], it has won for the category Best Cartoon every year it been nominated since 2003 (only Avatar the Last Airbender can beat it and that was back in 2008), much to the chagrin of many cartoon fans. The outrage grows every year (although what happened in 2008 was rather unexpected), as people believes other cartoons deserve to win a blimp for this category.

* Before the show got the overexposure treatment, Nickelodeon kept tying the show into their advertising, doing everything from making blocks themed around the show (like the Summer Nicktoon Splash), having [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick [[https://twitter.com/mayhem_crimson/status/1109988787831083008 do the "Favorite Cartoon" segment]] of the 2000 [=KCAs=] and having Patchy the Pirate appear on several episodes of U-Pick Live. It got to the point where [=SpongeBob=] characters even appeared in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXChyPwJGn0 an ad that was played on]] the Nick Jr. block in 2002.

* It's [[WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow spinoff]] series is getting lots of adoration, as it airs once a day on both Nickelodeon and Nicktoons. [[WesternAnimation/KampKoral Kamp Koral]] would soon follow suite.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

* Still Nickelodeon's top show after [[LongRunners 21 years]] [[note]]the first few years and the most recent one during parent Viacom's merger with "America's Most Watched Network" itself, Creator/{{CBS}}[[/note]], and they've obviously decided to [[CashCowFranchise milk it for all its worth.]] Today, Nickelodeon's typical schedule (not counting the Creator/NickJr or Creator/NickAtNite blocks) is comprised almost entirely of either ''[=SpongeBob=]'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. It's gotten so bad, the animation fandom (particularly Pan of WebVideo/RebelTaxi) has even coined the term "The [=SpongeBob=] Principle": If a new Nick cartoon comes out and it isn't an instant smash hit, Nickelodeon will just ignore it, never give it reruns, never promote it, move the premiere dates around and dump the last few episodes on their much less popular channel Nicktoons Network while they replace it with more [=SpongeBob=] reruns.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show [[UnCanceled began airing post-movie seasons in 2005]], it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show [[UnCancelled began airing post-movie seasons in 2005]], it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for [[AdoredByTheNetwork this trope]] (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy recipient of this treatment]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

* Still Nickelodeon's top show after 21 years [[note]]the first few years and the most recent one during parent Viacom's merger with "America's Most Watched Network" itself, Creator/{{CBS}}[[/note]], and they've obviously decided to [[CashCowFranchise milk it for all its worth.]] Today, Nickelodeon's typical schedule (not counting the Creator/NickJr or Creator/NickAtNite blocks) is comprised almost entirely of either ''[=SpongeBob=]'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. It's gotten so bad, the animation fandom (particularly Pan of WebVideo/RebelTaxi) has even coined the term "The [=SpongeBob=] Principle": If a new Nick cartoon comes out and it isn't an instant smash hit, Nickelodeon will just ignore it, never give it reruns, never promote it, move the premiere dates around and dump the last few episodes on their much less popular channel Nicktoons Network while they replace it with more [=SpongeBob=] reruns.

* It's [[WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow spinoff]] series is getting lots of adoration, as it aires once a day on both Nickelodeon and Nicktoons. [[WesternAnimation/KampKoral Kamp Koral]] would soon follow suite.

* It's [[WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow spinoff]] series is getting lots of adoration, as it aires 3-4 times a day on both Nickelodeon and Nicktoons.

** On the topic of ''Sponge On The Run'', the ads for the film frequently appeared in the ad slots of online websites and were inescapable. They also frequently aired on television networks such as Creator/CBS (which Viacom owns) and Creator/{{Freeform}}.

** On the topic of ''Sponge On The Run'', the ads for the film frequently appeared in the ad slots of online websites and were inescapable.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for the trope (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TheLoudHouse itself now a noteworthy example of this trope]], was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for the trope (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for the trope (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show began airing post-movie seasons in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''The Loud House'' was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=]]]'' was pretty much the poster-child for the trope (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' [[AdoredByTheNetwork/TeenTitansGo stole the sponge's thunder in 2015]]). Since the show was uncanceled in 2005, it would run at least ''eight'' times on an average weekday. It would often be the first thing they show in the morning and the last thing they show at night (before turning into Creator/NickAtNite), and it's the only show that they run at all different hours of the day to get pre-schoolers, after-school kids, ''and'' evening teenager audiences. "Special" ''[=SpongeBob=]'' episodes would be hyped up and promoted more often than the regular Nicktoons on the network. Some days, it'd get more airtime than all the other Nicktoons still on Nickelodeon combined. At least during 2009-2011, even ''repeats'' got higher ratings than the average that most kids' shows, as well as several primetime shows, got back then. The fact that merchendise sales were extremely high didn't hurt much either. Eventually, ratings for the show dropped - probably due to overexposure and what many fans would consider SeasonalRot, at which point Nickelodeon attempted to restore some variety to the schedule, but by this point, the damage had been done, as ''The Loud House'' was the only Nicktoon to survive the yellow sponge's reign of terror, and even as Nickelodeon cleaned up its act, Cartoon Network got new management who, as mentioned above, repeated all of Nick's mistakes with ''Teen Titans GO!'', [[Main/HistoryRepeats with the exact same results]]. There's also the fact that cable television is declining as a whole thanks to platforms like ''Creator/{{Netflix}}'' and ''Website/{{YouTube}}'' getting more and more attention from kids. Despite all this, it still remains a favorite for Nick to this day.

* On the day of the 53rd Super Bowl, "The Secret Box / Band Geeks" played several times throughout the day. Due to the outcry from the Sweet Victory/Sicko Mode BaitAndSwitch, the episode was played every day after the fiasco that week out of respect.