One would think that that would be a clue that "hey, maybe this show resonates with a lot of people, maybe we should keep it around?" but I guess Zaslav isn't one to think that, now is he? 
EDIT: ![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Well yeah, but here's the thing: how much longer will they be on Amazon and so on? Even the creator Owen Dennis is like "hey guys, pirate my show! It's the only way to watch it!"
Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Aug 20th 2022 at 2:27:55 PM
They only care about short term $$$$ and being able to get out of paying creators, which is one of the reasons behind removing so many of these.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Short term money. Everyone seems so caught up on that. Why does it seem no one thinks about long term money?
Well, at least I was quick enough to watch Book 1 in its entirety. Good thing the seasons were one-and-dones, right?
Because many people are under the impression that short-term money is more plentiful and many rich people don't have to worry about losing money due to their wealth which shields them from the consequences. They are also basically just oversized spoiled children and have almost no sense of self-control or foresight, they only care about instant gratification.
Edited by Kaiseror on Aug 20th 2022 at 7:37:07 AM
The Grey Sith
I think it's still on Xbox live for those that have that (As well as Mao Mao and.......Megas XLR somehow.). So there's another place to get it.
Sanity is the Lie, there is only Madness.
So Owen Dennis finally spoke up about the everything happening right now.
Among many things, he puts it on the record that NOBODY saw this coming, he has no clue why all of CN's social media talking about the show is getting nuked, he's working with his management team to figure out some kind of fate, the fact that he's feeling shitty, and that Discovery's actions are "incredibly unprofessional, rude, and just straight up slimy." Plus, EVERYONE IN THE INDUSTRY IS MAD AF RIGHT NOW.
Because why would we? What is the point of making something, spending years working on it, putting in nights and weekends doing their terrible notes, losing sleep and not seeing our families, if it’s just going to be taken away and shot in the backyard? It’s so incredibly discouraging and they’re definitely not going to be getting their best work out of whoever decides to stay.
We’re working at the intersection of art and commerce, but the people in charge have clearly forgotten that they’ll have no commerce without the art.
He also strongly encourages we DO NOT engage in posting addresses of the executives in charge of nuking all the affected cartoons. It's a blatant case of Disproportionate Retribution and he is not okay with that because he's met some real nutty people who project their issues on him and the show.
On a better note, he acknowledges how the show trending on Twitter for 3 days and topping the charts on iTunes gives it value and if it has more value, that means the people in charge will want to keep it or license it. (Plus he has a new job that he can't really talk about...yet.)
All this and he provides a list of where the show is still legally available? What a gigachad. ![[awesome]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minis/award_star_gold_3.png "[awesome]"){kind=small}
Incidentally, how the heck did Sym-Bionic Titan end up on Netflix when it was written off anyway? Because what if it could happen with Infinity Train?
Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Aug 20th 2022 at 9:11:20 AM
I always thought shows like Sym-Bionic Titan, Beware the Batman, and others were written off by Cartoon Network itself, so they couldn't be anywhere near CN. But since they were also produced by WB Animation, they could use that content however they'd like since they're a separate division. So, WB can still sell them in other platforms and feature them on streaming services.
Also, remember that Owen Dennis is clarifying that this current purge IS NOT a tax write-off, so different rules apply.
Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on Aug 20th 2022 at 8:16:24 AM
Latest blog update (November 5th, 2022).
No one knows, but we do know it was a direct order from Discovery, and it’s about saving money somehow. The general consensus is that it has something to do with paying animators and artists their royalties that they’re owed for their work. You will sometimes see an argument online of “well they were already paid the artists to make it, so what are they complaining about?” Do not listen to someone who says this because they either don’t understand or don’t care about what our pay structure is.
Our pay is not complete without the ongoing royalties. Those royalties aren’t paid directly to the artists, they actually go to our union to pay for our healthcare. So not paying artists royalties on their work means they are indirectly defunding our healthcare.
This also means that music and actor royalties will stop. For reference, the first quarter of this year I made $388.45 off of royalties from voicing One-One. We’re not talking about a whole lot of money here, that’s the equivalent of the studio accidentally buying an extra office chair.
CNBC has estimated that this will likely save Discovery somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars. A very small drop in the bucket of the 3 billion that David Zaslov has said he wants save by 2023.
CNBC also says “Everything getting pulled from HBO Max was infrequently watched, according to people familiar with the matter.” First off, no one is familiar with the matter, because the entire industry has been trying to reach people that are familiar with the matter for three days and haven’t been able to do so.
That said, it’s hard to believe that Shock Corridor, Mystery of the Wax Museum, The X From Outer Space, Ice Station Zema, Red Sonja or Captain Blood, while all fantastic movies in their own rights, are being “frequently watched”. So clearly, it’s not frequency, therefore it must be something else.
However, if they WERE able to find someone familiar with the matter and it WAS about frequency, Discovery has failed to show statistics or provide what metrics they’re using. By all publicly available metrics, Infinity Train was in the 91st percentile in children’s media, at it’s height* was 17x more popular than the average TV show, as of yesterday evening was #1, #2, #3, and #5 on itunes for kids and family, and in the top 20 on iTunes overall.
Or maybe it was underperforming. No way to know for sure, as they haven’t provided anyone with the actual numbers or metrics they’re using, not even their own shareholders.
Main Character
I believe him on the tax thing, but I don't really believe Zaslav or whatever poor soul is running interference for him.
Edited by Grounder on Aug 20th 2022 at 8:16:23 AM
The sleepiest good boi
I believe he was told it wasn't a writeoff. Whether that's truthful remains to be seen for the moment, but the social media purge definitely doesn't look good.
On another note, I finished watching the first season. It was amazing and it's sad that it took all of this to finally get me to watch it when it had been on my list since... I believe when it was airing, actually. I just never got around to it.
Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks Marathon
The Grey Sith
Write offs are confusing, I guess it really is just the company itself, cause like I said Megas XLR is STILL available on Xbox Live even though it was written off YEARS ago.
Sanity is the Lie, there is only Madness.
Visiting from the Hoag Galaxy
There’s two different kinds of tax write-offs, IIRC. One is the “this is a failure of a production that will never be released” type and the other is the “this was released but it was a failure and we will not continue working with it.”
The former means the product cannot legally be released ever.
The latter means that nothing new can be done with the product.
Not Three Laws compliant.
The Grey Sith
That is the only explanation I have ever been given for that.
Sanity is the Lie, there is only Madness.
Zaslav's actions seem spiteful. Why purge it from the internet? He did it with Final Space too. I think he wants people to forget it and focus on HIS projects.
I saw the Jordan Fringe video on Megas and came to the conclusion that some higher-ups at CN hated the show due to how its submission process was unusual (less difficult than other pitched pilots). Megas had good ratings, but CN ditched it probably on the grounds of screwing over anyone else who could get a show accepted as easily as Megas was. It's all about screwing over the little guy...
I liked it better when Questionable Casting was called WTH Casting Agency
The Grey Sith
I will never understand the idea of "This show on our network is popular and doing well, LET'S SABOTAGE IT!" Like how is that profitable?
Sanity is the Lie, there is only Madness.
Because it’s about short term gain and screwing over creators.
It’s why you can’t trust companies to not make something lost media.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
The Grey Sith
But Short Term gains are never as big as Long Term ones. How have companies not figured this out yet? Just look at how much of a long term investment Marvel was and how much money that Movie Franchise has made as a result of that long term investment and planning.
Sanity is the Lie, there is only Madness.
Bird mom
The problem is the way CE Os work is that they need to keep their CURRENT shareholders happy above all.
Edited by RhymeBeat on Aug 22nd 2022 at 6:42:42 AM
The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.
Plus, many CEOs and shareholders are giant manchildren which makes them far too impulsive and shortsighted to care about long-term investments. They want a shitload of money and they want it right now.
Said shitload of money right now can also be immediately re-invested for further profits.
These CEO types are (usually) not entirely stupid. They're just playing the game according to the incentives laid out in front of them. A corporation's primary purpose is to make money, and any value they might create for the consumer to enjoy is a by-product.
It's hard to see any of these current decisions as having any real consideration for long-term planning, as everything they're doing seems more than likely to scare many creatives from wanting to work with any of the studios under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella.
Marvel did the long term plan because they had no choice. They were in the red and had to plan their things out carefully. This allowed the MCU to be a hit, whereas the DCEU tried to rush it.
Surrounded by weirdoes
And now, WBD is in trouble and started basically tripping itself up at every turn.
Wake me up at your own risk.
So is there a trend with shows nowadays where the creators don't know every site/app where the shows are available for streaming? Because if Infinity Train is available on Amazon Prime or whatever, then there are still legal avenues to watch it.
I liked it better when Questionable Casting was called WTH Casting Agency