WHEN SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS first appeared on Nickelodeon in 1999, kids didn't have YouTube to watch. They couldn't stream Hulu or check out pictures on Instagram. There was no Snapchat. Forget Fortnite. But this is 2018 and there's trouble in Bikini Bottom for cable networks that depend on kids tuning in. Like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel are trying to embrace technology to recapture their pint-sized meal tickets, but at this point there's not much light at the end of the tunnel that's painted on the side of the mountain. Ratings are plunging. For the week of Oct. 22, kids cable networks were down 28% from the same week a year ago. (They fell 28% again the week of Oct. 29.) "We've officially hit the one-year anniversary of the group declining 20% or worse in every week," Sanford C. Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger said in a research note. "Putting this in a broader context, kids' networks have declined by over 60% in aggregate viewing over the past seven years." That translates into lower advertising revenue and lighter cash flows for the big children's programmers. Somehow, affiliate fees and ad rates for kids' networks have risen over the past six years, Juenger noted, but he doesn't expect that to continue much longer. "We struggle to see how fully distributed, ad-supported linear kids' networks will even exist in 5-10 years. Maybe as part of an optional package, but not forced on every subscriber," he said.
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机译：当海绵宝宝SQUAREPANTS于1999年首次出现在Nickelodeon上时，孩子们没有YouTube可以观看。他们无法流媒体Hulu或在Instagram上查看图片。没有Snapchat。忘记Fortnite。但这是2018年，而依赖孩子的有线电视网络的“比基尼底部”存在麻烦。像Wile E. Coyote试图赶上Road Runner一样，Nickelodeon，Cartoon Network和Disney Channel都在尝试采用技术来夺回他们的小品餐票，但此时隧道尽头的山侧照明不多。收视率暴跌。在10月22日当周，儿童有线网络比去年同期下降了28％。 （他们在10月29日当周再次下跌了28％。）“我们已经正式迎来了集团成立一周年，每周下降20％或更低，”桑福德·伯恩斯坦（Sanford C. Bernstein）媒体分析师Todd Juenger在接受采访时说。研究笔记。 “在更广泛的背景下，孩子们的网络在过去七年中的总观看次数已下降了60％以上。”这意味着大型儿童程序员的广告收入减少，现金流量减少。 Juenger指出，在过去六年中，儿童网络的会员费和广告费有所增加，但他预计这种情况不会持续更长的时间。他说：“我们很难看到完全分布式的，有广告支持的线性儿童网络将在5-10年内存在。这也许是可选软件包的一部分，但并没有强迫每个用户使用。”
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