Bionix

For other uses, see Bionix (disambiguation).
Bionix
Launched September 10, 2004
Closed February 7, 2010
Network YTV
Owned by Corus Entertainment
Country Canada

Bionix was a late night anime program block that was broadcast on Friday nights on the Canadian television channel YTV. It was launched in September 2004 and was removed from the channel in February 2010.

History

Bionix broke away from YTV's "Keep It Weird" style and had a more technological feel to it in an effort to appeal to a teenage audience. While visually similar to Cartoon Network's Toonami block at the time, the lineup itself bears more similarity to the portion of Adult Swim dedicated to anime (which itself was replaced by Toonami after Adult Swim revived the block in 2012).

YTV had seen years of success with audiences under twelve, however they had done very little to appeal to the older teen audience which, as a youth broadcaster, they were also obliged to cater to. In 2003 YTV had become Canada's number one station for teens, thanks mainly to the debut of InuYasha. As a result, Bionix was launched on September 10, 2004[1] specifically targeting this older youth audience, along with special disclaimers that aired after commercial breaks.

Generally most of the programming was animated, with a fair portion being anime. However, other programs were often included in order to ensure the Canadian Content regulations were met, including reruns of older Mainframe Entertainment series; Beasties, ReBoot, and Shadow Raiders. Live action YTV productions have also been previously infused into the block.

On Saturday, July 19, 2008, Bionix has been moved for the first time in almost four years from Fridays to its new timeslot on Saturdays from 8 pm to 10 pm.[2] Starting March 7, 2009, Bionix became a one-hour block, airing from 10 pm to 11 pm on Saturdays.[3] On May 16, 2009, the block was pushed further back to midnight, as the viewer advisory bumps were switched from the Bionix version to YTV's generic version.[4] However, when Naruto began airing Tuesdays to Fridays at 4 am, the viewer advisory bumps used the Bionix versions, even though the timeslot was not part of the block on those days.

In September 2009, Bionix once again became a 2-hour block airing at midnight and featured two episodes of both Naruto and Bleach. The Bionix promos and bumps were removed for the final year of the block. In February 2010, YTV's website removed their Bionix page and their Bionix on Demand page, leading to speculation that the block would soon be canceled.[5] Fan concerns and worries were realized when YTV pulled the Bionix block that same month without public notice, with the final episodes being the back-to-back reruns of Bleach at 1 am on February 7, 2010. Bleach had been airing reruns since December 2009, after the finale of Naruto that month.

Despite Bionix being removed from the channel, the forums for the block remained as part of YTV.com until the boards were completely dismantled and removed from the website in March 2014.[6]

In 2015, the Bionix brand has been brought back on the YouTube channel, YTV Direct.[7] However, the section only contains three shows from the Nelvana library that were mostly aimed at a younger audience than the TV block. The only show from the TV block to make the transition was Invader Zim.

Anime History on YTV

YTV hosted the North American broadcast premiere of Sailor Moon in August 1995. The final 17 episodes of Sailor Moon R were dubbed specifically for the Canadian market. Series such as Dragon Ball and Pokémon were broadcast on the channel in following years. In 2000, YTV broadcast Gundam Wing, airing an edited version of the series at 11:30 p.m. ET on weeknights.

In late 2003, InuYasha premiered on the network. Its popularity with teen viewers brought about the creation in 2004 of the Bionix block, which aired on Friday nights and included Gundam SEED. YTV aired Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex at midnight because of its adult content; it did not air the "Jungle Cruise" episode.

On September 29, 2006, YTV Canada Inc. announced it had applied to the CRTC for permission to launch a Category 2 English-language specialty channel called The Anime Channel. The proposal included minimum 85% animated and related programming and maximum 15% information-based programming, targeted at adults over the age of 18. A meeting with the CRTC was held on November 14, 2006. On January 30, 2007, CRTC approved the application for the licence to run until August 31, 2013.[8] The licence allowed the channel to allocate not less than 65% of the broadcast year to anime programs, not more than 35% of the broadcast year to anime-related programs, not less than 85% of the broadcast year to programming from categories 7(d; theatrical feature films aired on TV), 7(e; animated television programs and films) and 7(g; other drama), with no more than 15% of the broadcast year dedicated to information-based programs. Corus Entertainment failed to launch this channel within the required 36-month period and did not apply for an extension.

Between the end of "Limbo" and the beginning of "Bionix", YTV launched the Anime Master forum. The Anime Master character is portrayed as a red-suited masked ninja, dubbed in the voice of YTV's robotic mascot, Snit, and has made a few guest appearances in "The Zone" and "Vortex" segments. Live-action show hosts have also done interviews in Anime North, most of the guests being voice actors for popular animated shows on the channel. The interviews were shown in the live action segments between programmes (called Animinutes), or as a separate block. In 2009, YTV moved the Bionix block from Friday to Saturday nights, cutting down the length and number of anime series on the block significantly. On February 7, 2010, the Bionix block ended.

For more than four years after that, YTV's anime programming targeted only younger audiences. Then on September 2, 2014, following both Corus Entertainment's full acquisition of TELETOON Canada Inc. and YTV's addition of select Teletoon programming, the channel's remaining anime programming (along with both the Power Rangers franchise and Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion!) moved to Teletoon.

Bionix previous series and movies

This is a list of series and movies that have aired on Bionix, with their Canadian TV content ratings.

Animated series

dubbed anime:

other:

Live-action series

Specials

Movies

2005:

2006:

2007:

2008:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "YTV PROGRAMMING UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2004". Corus Entertainment. 2004-09-01. Archived from the original on 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  2. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  3. ↑ Bionix officially listed as 10 pm to 11 pm only | Zannen, Canada
  4. ↑ Bionix pushed back to midnight | Zannen, Canada Archived May 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Bionix is Officially Done | Zannen, Canada
  6. ↑ YTV Forums are Officially Dismantled Archived March 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ YTV Direct - Youtube
  8. ↑ "Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2007-41". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2007-01-30. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  9. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  10. ↑ "Bandai And YTV Bring Anime Programming to Canada" (Press release). Bandai Entertainment, YTV. 2004-09-10. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  11. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  12. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  13. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  14. ↑ Corus Entertainment - Press_Corporate
  15. ↑ http://www.corusent.com/corporate/press_room/pressReleaseDetail.asp?id=1590
  16. ↑ http://www.corusent.com/corporate/press_room/pressReleaseDetail.asp?id=1627

External links

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