Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that TruTV would be converted into a sports network with some of its programming moving over to TBS. Cable TV viewership has continued to drop, but sports is one of the main reasons people keep cable.
What other networks are most likely to be changed or fully shutdown in 2024? We dusted off our picks from the start of the year to show you the networks we believe are most in danger of shutting down in 2024 or, like TruTV, being turned into something new.
My top six picks for networks most likely to shut down or be overhauled into something new in 2024:
#1 Universal Kids—Children’s networks are being hit the hardest by cord cutting. There are already reports that networks like Cartoon Network’s average viewer age is now over 18 years old. We see this with the growth of Adult Swim and the return of classic shows clearly targeting older adults looking to relive their childhoods. This makes smaller kid networks like Universal Kids some of the most vulnerable to shutting down.
Universal Kids lost 9% of its audience in 2023 and has just 21,000 people watching on average during Primetime.
#2 FXX—Increasingly, these second-tier networks, like MTV2 and FXX, are in real trouble. As a growing amount of original content moves to streaming services like Disney+ and Peacock, there is less for networks like FXX. This makes networks like FXX, which was just dropped by Spectrum, likely to be shut down.
FXX lost 17% of its audience in 2023 and averaged just 204,000 viewers during Primetime. Moving its content to Hulu could help drive up subscription numbers. The channel may still be bringing in 204,000 viewers but that content may be better used to drive up subscription numbers to the new Disney+ and Hulu streaming bundles.
#3 Boomerang—Boomerang is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a company that has been extremely aggressive on focusing its efforts on Max, its new streaming service. Putting most of Boomerang’s content into Max could help grow Max by making it the exclusive home of its classic programming. The network doesn’t cost a lot to run but shutting it down could help Max grow.
This also comes as Boomerang lost 21% of its audience in 2023 and gets just 41,000 people watching it on average during Primetime, according to a report by Variety.
#4 MTV 2, MTV Classic, and Other MTV Channels—Look for Paramount to start consolidating its smaller channels like MTV 2 into MTV and Paramount+. This content could be used to help grow its Paramount+ streaming service more than it would be to help profits from cable TV. Already, Paramount has reportedly been looking at shutting down its smaller networks, and MTV 2, MTV Classic, and other MTV channels are likely high on that list.
MTV 2 had just 48,000 viewers on average during Primetime in 2023, a drop of 13%. Other MTV networks failed to even show up in the top 150 channels on Variety’s list of most watched channels in 2023.
#5 BET Her, BET Hip-Hop, BET Soul, & More—Recently, Paramount tried to sell BET and all its networks. That sale failed to find a buyer at a price that Paramount wanted. Now that Paramount will be keeping the networks, cuts are likely. We are unsure which of these networks are most likely to shut down, but one or more of them will likely not make it through the next few years.
Of all the smaller BET Networks, only BET Her showed up in Variety’s top 150 channels. With that, it lost 7% of its audience in 2023 and has just 41,000 viewers during Primetime. With the other channels not registering in the top 150 channels it makes it unlikely some of them will survive much longer.
#6 Freeform—Recently, Disney surprisingly agreed to drop Freeform from Spectrum, the second-largest cable TV provider in the United States. This makes the network vulnerable as it is almost exclusively reruns. With Disney+ the place to watch most of these programs already shutting down, Freeform is a lot more likely today to shut down than it was a few months ago.
These are my top six most likely to shut down TV networks in 2024. What would you add to this list? Let me know…
Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.