[Saph]

When Viacom Inc. (VIA.B 0.00%) renewed "SpongeBob SquarePants" for a ninth season last year, the media network's Nickelodeon channel called it "a testament to creator Stephen Hillenburg's vision, comedic sensibility and his dynamic, lovable characters."

What was left unsaid, however, is that this may be the last hurrah for the Bikini Bottom gang.

The iconic children's cartoon, which debuted 13 years ago, is long in the tooth. As the The Wall Street Journal recently noted, the average number of viewers ages 2 to 11 watching the show at any given time dropped 29% in the first quarter from a year earlier.

One reason is that Viacom got lazy and stuffed its schedule full of SpongeBob reruns, which the paper noted accounted for 31% of Nickelodeon's programming in 2011, up from 23% in 2007.

During Thursday's earnings conference call, CEO Philippe P. Dauman argued that Nickelodeon may be down but is far from out. He noted that "The Legend of Kora" attracted 4.5 million total viewers in its debut, the most of any Nickelodeon animated show in three years, and that new episodes of "SpongeBob" and other programs in the quarter should bolster ratings.


"SpongeBob" was even blasted by the American Academy of Pediatrics for being a bad influence on children. It found in a study that kids were "significantly impaired in executive function immediately after watching just nine minutes of a popular fast-paced television show relative to after watching educational television or drawing."

According to a website devoted to "SpongeBob," many fans felt the cartoon "jumped the shark" after the release of the movie based on the show in 2004.

"Fans also began to turn away from the series, and online fan sites became deserted," according to spongebob.wikia.com. "Although the show is still criticized, some SpongeBob fans believe it could be making a comeback."

I've seen some of the newer series and I think they're just as good as the old ones

[Doogle]

Omg no the series is getting as good as the old ones again wtf are they doing

[Smithy]

d'aww end of an era </3

[Marc]

-burns a ceremonial sponge-

[Saph]

Originally Posted by Doogle

Omg no the series is getting as good as the old ones again wtf are they doing

ikr!

[Marc]

Peter Middleton seriously makes me laugh every time

[Saph]

Originally Posted by Marc

Peter Middleton seriously makes me laugh every time

[Kizzy]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Mystic Mock]

Oh come on what is it with these channels cancelling there biggest shows? first C4 with Big Brother and now Nickelodeon are likely to cancel Spongebob.

Good luck to Nickelodeon but I doubt they can survive without Spongebob.

[Patrick]

Why is it even still on? It sucks. It's boring, the only funny thing about it is the fact there's so many sexual references in it it's unbelievable - and pretty much every male character in it is gay.

It should of been axed about 9 years ago.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by jedward fever

Oh come on what is it with these channels cancelling there biggest shows? first C4 with Big Brother and now Nickelodeon are likely to cancel Spongebob.

Good luck to Nickelodeon but I doubt they can survive without Spongebob.

They make money off Victorious, iCarly, House of Anubis etc - their biggest new shows that constantly bring in viewers and have tons of merchandise. The channel will do just fine without it, they're finally realizing they're flogging a dead horse.
I don't even know why you think that they wouldn't manage without it They'd shove reruns down your throat probably, and again make far more out of their new shows.

[Liberty4eva]

All of a sudden the world is a little less gay.

[Doogle]

SpongeBob is still good. They were flogging a dead horse for years but now it's really picked up again and considering it's still massive and I can't find an article about this anywhere I doubt it's really going to be axed. iCarly won't last forever, nor will the other 1000 programmes that Nick airs for about 2 years.

Fairly Odd Parents needs to end tbh, that has been appalling for years.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Patrick

They make money off Victorious, iCarly, House of Anubis etc - their biggest new shows that constantly bring in viewers and have tons of merchandise. The channel will do just fine without it, they're finally realizing they're flogging a dead horse.
I don't even know why you think that they wouldn't manage without it They'd shove reruns down your throat probably, and again make far more out of their new shows.

Those shows that you just mentioned appeal to teenage girls that will realise that those shows are **** once they get older and newer shows like that will come along that will repeat the same process all over again.

Spongebob has mostly children love it, but people of all ages can get into Spongebob and is the only show on the channel to do so, so it's a stupid business decision on there behalf I think.

[King Gizzard]

Never got into it

[swinearefine]

Good, this show has been **** since that damnable movie.

[Me. I Am Salman]

Have to admit, after the movie it started to get a bit unoriginal.
But still

[Me. I Am Salman]

Originally Posted by Liberty4eva

All of a sudden the world is a little less gay.

[Niall]

I did like SpongeBob when I was younger but when I watch it now, I actually realise how crap it was.

Nickelodeon need to bring back Sabrina the Teenage Witch with the original cast. Now that was a fantastic program they did.

[Shaun]

Good, it was awful.

[Redway]

Shame. I liked it.

[mrlecturer]

Spongebob and Patrick will be missed.

[Saph]

good news its not getting axed now, been renewed for 9th and 10th season running until 2019

[Doogle]

2019?

But

[Saph]

yeah it says series 10 will be extra long and run from 2016 to 2019 :s maybe its the last season to mark 20 years or something