The American licensing company 4Kids has presented, last week, data from a report by the Commission's market and securities. In it, you can see that the financial situation has worsened since the last quarter in which its leaders were forced to put the company on sale. Such facts belie the press notes that the licensing of Yu-Gi-Oh! has made the joy of 4kids' safe, which can even remotely be considered true.
The company gathered about $ 7.3 million in the third quarter of 2009, representing a loss of 59% compared to the same period of 2008, which recorded net sales (excluding taxes) of $ 17.8 million. During the first 9 months of this year, according to the report, 4Kids gathered about $ 27 million, which generated a loss of 56% over the same period of 2008, which were computed U$ 49.4 million. On average data, about 2.3 million dollars were lost per month, being the worst crisis ever recorded by 4Kids.
The greatest loss of all happened during the third quarter of this year, where there was a fall in profits of U$ 5 million, which led to a general breakdown to discover the cause of such casualties. According to Alfred Kahn, CEO, these losses are due to low demand for the franchise and the abolition of Chaotic block, and the company's 4kidsTV, which aired on Fox, even though it still airs on the CW network. Also according to Kahn, there will be additional cuts in expenses and staff to cover the company's fall of this year, which were not few and may worsen.
In addition to cuts in the company, its directors decided to invest more in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s previous seasons, now without cuts and in its original version, which are published online (the current season, 5D, is not part of it). It is expected an increase in revenues of $ 0.2 million in demand for the so-called "Trading Cards", which in the past were a huge success. Shaman King and Dinosaur King also received special attention, particularly the last one, which made Europeans full of joy.
The 4Kids scored huge in the 90's, with the huge success of Pokémon in the Americas, and has since then being specialized in making brutal adjustments (cuts, edits, plot remakes, etc...) animes (and cartoons as well) to make them childish, such as One Piece and Mew Mew Power. Currently, the company handles rights to Yu-Gi-Oh, Shaman King, Dinosaur King and Chaotic, but has never been the same since losing the franchise Pokémon to Pokémon USA, and most recently Ninja Turtles for Nickelodeon.
Bad news for season 4 in America.
They might not be in this situation if they'd give people what they want: quality dubs. No, not every 4Kids dub is horrible, but 4Kids has a reputation for bad dubbing. If they'd listen to the shows' fans and start being more faithful to the original productions, more people would watch their dubs. But right now, even their decent dubs are considered second-rate compared to ones from companies like FUNimation.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I love how winx club isn't even mention in this. Did 4kids lose the rights or did they drop winx club? FUNimation's dubs are good who know maybe they will pickup winx season 4, I hope they do. or will we get to see the rai english version for the first time in the US. I'm hoping for either or as long as season 4 airs in the US I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that just before the girls graduated from Alfea, 4kids lost intrest in dubbing the show. Hence no Movie or Season Four to be seen.
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo :( By bye season 4!
ReplyDelete*disappointed sigh*
ReplyDeleteThey sure know how to ruin the fun of Winx fans here in America.