Canadian kids programming is pretty much dead, handed over to the massive US companies... 

Another Corus property that died an ignoble death.

Obviously, Nelvana was no Nirvana.

torontostan wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

UM Hey? Why shut it down? Why not simply sell the business to someone else to care for? 

Gee whiz! What a dandy idea! I bet nobody thought of that or tried! 

You have proof of the effort????

RadioAaron wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

torontostan wrote:

Gee whiz! What a dandy idea! I bet nobody thought of that or tried! 

You have proof of the effort????

Yep

"Nelvana's owner, Corus Entertainment, has had serious financial issues of late but it's still shocking to learn one of Canada's most storied animation studios is no more."

Perhaps because they did NOT try looking for a buyer at all. They just simply shut it down.
This may be because it did not present itself as profitable enough to draw attention to a buyer, but also there's nobody shocked enough to step up to the plate and make a bid to keep it running under their care.  
Such a shame.
 

Last edited by Radiowiz (September 2, 2025 9:49 pm)

torontostan wrote:

You're acting like it's a charity, not a business. Nobody needs to be "shocked" and "step up to the plate" - it was failing, so it failed. End of story. 

I'm not acting like it's a charity at all. Perhaps it was costing Corus too much to run, but it holds some value.

"Nelvana will continue focusing on distribution, merchandising, and managing existing properties, but declined to say how many jobs were impacted by this production shutdown."

It's left open to the idea that a new buyer can still run it as a business.
I suspect the real problem may have been the cost of running it while looking for a buyer. 
Now a buyer can still be found, but they have to buy it as is and work from there...maybe even merge Nelvana into their website, if they have one.  

 

Retaw wrote:

Corus has been trying to sell Nelvana's library for over a year now. I imagine would-be buyers are aware of that company's health and that they could just wait out the inevitable to get it at rock bottom prices. The reality is that there isn't a lot of value in buying Nelvana as it operates. They haven't made a hit show in a long time, so there's no moneymaker that's being hampered by Corus' decline. There was a sobering retrospective published for the studio's 50th anniversary where they admitted as much. You don't even get real-estate because they operate out of Corus Quay, a building Corus doesn't even own.

The library is of questionable value, too. As both of the articles I linked to point out, a large chunk of Nelvana's identity was formed by productions they don't own the overall rights to. In the '80s, after Rock & Rule cratered, it was projects like Inspector Gadget, Care Bears and the Star Wars duo that saved them. Not only does Nelvana not own those franchises, they don't even own the rights to those specific shows. Admittedly, those are largely outliers, but buying Nelvana doesn't get you the overall rights to Barney the Dinosaur or Thomas the Tank Engine (Nelvana's incarnations do not seem to have struck much of a chord with kids). The shows they do own are not difficult to find streaming officially on YouTube, Tubi or other platforms either. After that, is there much money left to be made?

It's been a really tough year for Canadian kids media. The WildBrain channels closing (which impacts independent producers more than it does that company) and this would've already been a big blow, but there's also the PBS situation. A huge chunk of their kids shows are actually made in Canada and now that work is in jeopardy. CBC and the provincial educational broadcasters aren't enough to make up for that decline. Very sad situation for a part of the industry Canada used to be world leader in. Going to be tough to file for EI with your elbows up.

Thank-you for your intelligent response Retaw. This is the response I have been looking for.