Bionix

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 Toonami, the action-oriented program block of the United States-based Cartoon Network, the lineup itself bears more similarity to that of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late-night branding, which airs programs aimed at adults.

While YTV had seen years of success with audiences under twelve, 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 Friday, 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. These programs include reruns of older Mainframe Entertainment series (such as Beasties, ReBoot, and Shadow Raiders), as well as live-action YTV productions.

On Saturday, July 19, 2008, Bionix has been moved 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, and the viewer advisory bumps were switched from the Bionix-themed bumps to YTV's version.^[4] When Naruto began airing Tuesdays to Fridays at 4 am, however, Bionix's viewer advisory bumps were used, despite the show airing outside of the block's runtime.

In September 2009, Bionix once again became a 2-hour block, now airing at midnight and featuring two episodes each of Naruto and Bleach. The block's promos and bumps were removed for what would be its final few months of broadcast. In February 2010, YTV's website removed both the Bionix page and the Bionix on Demand page, leading to speculation that the block would soon be canceled.^[5] YTV would indeed pull 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.

The Bionix forums remained as part of YTV's website, until the boards were completely dismantled and removed in March 2014.^[6]

In 2015, the Bionix brand was brought back for use as a playlist on the YTV Direct YouTube channel.^[7] However, outside of Invader Zim, the playlist only features action-oriented shows from the Nelvana library, which are aimed at a younger audience than the block.

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 Mobile Suit 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 Mobile Suit 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 at 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.

References

External links

• Official Bionix page at YTV.com