4Kids Entertainment is set to rebrand its five-hour Saturday-morning animation block on The CW network as part of its continuing attempts to restructure and return to profitability.
In the second-quarter earnings report, chairman and CEO Alfred Kahn said the company recently re-negotiated its deal with the network with more favorable terms. The new Saturday block will be called Toonzai on CW 4Kids and will feature an anime theme with such programs as Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Sonic X, Dinosaur King and classic Yu-Gi-Oh.
‘Our TV ratings were up these past few weeks and we are hopeful that our ratings momentum will continue this fall,’ said Kahn.
The results showed 4Kids has successfully cut costs, and while it is still losing money it doing so much more slowly than last year.
Net revenues for the quarter were $2.5 million, compared to $3.6 million for the same period in 2009. The net loss attributable to 4Kids Entertainment for the quarter was $6.5 million, compared to a net loss of $13.8 million for 2009.
“We also continue to work on growing our licensing operation, which historically has been our strongest business and has driven past performance for our other segments. We are hopeful that we can develop sufficient revenue streams from some of our new properties which will contribute meaningfully to our bottom line in the coming years,” said Kahn.
