"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier media regulations. In the last years of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet "educational and informational" (E/I) requirements. Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets, continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates.
"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined in the face of changing cultural norms increased competition from formats available at all times and heavier media regulations In the last years of the genre's existence Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet "educational and informational" (E/I) requirements Minor television networks in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates