The upcoming seasons of Nickelodeon‘s kids animated series Dora and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be their last. Season 2 of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premieres on Paramount+ in December and will run on Nicktoons next year. The debut of Dora‘s fifth season on the streamer is TBD. It too will be followed by a linear window on Nickelodeon.
Paramount is actively exploring third-party licensing opportunities for both series, something the company has been doing consistently for a number of years, with a number of Nickelodeon titles available on Netflix, for example.
The cancellation decisions come on the heels of the post Paramount-Skydance merger restructuring. In it, all Paramount linear networks, including Nickelodeon, as well as the Nickelodeon Animation Studios, which produces all of the Nick animated shows, including Dora and Ninja Turtles, were consolidated into a TV Media division overseen by Chair George Cheeks.
In a memo last week announcing TV Media’s executive structure, Cheeks hinted at a slimming down the current roster of cable series.
“Our cable brands will focus on a more curated slate, optimizing programming and marketing resources to amplify what resonates most,” he said. “That means leaning into franchises like SpongeBob, PAW Patrol, RuPaul’s Drag Race, South Park, Ms. Pat and The Daily Show, while continuing to develop new IP across our studios and seeking new ways to amplify and connect with audiences.”
Not surprisingly, Nick’s flagship franchises, SpongeBob SquarePants and PAW Patrol, made the list of priority linear brands. Neither Dora nor Ninja Turtles did but both have long history at the network and may be revisited in the future with new iterations.
The Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cancellation was first reported by The InSneider.
