Weekday cartoon
In 1987, The Walt Disney Company tried its luck at syndication, through its animation production unit Walt Disney Television Animation; "DuckTales" debuted that September, experiencing major success and eventually lasting for 100 episodes. The success of "DuckTales" paved the way for a second series two years later, "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers". In 1989, the two shows aired together as part of a syndicated daily block called "The Disney Afternoon". In 1991, Disney added another hour to the block; "The Disney Afternoon" ran until August 29, 1997, when it was replaced by an unnamed block on September 1, 1997, until 1999, which was then replaced by "Disney's One Too" (a spinoff of ABC Saturday morning block "Disney's One Saturday Morning") - and "Disney's One Too" had only lasted for four years on UPN and syndication, until it had died in 2003. Since then, there are only a handful of local networks in the United States for ABC that broadcast children's programming. Otherwise, it has been replaced by reality shows, court shows, tabloid television, talk shows, and among other programming which are meant for adults.
Fox Kids
In 1988, Disney purchased independent television station KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, changing its call letters to KCAL-TV the next year. The station's new owners wanted "DuckTales" to be shown on KCAL, effectively taking the local television rights to the animated series away from Fox-owned KTTV. Furious at the breach of contract, Diller pulled "DuckTales" from all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations WNYW, WFLD, WTTG, KRIV, KDAF and WFXT in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same, though most did not initially. As Disney went forward in developing "The Disney Afternoon," Fox (whose schedule at the time was limited to prime time programming on Saturday and Sunday nights) began the process of launching its own children's programming lineup.