In a piece out today, The New York Times reports that Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block is expanding by an hour and will run from 8:00PM - 6:00AM starting on March 31st. According to a rep at Turner Broadcasting (the company that owns Cartoon Network), Adult Swim killed it in 2013 with a “record-setting ratings year†as the top-rated cable network in total day ratings among viewers between the ages of 18-34 and 18-49. In the late night time slot, Adult Swim has beat out Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, and even Stewart and Colbert with viewers in the 18-49 category over the last 12 months (not counting Leno’s recent farewell episodes), averaging 1.15 million viewers per night compared to 1.05 million over on Leno’s Tonight Show.
With the new hour of programming, Adult Swim plans to air repeat programs like King of the Hill and American Dad, while the 10:30PM slot will be used to introduce new content that will eventually be rescheduled to another time on the lineup. With the return of shows like Rick and Morty, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, and China, IL, this sounds like an exciting way for Adult Swim to assert itself as TV’s top comedy content machine.