Canada to Ban SpongeBob SquarePants from National Television September 1

In just a matter of days, SpongeBob SquarePants, one of the most beloved children’s characters of all time, will no longer be a fixture on Canadian television.

The yellow sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea has entertained generations of Canadian families for decades, but now, he’s about to vanish from regular TV as Corus Entertainment shuts down a string of youth-focused channels, including Disney XD, Disney JR, Nickelodeon, and ABC Spark.

It’s a move that signals the end of an era for Canadian kids’ television, and one that underscores the financial struggles facing Corus, one of the country’s largest media companies. The decision also raises broader questions about the future of children’s programming on linear television in Canada and whether traditional broadcasters can still compete with global streaming platforms.

SpongeBob and Friends Get the Boot

For many Canadians, Nickelodeon was the home of SpongeBob SquarePants. For nearly 25 years, the animated sponge and his cast of quirky underwater neighbors have dominated children’s programming, spawning toys, movies, memes, and even a Broadway musical. In Canada, watching SpongeBob on TV was almost a childhood rite of passage—coming home from school, flipping on Nickelodeon, and getting lost in Bikini Bottom.

But after this month, that simple routine will no longer exist. Instead, SpongeBob episodes will only be available through streaming services like Paramount+, a paid subscription platform that not all households have adopted. The same goes for other fan-favorite Nickelodeon titles, including Dora the Explorer, The Fairly OddParents, and PAW Patrol. For younger kids and nostalgic adults alike, this is a profound shift.

And it isn’t just Nickelodeon that’s being wiped from Canadian channel guides. Corus is also pulling the plug on Disney XD, Disney JR, and ABC Spark, taking with them a lineup of shows that once made Corus the go-to provider for family entertainment.

A French-Language Casualty Too

The shutdown also extends to La Chaîne Disney, the French-language Disney network, leaving Francophone households without a Disney-branded linear channel tailored to them. Interestingly, the main Disney Channel in Canada will survive the culling, as will Corus’s Teletoon, a decision likely linked to Canadian content requirements that force broadcasters to maintain certain levels of domestic programming.

For parents raising bilingual children or households in Quebec, however, the loss of La Chaîne Disney adds yet another layer of frustration.

Corus’s Financial Freefall

So why is SpongeBob disappearing from Canadian cable altogether? The short answer is that Corus Entertainment is in serious financial trouble.

In the past year alone, the company has hemorrhaged revenue. Kidscreen reports Corus lost $55.9 million in its last quarter and saw its revenue drop by $29 million. The company is also carrying more than $1 billion in debt, and its new CEO, John Gossling, has warned analysts to brace for a 20% year-over-year revenue decline this quarter.

This follows a string of earlier blows. Last year, Corus lost rights to high-performing lifestyle channels including HGTV and the Food Network, both of which migrated to rival Canadian broadcaster Rogers. Losing Nickelodeon, Disney XD, Disney JR, and ABC Spark now guts the company of nearly all its children’s programming, leaving behind only a handful of recognizable stations like the History Channel, Showcase, and Adult Swim.

From a financial perspective, cutting these channels appears to be a desperate cost-saving measure. But from a cultural perspective, the move signals the collapse of a decades-long tradition of children’s TV in Canada.

A Broader Trend in Television

Corus isn’t alone in this. Across North America, children’s cable networks are struggling. Kids today are growing up in a digital-first world where streaming platforms dominate. YouTube, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+ have become the new babysitters, serving up shows on demand without the rigid schedules of cable.

The problem for Canadian broadcasters like Corus is that they don’t own most of the underlying intellectual property. SpongeBob belongs to Paramount, Disney shows belong to Disney, and with every passing year, those companies are pulling their content back to their own platforms. For Corus, this leaves fewer rights to negotiate and fewer reasons for families to keep paying for traditional cable bundles.

Parents Left Scrambling

For families who don’t subscribe to streaming platforms, this shift could be a headache. Traditional cable once offered a wide variety of kid-friendly shows in one package. Now, parents may find themselves needing multiple subscriptions just to replicate what used to come standard with cable.

Want SpongeBob? That’s on Paramount+. Want Disney Junior favorites like Bluey or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? Those are on Disney+. Want Netflix’s kid lineup? Well, that’s yet another monthly fee.

For households trying to manage screen time, there’s also a cultural difference: cable had built-in boundaries. You could turn on Nickelodeon or Disney JR and know the content would be kid-safe and age-appropriate. Streaming, while convenient, places more responsibility on parents to filter, manage accounts, and pay for multiple services.

The End of an Era

For Canadians who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s, the closure of these channels may feel oddly emotional. Shows like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer weren’t just entertainment—they were cultural touchstones, shaping how generations of kids laughed, learned, and bonded with friends.

With Corus shutting down Nickelodeon and Disney’s side channels, Canadian TV is losing more than just a few networks. It’s losing part of its childhood identity.

For SpongeBob, it’s not the end of the road—he’ll still be happily flipping Krabby Patties over on streaming platforms—but for kids who still watch television the old-fashioned way, it is a goodbye.

And unless Corus can find a way out of its billion-dollar financial hole, SpongeBob may just be the first of many beloved characters to vanish from Canadian television forever.