Answer the question, or take the physical challenge? Kids who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s might be listening to their own children hear those words, if Nickelodeon’s announced return of Double Dare succeeds.

TV Guide:

Nickelodeon announced Wednesday that it’s reviving the iconic ’80s and ’90s kids’ game show Double Dare. The network has ordered 40 episodes of the series, to premiere in the summer.

Originally running (under various titles like Family Double Dare and Super Slimy Double Dare) from 1986 to 1993, the Marc Summers-hosted show had families compete at trivia and physical challenges before making it to the grand finale: running through a messy obstacle course that culminated in pulling a slimy snot-covered flag out of a giant disembodied nose. It ruled, which is why the revival will keep the format.

But more than nostalgia is behind such a move. Nickelodeon, long the king of Kids TV networks, is losing ratings, along with Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw reports kids-centered broadcast television, long a ratings stalwart, is hurting:

Kids TV networks are suffering their worst year of ratings declines in recent history/ever. Disney/Nick/Cartoon all down 20%+ https://t.co/YvH6E3pcr9 pic.twitter.com/nB4I48AllF

— Lucas Shaw (@Lucas_Shaw) April 25, 2018

And the reason for that decline:Streaming

The cable networks for children, in decline for years, are now in a free fall. This season’s ratings for the 2-to-11 set are shaping up to be the worst yet. And few in the industry predict a turnaround.

The implications are enormous for giants like Viacom Inc. and Walt Disney Co. Viewership of the three most-popular networks for the very young — Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel and the Cartoon Network — is down more than 20 percent this season from year earlier, according to data from Nielsen. It’s a low point in a long-running trend as Netflix Inc., YouTube and other streaming services have taken off.

Media companies still make money from children’s TV, with the most-watched cartoons spawning toy brands and licensing deals that can generate millions of dollars. So “the traditional brands are stuck in a tough position,” said Birk Rawlings, who left Nickelodeon to run DreamWorksTV, a kids media company that includes a YouTube channel. “They can see what is changing, but to embrace what’s new they must run away from a healthy business.”

It will be good for some to see an old friend, but the new ways of viewing kids programming are both posing tough questions and a physical challenge to broadcasters.

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Don’t call it a comeback, they have been at it for years. #Calexit has returned.
CNBC:

On Monday, the California Secretary of State’s Office announced that a secession ballot proposal has been cleared to begin gathering needed signatures. It comes amid other efforts that seek to split up California.

“Calexit is left — we are progressive, and that’s why we don’t like Trump,” said Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the leaders of the Yes California campaign seeking California independence.

“But there are some very hardcore Republican concepts to Calexit, including the group saying don’t waste our tax money.”

#Calexit is not alone in the desire to carve up the golden state.

Businessman Tim Draper has revised his previous plan of breaking California up from 6 partitions to 3. His version “Cal 3” movement has permission from the California Secretary of State to begin collecting signatures

Robin Abcarian in LA Times is less than impressed:

The culture of disruption is getting out of hand.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Bitcoin evangelist Tim Draper has revived his proposal to carve our fabulous state into smaller parts. His current proposal, Cal 3, is a minor improvement over his 2014 scheme, which was to break the state into six parts.
“With three states, we’re going to be able to govern for the next millennial,” Draper told the Associated Press in a video interview two weeks ago. “It’s going to be awesome.”

Sure, dude.

You know what else would be awesome? If you knew the difference between “millennial” and “millennium.”

Of Course, there is this tidbit of information that doesn’t make the #Calexit flyers:

San Diego Union Tribune:

Yes California says its main policy concerns include education reform, universal health care, fighting climate change, localizing immigration enforcement and keeping the state’s tax revenue in the state.

Here’s what else you should know about it.

Marinelli, the main person behind the initiative, has been reported to be an American who has also lived in Russia. In 2017, he announced his intent to move to Russia for good and cut ties with the Calexit movement.

And yet he’s back again, listed on the current initiative, and reportedly living in California again.

What are the odds? Any such push for independence faces an extremely difficult road, as we’ve written before.

Seth Kaplowitz, a finance lecturer at San Diego State University, told CNBC that he thinks the effort will fade away.

All of which makes for good theater, but probably not an actual “movement”.

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A Van plowing through pedestrians in Toronto has left 10 dead and 15 wounded, according to reports coming out. The Driver is reportedly in custody alive, and the attack is believed to have been deliberate.
CBC Live Feed here

*UPDATE*From CBC:

Ten people are dead and 15 others are injured after a van driver plowed into a number of pedestrians Monday in the Yonge Street and Finch Avenue area of North York in Toronto.

One suspect is in custody.

CBC News has confirmed that Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old Richmond Hill, Ont., man, is the alleged driver in the attack. His LinkedIn profile identifies him as a student at Seneca College.

Government officials briefed on the investigation so far say the suspect is not associated with any organized terrorist group and he does not represent a larger threat to national security.

*ORIGINAL POST BELOW*

CNN:

Nine people are dead and 16 are injured after the driver of a van plowed into multiple pedestrians in Toronto, police said.

The driver of a white van collided with multiple pedestrians on a busy street north of downtown Toronto on Monday, leaving numerous people injured along a trail of destruction stretching up to a mile, officials said.
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale said there are some casualties from the collisions, but didn’t offer details.

More CNN on the mile long trail of destruction:

A witness, Raj Irshad, said he saw multiple bodies on the ground.
Irshad works at an Esso gas station about a block from where the van is reported to have driven onto the sidewalk. He said he did not see the initial collision but saw the aftermath. He also saw multiple emergency vehicles in front of his gas station.
One witness told CNN network partner CTV that he was out for a cigarette when he saw the van hit a man walking through the intersection.
“And then, just pandemonium broke loose, just everyone was going crazy,” he said. The vehicle was going 60 to 70 kph, he estimated.

More as this awful story develops…

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