Argosy Media

Argosy Media is an American production and distribution company founded in 1953, though it dates back to a magazine first published in 1882. It is part of the company Argosy Communications. The company is based in the US state of Kittenolivia.

Creation
Argosy Media was formed in 1953 as a film and TV unit of Argosy Magazine, at the time owned by Popular Productions. Popular Productions spun off the Argosy unit, including the magazine, in 1973; the magazine was discontinued weeks later.

The genesis of Aaron
In 1982, cartoonist Ellen Peck created the famous cat that Argosy used throughout the '80s, the '90s, half of the 2000s and late 2007 to the present day, and served as a mascot officially in 1989. Ellen Peck named the cat Aaron by the time the cat was created. Aaron (in the logos) was voiced by Ellen Peck in pre-2000, then Lewis Jones in 2000-2007, and from late 2007 to the present, he is voiced by Rick Buckley. In the TV shows, he has a more anthropomorphic design than in the logos, and is voiced by various child actors.

MTM and TVS era (1987-1993)
In 1987, Argosy was acquired by rival production company, MTM Enterprises. In 1989, MTM was in turn bought by British ITV company, TVS Entertainment.

International Family Entertainment era (1993-1995)
In 1993, International Family Entertainment bought TVS Entertainment after TVS lost its ITV franchise to Meridian. Argosy and MTM were operated separately from the Family Channel.

Shaw and Corus era (1995-2006)
In 1995, Canadian cable company Shaw Communications bought International Family Entertainment. In 1998, Shaw sold the failing Family Channel unit to Fox, but retained ownership of Argosy, MTM, the TVS and Southern libraries, and the pre-1998 Family Channel library. In 1999, Shaw spun off its media assets, including Argosy and MTM, as Corus Entertainment.

Independence (2006-present)
In 2006, Ellen Peck and her colleague, Nathan Blake, purchased the US assets of Corus, including Argosy and MTM, under the holding company Blake Media, which was renamed to Argosy Communications after the acquisition of the Cheezburger Network websites in 2011.

New media
Argosy has been recognized as a pioneer in new media. It was one of the first production companies to have its own website, dating back to 1997. In 2000, Argosy started putting free episodes of its shows on its website in RealVideo format (changed to Windows Media in 2002, MP4 in 2006, and WebM in 2017). In 2009, Argosy started uploading full episodes of its shows to YouTube, DailyMotion, and Vimeo. Argosy launched its BitChute account in 2019.

Criticism
Argosy has been criticized for absorbing smaller animation studios, such as Hammocks Animation, Romite Group, and Stant Animation. In the latter case, the company was also a cultural icon for the Republic of Ireland (Eire).