Discovery Family is an American
cable television channel co-owned by
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
and
Hasbro Entertainment.
The channel was originally launched by
Discovery Communications
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chann ...
on October 7, 1996 as Discovery Kids, a spin-off of
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
which primarily featured science and nature-themed programming aimed towards a youth audience. In 2010, Discovery Kids was relaunched as The Hub (later Hub Network) as part of a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with Hasbro led by veteran executive
Margaret Loesch
Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...
. The relaunch pivoted the channel towards a general entertainment format, with
dayparts targeting preschool, youth, and family audiences respectively. Some of its original programming would include adaptations of Hasbro-owned properties, such as ''
Family Game Night'' and ''
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''.
In 2014, Loesch stepped down, and the network was rebranded as Discovery Family; at this time, Discovery began programming the channel's
primetime
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
schedule with family-oriented
factual programming (including Discovery library programs), while leaving Hasbro responsible for programming its daytime schedule as a minority partner.
History
As Discovery Kids (1996–2010)
Discovery Communications
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chann ...
launched Discovery Kids Channel on October 7, 1996, as part of a suite of four new
digital cable
Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...
channels that included
Discovery Travel & Living
Discovery Travel & Living is a defunct channel brand from Discovery Communications. This name was used in countries of Europe, Latin America and Asia. In other parts of the world the channel is known as Travel and Living Channel. It features tra ...
,
Discovery Civilization
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...
, and
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...
.
Upon its launch, the network primarily offered adventure, nature, and science-themed programs aimed towards a children's audience between ages 6 and 11.
Marjorie Kaplan, the network's senior vice president, explained that the creation of Discovery Kids was influenced primarily by kids, who were watching its
parent network
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
's programming together with their parents.
From 1996 to 2000, Discovery Kids was carried by only a select few cable television providers. In 2001, the channel was shortened to Discovery Kids and late in that year, it was carried in at least 15 million homes.
In September 2001, a
Canadian version of Discovery Kids was launched in partnership with
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...
.
In December 2001, Discovery Kids announced a partnership with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, in which it would produce a new Saturday morning block for the network known as ''
Discovery Kids on NBC
Discovery Kids on NBC was an American children's programming block that aired on NBC from October 5, 2002 to September 9, 2006. The block was produced under a time-lease agreement with Discovery Kids, and features a mixture of live-action and an ...
'', beginning in September 2002. The block, which replaced
a teen-oriented block consisting only of sitcoms, featured programming that met the
U.S. Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
's (FCC)
educational programming guidelines, including new original series (such as the
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
series ''
Endurance
Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...
''), existing Discovery Kids programming, along with children's spin-offs of programs from sister networks, such as
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
and Discovery Channel.
With the launch of the new block, Discovery Kids also branched out into animated programming with the premieres of ''
Kenny the Shark
''Kenny the Shark'' is an American animated television series produced by Discovery Kids. The series was first premiered on Discovery Kids' Saturday morning block on NBC on November 1, 2003, and ended with the last episode on February 19, 2005. ...
'' and ''
Tutenstein
''Tutenstein'' is an American animated television series, produced by Porchlight Entertainment for Discovery Kids based on the comics by Jay Stephens. The series premiered on November 1, 2003 and ended on October 11, 2008. It features young mumm ...
''. In March 2006, Discovery declined to renew its contract with NBC for its Saturday morning block, citing a desire to focus exclusively on the Discovery Kids cable channel. Since the launch of the NBC block, Discovery Kids had grown its cable carriage to over 43 million homes. NBC would replace the Discovery Kids block with
Qubo
Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...
in September 2006.
As Hub Network (2010–2014)
Programming and development
On April 30, 2009, toy manufacturer and multimedia company
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
announced that it would be forming a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with Discovery Communications to relaunch Discovery Kids as a new family-oriented television channel, paying $300 million for 50% ownership of the network. Under the arrangement, Discovery would be in charge of handling advertising sales and distribution for the new service, while Hasbro would be involved in acquiring and producing programming. While educational series (including those carried over from Discovery Kids) were slated to be maintained on the schedule, plans called for new original programs based on Hasbro-owned franchises such as ''
G.I. Joe
''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...
'', ''My Little Pony'', ''
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...
'' and
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
s adapted from its board game brands.
Discovery Communications was looking for a business partner to draw the improved types of advertisers on the channel.
In July 2009, the joint venture appointed veteran television executive
Margaret Loesch
Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...
as its
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
;
prior to this, Loesch had led
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
, and served as president and CEO of
Marvel Productions
New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of ...
from 1984 to 1990, assisting in the production of several Hasbro-based cartoons such as ''
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', ''
My Little Pony 'n Friends
''My Little Pony'' is a 1986–1987 American cartoon series, animated television series produced by Sunbow Entertainment, Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and animated by Toei Animation and AKOM based on the My Little Pony toys released ...
,'' and ''
The Transformers.''
In January 2010, Discovery and Hasbro announced that the new network would be known as The Hub; this was soon followed two months later with the announcement that The Hub would launch on October 10, 2010. The network's original imaging was developed by Troika Design Group and built around an emblem nicknamed the "hubble" – which was designed to embody a "catalyst of action and imagination". The final logo design was the result of a number of drafts by Troika designers, some of which had incorporated typography similar to Hasbro's logo.
Goals
The relaunched channel, which would compete against established children services such as
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
,
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
, and
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
,
planned to continue targeting Discovery Kids' main demographic of children aged 2–12 (a market which staff felt was being abandoned by its competitors in favor of
tweens) but also planned to feature a prime-time block with family-oriented programming; it was originally targeted at preteens and teenagers aged 9–14.
Launch programming included the game show ''Family Game Night'', animated television series ''
Pound Puppies
Pound Puppies is a toy line that was created by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries.
Toy ...
'', ''
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' – a new animated entry in the ''My Little Pony'' franchise developed by
Lauren Faust
Lauren J. Faust (born July 25, 1974) is an American animator, writer, voice director, and storyboard artist, best known as the creator of the animated series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Faust has collaborated with her husband Craig ...
, and ''
Deltora Quest'' alongside reruns of the
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
series ''
Fraggle Rock
''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim H ...
'' and the preschool-oriented programs ''
Animal Mechanicals
''Animal Mechanicals'' (french: Les Super Mécanimaux) is a Canadian CGI animated television preschool series that was created by Jeff Rosen. Produced by Halifax Film, in association with the CBC and distributed by Decode Entertainment, the s ...
'' and ''
The WotWots
''The WotWots'' is a New Zealand children's television show which debuted in 2005 and has since aired in several other countries worldwide. Created by Martin Baynton and Richard Taylor, the series uses a mix of live-action and computer animatio ...
''.
The channel promised to keep the proportion of programs supplied from Hasbro to "less than 20%" of the total of its programming.
Commercial programming
The
Children's Television Act
The broadcast of educational children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under regulations colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act (C ...
(CTA) in the United States limits the commercial time during children's programming, and prohibits television broadcasters from airing advertisements for products associated with a program during or in timeslots adjacent to the show itself. During time slots that targeted
preschool
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
audiences (aired during a block branded as "HubBub"), The Hub was to broadcast six minutes of advertisements per hour, below 12 minutes per hour on weekdays, and 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends as mandated by the CTA. Additionally, it was planning to broadcast 10.5 minutes of advertisements per hour the rest of the day throughout the week, a policy upheld from its previous incarnation as Discovery Kids.
The channel was planning to sell its
advertising inventories to toy companies other than Hasbro as well; as reported by ''
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...
'' in May 2010, The Hub was even in talks with
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
, one of Hasbro's major competitors in the toy industry.
The channel, however, also planned to restrict certain categories of advertisements, including
junk foods
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known as H ...
and "
advertisers in the sugar category".
There have been reported concerns that the channel would be exploited by Hasbro as a platform to plug its products. Ahead of the channel's relaunch as The Hub,
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Fairplay, previously known as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), is a United States "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children nd isthe only nationa ...
(CCFC) called the whole project an "
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
", and stated that they would be monitoring the channel.
CCFC founder
Susan Linn
Susan Linn is an American writer, psychologist, and ventriloquist. She is the founder of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and author of the book ''Consuming Kids''. She is a research associate at Boston Children's Hospital and a lecturer at ...
said "It will make a mockery of existing ad limits and the current prohibition of product placement in children's television" at the April 2009 announcement of the Discovery-Hasbro joint venture,
and told ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' that "
e notion of a toy company owning a television channel for the sole purpose of promoting their toys is egregious practice" in the days before the channel's relaunch.
Loesch stated that The Hub's goal was to be "vibrant" and "diverse" in its programming, and that the channel would not purely be a marketing vehicle for Hasbro products.
Loesch also said that Hasbro was partnering with Discovery Communications for the channel, and declared "we have programming from them and are using their DNA".
Launch and later years
To promote The Hub, sneak peeks of ''
Cosmic Quantum Ray
''Cosmic Quantum Ray'' is a CGI- animated television series. The series premiered in the United States on November 5, 2007 on Animania HD, then in 2009 in Germany on KI.KA, and then later on October 10, 2010 on The Hub (later in 2014 became D ...
'', ''
The Twisted Whiskers Show
''The Twisted Whiskers Show'' is an animated comedy television series based on the Twisted Whiskers greeting cards created by Terrill Bohlar for American Greetings. It began airing as the first program of the Hasbro/Discovery TV network, Discov ...
'', and ''
Family Game Night'' aired on
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...
,
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
, and
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
respectively. Discovery Kids' relaunch as The Hub was preceded by a
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
of ''
Kenny the Shark
''Kenny the Shark'' is an American animated television series produced by Discovery Kids. The series was first premiered on Discovery Kids' Saturday morning block on NBC on November 1, 2003, and ended with the last episode on February 19, 2005. ...
'' (broadcast under the @DK block), running from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m.
ET. Immediately after, The Hub premiered with "Sneak Peak Sunday", a sampler lineup of programs set to air on the channel in the coming months. ''The Twisted Whiskers Show'' was the first program to air of the channel, followed by episodes of ''
Dennis and Gnasher
''Dennis the Menace and Gnasher'' (originally titled ''Dennis the Menace'' and currently titled ''Dennis and Gnasher)'' is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic book, comic ''The Beano'', published by DC Thomson, of Dundee ...
'', ''Cosmic Quantum Ray'', ''
Atomic Betty
''Atomic Betty'' (retitled ''Atomic Betty: Mission Earth'' for its third and final season) is a Canadian-French Flash animated television series produced by Atomic Cartoons, Breakthrough Entertainment and Tele Images Kids, along with the Marat ...
'', and the network premiere of the 2004 film ''
Garfield: The Movie''.
In a June 2011 debt filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
, Discovery Communications indicated that the channel may be worth less than recently believed, based on low viewership figures. The management of The Hub subsequently underwent a fair value analysis of the channel. A Discovery Communications spokesperson considered the action to be "a
pro-forma
The term ''pro forma'' (Latin for "as a matter of form" or "for the sake of form") is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to ...
accounting exercise", and noted that Discovery felt "very positive and encouraged by The Hub's early days' performance, and ability to grow its audience in the future."
In March 2013, The Hub picked up ''
Stan Lee's Mighty 7
Stan Lee's Mighty 7 (SLAM 7) is a media franchise of a fictional superhero team originally published as a Stan Lee Comics line comic book title.
History
''Stan Lee's Secret Super Six'' property of Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment was signed with Andy ...
'', an animated pilot film that aired on February 1, 2014. The network also began to phase in an amended branding as the Hub Network.
On January 13, 2014, Hub Network introduced an updated logo, along with a new imaging campaign, "Making Family Fun", which was developed by the Los Angeles-based agency Oishii Creative.
As Discovery Family (2014–present)
On June 12, 2014, it was reported that Margaret Loesch would step down from her role as Hub Network president and CEO by the end of the year. On September 17, 2014, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that Discovery Communications was preparing to acquire a controlling stake in Hub Network from Hasbro and then retool it as Discovery Family. Along with Discovery's CFO Andrew Warren, Hasbro staff acknowledged that increasing competition in the children's media landscape – especially by subscription video-on-demand services such as
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
– had an effect on the overall performance of the network and Hasbro's original content.
As it was majority-owned by a competitor, other major toy companies such as
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
refused to purchase advertising time on Hub Network, affecting its ability to air advertising that targeted its main audience; by 2014, the network had made only $9 million per year. Discovery staff was also unable to display a full commitment to Hub Network's operation, due to factors such as the troubled launch of the
Oprah Winfrey Network
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel.
The network is led by talk show h ...
. Believing that they had overvalued its stake in the venture, Hasbro decided to cede the operation of the network to Discovery so it could focus more on content, and its core toy business.
Discovery and Hasbro publicly announced the planned rebranding on September 25, 2014, Hasbro's CEO
Brian Goldner
Brian David Goldner (April 21, 1963 – October 11, 2021) was an American business chief executive and film producer. He was the chief executive officer of the American toy and media company Hasbro from 2008 until his death.
Early life
Goldner w ...
explained that Discovery Family would be the "next chapter" in its joint venture with Discovery, "
ombininghighly rated award-winning storytelling around Hasbro's brands and Discovery's most popular non-fiction shows that appeal to both children and families alike." Following reports earlier in the year that Hub Network president
Margaret Loesch
Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...
would step down by the end of the year, Discovery acquired 10% of Hasbro's stake in the network, and Henry Schleiff replaced Loesch, who leads sister networks such as
Destination America
Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, a ...
and
Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...
.
Hub Network was re-launched as Discovery Family on October 13, 2014 – just over four years since the original launch of The Hub. With these changes, Discovery Communications now held a 60% stake in the joint venture; Hasbro continued to hold a 40% stake in Discovery Family, and continued to program the network's daytime lineup with children's programming. Following the re-launch, the network's primetime lineup was replaced by reruns of family-oriented non-fiction programming from Discovery Channel's library.
Henry Schleiff, who leads sister networks such as Destination America and Investigation Discovery, leads the re-launched network, with Tom Cosgrove (who previously served as CEO of Discovery Channel and
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
) as general manager.
In re-launching Hub Network, Discovery executives noted that there would be a larger emphasis on programming of interest to both children and their parents; Warren argued that since
ABC Family
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
had become, in his opinion, aimed towards teenage girls, there was a gap in the broadcasting industry for a new, family-oriented network.
With these shifts in the network's operation, it was announced on October 7, 2014 that the ''Transformers: Prime'' follow-up ''
Transformers: Robots in Disguise''–which was originally announced for Hub Network–would instead be picked up by
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
.
Hasbro Studios president Stephen Davis felt that Cartoon Network was a more appropriate home for a ''Transformers'' series due to its male-oriented demographics,
describing Hub Network's lineup as being "traditionally skewed towards girls".
Other recent ''Transformers''
animated series
An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
preceding the original launch of The Hub also aired on Cartoon Network.
Davis remarked that Hasbro was still "100% committed" to its joint venture with Discovery.
Despite the move for ''Robots in Disguise'', fellow Hub Network ''Transformers'' series ''
Transformers: Rescue Bots'' remained on Discovery Family for its third season.
Warner Bros. Discovery era, future of Hasbro ownership
On February 7, 2022, Hasbro CFO Deborah Thomas stated that the company was exploring strategic alternatives for its stake in the channel, citing the growing shift towards
cord cutting and streaming services. She noted that the channel had been a "terrific investment" that had "driven over a $1 billion in revenue for the company", but that there had been "changes" in the cable industry since. These discussions came ahead of the then-upcoming merger of
Discovery Inc.
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...
with
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
to form
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
, a transaction which brought Discovery Family under common ownership with Cartoon Network. Following the merger, Discovery Family was placed under the oversight of Cartoon Network's president
Michael Ouweleen
Michael Ouweleen (born 1967) is an American television executive and screenwriter. He is the current president of The Cartoon Network, Inc., the operating company of Cartoon Network (which includes the Cartoonito and ACME Night blocks), Adult Swi ...
.
The channel's
TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselv ...
app, Discovery Family Go, was discontinued on May 2, 2022. Its closure was only given about a week's warning. In August 2022, ''
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
'' reported that Hasbro was considering selling or restructuring its entertainment assets (such as
eOne
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...
). On September 24, 2022, the network's website was restructured to match its new look as a webpage on the Discovery website.
Programming
![2950hollywoodway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/2950hollywoodway.JPG)
The majority of Discovery Family's daytime programs are animated and live-action series tied to
media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
s owned by Hasbro itself, with newer series produced through the
Hasbro Studios
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
and
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
divisions, such as ''Pound Puppies'' and ''Transformers: Rescue Bots''. As the Hub Network, it also previously aired
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
s tied to Hasbro's
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
s, such as ''Family Game Night''.
One of the network's most noteworthy series has been ''
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', an animated series produced as a part of the
then-recent revival of Hasbro's
My Little Pony
''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...
franchise. The series not only became The Hub's highest-rated program within its target demographic of young girls, but attracted an unexpectedly significant
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
among male teens and adults. Following the conclusion of the series on October 12, 2019, the animated spin-off series featuring its cast, ''
My Little Pony: Pony Life'', premiered on Discovery Family on November 7, 2020.
The Hatchery – a company co-founded by
Margaret Loesch
Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...
(who have served as the channel's president and CEO from 2009 until 2014) and Bruce Stein in 2003, and have its major stake acquired by
American Greetings
American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting ...
in 2004 – have supplied certain series to the channel, including ''
Dan Vs.
''Dan Vs.'' is an American animated television series created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson. The series spanned three seasons, airing on The Hub from January 1, 2011, to March 9, 2013. 53 episodes were produced.
Plot
The show is about Dan, a ...
'' and ''
R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour''.
Aside from The Hatchery's productions, American Greetings have also supplied ''
Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures
''Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures'' is a CGI animated television series based on the ''Strawberry Shortcake'' franchise. The series, produced by MoonScoop Group (2010–2013) and Splash Entertainment (2015), follows the adventures ...
'' (part of the 2009 relaunch of
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry shortcake may refer to:
* Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries
* "Strawberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie," a song published in 1956; a version by The Brother Sisters was released by Mercury Records in 196 ...
, a property which was owned by AG until 2015), ''
The Twisted Whiskers Show
''The Twisted Whiskers Show'' is an animated comedy television series based on the Twisted Whiskers greeting cards created by Terrill Bohlar for American Greetings. It began airing as the first program of the Hasbro/Discovery TV network, Discov ...
'', ''
Maryoku Yummy'', and ''
Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot'' to the channel, having named Hasbro as the master toy licensee of
Care Bears
Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears.
The characters headlined their own televis ...
and Strawberry Shortcake in 2008.
The channel has also acquired new series unrelated to properties of Hasbro, The Hatchery and American Greetings, including ''
Animal Mechanicals
''Animal Mechanicals'' (french: Les Super Mécanimaux) is a Canadian CGI animated television preschool series that was created by Jeff Rosen. Produced by Halifax Film, in association with the CBC and distributed by Decode Entertainment, the s ...
'', ''
The Aquabats! Super Show!
''The Aquabats! Super Show!'' is an American action-comedy musical television series which aired from March 3, 2012 to January 8, 2014 on The Hub Network and resumed as an independent YouTube web series in September 2019. The series was created ...
'', ''
Cosmic Quantum Ray
''Cosmic Quantum Ray'' is a CGI- animated television series. The series premiered in the United States on November 5, 2007 on Animania HD, then in 2009 in Germany on KI.KA, and then later on October 10, 2010 on The Hub (later in 2014 became D ...
'', ''
Majors & Minors
''Majors & Minors'' is an American reality television singing competition, that premiered on The Hub on September 23, 2011. Auditions were held for 8-16 year olds, and the winner received a chance to have a partnership with Sony
, com ...
'', ''
Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch'', ''
Secret Millionaires Club
''Secret Millionaires Club'' is an American educational animated series that aired on The Hub / Hub Network from October 23, 2011 to January 11, 2017 (Qubo telecast only). The series features famed investor Warren Buffett as a secret mentor to ...
'', and ''
SheZow''.
During its years as the Hub Network, the channel also aired reruns of other acquired series, such as ''
Fraggle Rock
''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim H ...
'' and ''
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', a collection of various
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1 ...
series, such as ''
Batman Beyond
''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration ...
'', ''
Batman: The Animated Series'', ''
Superman: The Animated Series'', ''
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
'', and ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'', a few former
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
shows such as ''
Goosebumps
''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary circumstances usually i ...
'' and ''
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation'', and various off-network sitcoms (at the end of the Hub Network's run, these included ''
Blossom'', ''
Step by Step'', and ''
Sister, Sister''); ''Blossom'', the only sitcom on Discovery Family's schedule, returned for a time in 2016. A limited amount of original Discovery Kids programming, such as ''
Adventure Camp'' and ''
Flight 29 Down
''Flight 29 Down'' is an American adventure comedy-drama television series about a group of teenagers who are stranded on an island. It was produced by Discovery Kids. The show was created by Stan Rogow (''Lizzie McGuire'', ''Darcy's Wild Life'') ...
'', remained on the lineup upon its launch as The Hub.
Primetime and overnight programming
Following the relaunch as Discovery Family in October 2014, Discovery began programming the channel's
primetime
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
schedule with family-oriented
factual programming (including Discovery library programs), while leaving Hasbro responsible for programming its daytime schedule as a minority partner.
The original programs commissioned for the channel in this timeslot include ''Bake It Like Buddy'', ''
From Wags to Riches with Bill Berloni'', ''My Dog's Crazy Animal Friends'', ''Reno, Set, Go!'', ''Secrets of America's Favorite Places'' and burn-off the remaining episodes of season 9 of ''
Cake Boss
''Cake Boss'' is an American reality television series, which originally aired on the cable television network TLC. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, and has spawned four spin-offs: '' Next Great Baker'', ''Kitchen Boss'', ''Bake You Ric ...
''.
Availability
As of September 2018, approximately 55,238,000 American households (50.9% of households with television) receive Discovery Family.
Discovery Family operates one feed nationally, and does not operate a
timeshift feed
A timeshift channel (sometimes referred to as a +1 channel) is a television channel carrying time-delayed reruns of its "parent" channel's programming. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network br ...
for the
west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
.
A
1080i
1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
high-definition simulcast of the network was introduced alongside its re-launch as The Hub, with
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
,
Verizon FiOS, and
AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), VoIP, IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states. as the first to carry the HD feed.
Based on numbers from
Nielsen, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' ranked Discovery Family as the 128th most-watched broadcast or cable network in the United States in 2021 based on total viewership.
International versions
On March 31, 2016, the pan-
EMEA
EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...
version of
Discovery World
Discovery World is a science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of STEM majors through curiosity and creativity.
Focus
Mission
"Discovery World provides fun and educational ...
was re-launched as a regional version of Discovery Family.
On September 14, 2017, a
French version of Discovery Family was launched in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, until its shutdown on March 29, 2022.
The pan-EMEA and French versions of Discovery Family never carried kid-oriented shows, as those supplying such programs to Discovery Family in the United States (including Hasbro) had pre-existing deals with other international networks.
See also
*
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
*
Cartoonito
Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and programming blocks that target preschool-age children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish suffix "ito", meaning "small".
As of 2 ...
*
Boomerang (TV network)
Boomerang is an American cable television network and streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Boomerang debuted in 1992 as a programming block on Cartoon Network, dedicated to classi ...
*
Discovery Familia
Discovery Familia (previously stylized as DFamiİia) is an American Spanish-language family-oriented specialty television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network launched on August 9, 2007.
The channel airs preschool-intended pro ...
: The domestic Spanish-language equivalent in the United States with similar scheduling strategy.
*
Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were e ...
: An international brand and former name of the United States channel.
*
K2: Italian equivalent in the United States with similar scheduling strategy.
*
Frisbee
A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitive ...
: Italian sister network to K2.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Discovery Family
Discovery Kids
Children's television networks in the United States
English-language television stations in the United States
Hasbro subsidiaries
Joint ventures
Television channels and stations established in 1996
Television networks in the United States
Television programming blocks
Cartoon Network
Warner Bros. Discovery networks