Children's programming on NBC: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:50, 21 July 2025

Revision as of 01:05, 6 August 2025

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{{main|Qubo}}

[[File:Qubo logo.svg|thumb|277x277px|Qubo logo]]

In May 2006, [[NBCUniversal]] and [[Ion Media Networks]] announced plans to form [[Qubo]], a joint venture in conjunction with [[Scholastic Corporation]], [[Classic Media]] and Canada-based [[Corus Entertainment]]'s animation subsidiary [[Nelvana]]. The multi-platform programming endeavor, aimed at children between 4 and 8 years of age, would comprise children's program blocks airing on NBC, Spanish-language sister network [[Telemundo]] and Ion Media's i: Independent Television (now [[Ion Television]]), as well as a 24-hour [[digital subchannel|digital multicast channel]] on i's [[owned-and-operated station]]s (alternatively known as Qubo Channel), [[video on demand]] services and a branded website. The reasoning why the name "qubo" was chosen for the endeavor, or why its logo is a cube, has never been publicly explainedstated by any of the partners, although general manager Rick Rodriguez stated in an interview with ''[[Multichannel News]]'' that the name was intended to be something that sounded fun, and be a brand that could easily be used uniformly in English and Spanish.<ref>{{cite web|title=NBC Debuts Kids Programming Brand Qubo|url=http://adage.com/article/media/nbc-debuts-kids-programming-brand-qubo/111473/|first=Andrew|last=Hampp|periodical=[[Advertising Age]]|date=August 24, 2006|access-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref><ref name=mcn-qubo>{{cite web|title=Qubo's Rodriguez: Offering a 'Building Block' to Kids|url=http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/qubo-s-rodriguez-offering-building-block-kids/367423|first=Luis|last=Clemens|periodical=Multichannel News|date=February 16, 2008|access-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>

The new "Qubo on NBC" block premiered on September 9, 2006, featuring six programs in its initial season: ''[[VeggieTales]]'', ''[[3-2-1 Penguins!]]'', ''[[Dragon (TV series)|Dragon]]'', ''[[Babar (TV series)|Babar]]'', ''[[Jane and the Dragon (TV series)|Jane and the Dragon]]'', and ''[[Jacob Two-Two (TV series)|Jacob Two-Two]]''. Initially, ''VeggieTales'' episodes aired on the block excised religious content originally incorporated before and after the main feature in the [[home video]] releases. This drew criticism for the block and NBC in particular from the conservative watchdog group [[Parents Television Council]], as well as ''VeggieTales'' co-creator [[Phil Vischer]], who claimed that he was unaware of the intent to edit out the religious material when Qubo acquired the programprogramming distribution rights.<ref>{{cite news|title=God references quashed; 'VeggieTales creator steamed|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/22/veggietales.controversy.ap/index.html|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=[[CNN]]|date=September 22, 2006|access-date=June 22, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004173931/http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/22/veggietales.controversy.ap/index.html|archive-date=October 4, 2006}}</ref>

===NBC Kids (2012–2016)===

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NBC Kids debuted on July 7, 2012, one week after the Qubo block ended its run on NBC on June 30 (which left [[Ion Television]] (and later [[Ion Plus]]) as the only network to retain a Qubo-branded children's block up until the closure of the Qubo Channel on February 28, 2021, as the [[E.W. Scripps Company]] is now the owner of [[Ion Media]], which they acquired on January 7, 2021).<ref name="MarketWatch">{{cite news|title=NBC Will Launch NBC Kids, a New Saturday Morning Preschool Block Programmed by Sprout®, Saturday, July 7|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nbc-will-launch-nbc-kids-a-new-saturday-morning-preschool-block-programmed-by-sprout-saturday-july-7-2012-03-28|work=[[MarketWatch]]|date=March 28, 2012|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref>

Between both 2014 and 2015, several [[PBS Kids]] programs were being removed from both the block and the Sprout Channel due to PBS quitting the channel and continuing with its own children's programming separately. Then on both February 24, 2016 and March 1, 2016, NBC announced that NBC Kids would shut down and succeeded on October 8, 2016, by [[The More You Know (TV programming block)|The More You Know]], a block produced by [[Litton Entertainment]] that would feature live-action documentary and lifestyle programs aimed at pre-teenspreteens and teenagers, similarly to a block also introduced by Litton for [[NBC]]'s co-owner [[The CW|CW]] for the previouspast 2two years. The move came as part of a shift by broadcast television networks towards using their Weekend morning lineup solely to comply with the educational programming requirements and when Sprout changed its name to [[Universal Kids]] on September 9, 2017 (closed down eight years later). NBC Kids quietly went to the ''[[Noodle and Doodle]]'' end credits shortly before [[NBC Sports]] on September 25, 2016.

=== The More You Know (2016–present) ===