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I miss The Hub

AnonusAnonus
edited 2017-07-03 00:55:00 in General
I have no idea why.

It had like one show anybody gave a shit about (well, two, but no one would have cared about that one if not for the halo effect from the other). It existed largely as a vehicle for pushing Hasbro's franchises. There was a wealth of non-Hasbro programming out there that it didn't bother to air.

But it at least tried to be a real network. It feels like some weird detour from the rest of Discovery Kids/Family's existence. "Discovery Family" doesn't even sound real.

Comments

  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I feel like, in the hands of people who actually cared, it could have been a neat nostalgia network for old cartoons and such, in addition to having the Hasbro shows. But, of course, Hasbro was in control of it and their people didn't seem to view it as much more than an advertising vehicle.
  • AnonusAnonus
    edited 2017-07-03 01:01:10
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    not just nostalgia (though it would be neat if WB let them run Yogi and pals) but also providing creators with a viable alternative to Nick, CN, and Disney
  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I thought of that too, but I figured that could be aiming too high for a fledgling network that a lot of people didn't have in their cable packages.
  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    Barely anybody had Cartoon Network when they started the What A Cartoon project...
  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    True.

    I dunno, I suspect it would be harder for a mainstream kids' network to break through in the early 2010s than it was for CN in the early '90s.
  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    The Hub came along at a really bad time

    It was shortly after the recession and a lot of people weren't going to pay extra for another kids' network, especially one that was controlled by a toymaker, it was in an era when Netflix had taken off and was putting a scare into linear TV (though Netflix would not introduce original programming until 2013)...

    There seems to be no desire on anyone's part to do a family-oriented OTT service, apart from Boomerang (the linear channel's days are almost certainly numbered, regardless of how well the subscription service does)...
  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    though DreamWorks Animation produces programming for Netflix, apart from Voltron I'm not sure how many people even watch it and with DWA now part of Comcast I'm sure they're eager to just retract DWA's services and make them exclusive to Universal Kids or something
  • lee4hmzlee4hmz
    ⚠ THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I kind of doubt that would happen; even with all the vertical integration, there's still quite a few NBCU shows on Netflix.
  • AnonusAnonus
    edited 2017-07-03 04:58:08
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    The rules seem different with kids' properties, which have in the last 20 years gotten to be very tightly controlled (indeed, it probably started when Turner bought Hanna-Barbera and then made it Cartoon Network's de facto in-house studio, and made its wealth of content exclusive to the Turner networks)
  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    That being said, if Universal Kids doesn't air any Woody Woodpecker shorts, NBCU should be sent to The Bad Zone
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