Open discussion: What if The Hub Network was a successful competitor(after 2014)?

[CassieTheDragon]

I would've loved to see what would've become of the network had it not changed. I recall reading somewhere (don't remember where) that in addition to screening other WB cartoons like Pinky and the Brain and Freakazoid, they were supposed to air The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, which hasn't been aired on TV in the United States since 1988 (it did reair several times in Canada, though). A real shame, as that series is one example of a kids' show done right. I wonder if this would've meant they were interested in other 80's cartoons as well...

I would've loved to see some early 2000s PBS shows like Sagwa, Liberty's Kids, Between The Lions and Dragon Tales. Bobby's World (not from PBS) would've been a good fit too.

 

[Tacomaster]

The Hub’s primetime schedule was pretty bad. Who thought reruns of all the shows not even Nick@Nite or TV Land was airing anymore would appeal to a young audience?

Hot take, but since Discovery at the time owned stakes in both the Hub and BBC America, I think Doctor Who would have been a good fit for prime time. It has a massive cult following in the States, it’s seen as a family show in its native UK, and kids will be drawn to the Time Machine and the aliens- and it’s still going to this day!

 

[Ace]

The Hub tried to be a family channel but it ended up leaning into being a younger skewing kids channel. There wasn't much original content that could appeal to adults or even teens besides Dan Vs. and the Aquabats also had some general appeal.

I feel like the hub should have had leaned in more original sitcoms and live action scripted stuff for that family general audience demographic and more stuff that could appeal to older kids and teens around that time.

The original animated content was a mixed bag. MLP looked really good but I think much of that is due to Lauren Frost's experience working in flash and I guess LPS also had some people with experience working on it. Other than that of the original animated stuff is kind of low budget which makes sense for being a high tier cable network. Flashy enough colors to appeal to the youngest demographic but I doubt a lot of it was good enough to have staying power for older kids.

 

[Tacomaster]

Transformers Prime was good too

Another thing is that aside from MLP and Transformers, the Hub eventually just settled into reruns of old kids shows (like Animaniacs and Goosebumps). Pretty GOOD shows, but not much appeal to the modern youth.

 

[Stumpos]

The reason why I said that was because The Hub should be outlier out of all kids networks by focusing on their new originals that can be just as successful as MLP and LPS instead of following Nickelodeon's playbook by relying on the same shows over and over again. I'm not the only one who's complaining about it. A lot of people, especially on this forum, did have a problem with that back then.

Yes, MLP and LPS are Hasbro's biggest moneymakers, but that doesn't mean it should be at the expense of all the others.

I'm not sure if you're trying to pull a "gotcha" moment on me by saying that it's not okay when The Hub relying on MLP and LPS over and over again, yet it's okay for Nickelodeon to relying on Spongebob for decades. If that's the case, it's not working because I do have a problem with other kids networks, especially Nickelodeon, relying on the same shows over and over again for years. The Hub should've known better when doing this since they have a lot of potential. Instead, they just did this to themselves.

Not trying to insult you. I was mostly just pointing out how a profitable and successful show is can impact how much a network pushes a show. Like, ratings are a factor in all this considering they do need good ratings to stay afloat. Course dunno how much of it comes from advertising or audience interest in general.

 

[JMTV]

Not trying to insult you. I was mostly just pointing out how a profitable and successful show is can impact how much a network pushes a show. Like, ratings are a factor in all this considering they do need good ratings to stay afloat. Course dunno how much of it comes from advertising or audience interest in general.

Sure fair enough.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

The Hub tried to be a family channel but it ended up leaning into being a younger skewing kids channel. There wasn't much original content that could appeal to adults or even teens besides Dan Vs. and the Aquabats also had some general appeal.

I feel like the hub should have had leaned in more original sitcoms and live action scripted stuff for that family general audience demographic and more stuff that could appeal to older kids and teens around that time.

The original animated content was a mixed bag. MLP looked really good but I think much of that is due to Lauren Frost's experience working in flash and I guess LPS also had some people with experience working on it. Other than that of the original animated stuff is kind of low budget which makes sense for being a high tier cable network. Flashy enough colors to appeal to the youngest demographic but I doubt a lot of it was good enough to have staying power for older kids.

You're right. What 16 year old will be watching Care Bears: Welcome To Care-A-Lot? Cartoon Network had Samurai Jack, Adventure Time and Regular Show, Disney Channel had Kim Possible and American Dragon, and Nick had Avatar and Ren And Stimpy, just for a few examples from each of the "big 3" networks.

 

[Golden Geek]

It would've been interesting if we got Yokai Watch on The Hub since Hasbro was the toy distributor in the US.

You're right. What 16 year old will be watching Care Bears: Welcome To Care-A-Lot? Cartoon Network had Samurai Jack, Adventure Time and Regular Show, Disney Channel had Kim Possible and American Dragon, and Nick had Avatar and Ren And Stimpy, just for a few examples from each of the "big 3" networks.

Dan Vs. skewed closer to that demographic, as well as Deltora Quest, Kaijudo, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour, SheZow!, etc. Though you're right they didn't have a flagship hit for that audience (though a lot of people my age seem to remember The Haunting Hour).

The Hub had solid programming for older kids and teens - that Hasbro stake also just made it tricky to keep all the different audiences The Hub was trying to appease happy. And, of course, what everyone seemed to know about The Hub was ponies, so it was easier to lean into that audience.

 

[superkeegan9100]

Honestly? Discovery didn't wanna do any work and don't care about kid programming.

Well this aged well

 

[Tacomaster]

Too well for my liking. But it does prove my point.

Though imagine if Loesch stayed at the channel until the WBD merger, then moved to CN as a whole?

 

[CassieTheDragon]

It would've been interesting if we got Yokai Watch on The Hub since Hasbro was the toy distributor in the US.

Dan Vs. skewed closer to that demographic, as well as Deltora Quest, Kaijudo, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour, SheZow!, etc. Though you're right they didn't have a flagship hit for that audience (though a lot of people my age seem to remember The Haunting Hour).

The Hub had solid programming for older kids and teens - that Hasbro stake also just made it tricky to keep all the different audiences The Hub was trying to appease happy. And, of course, what everyone seemed to know about The Hub was ponies, so it was easier to lean into that audience.

As someone born in 2002 who was 8-12 during The Hub's run (pre-Discovery Family), I don't know a single person my age or older/younger that remembers The Haunting Hour. I barely remember it myself at all. I remember other obscure Hub shows pretty vividly; at the very least i'm more familiar with them (SheZow, Dan Vs., Kaijudo, Pound Puppies reboot... I even remember the themes to both the 2012 Littlest Pet Shop, Care Bears: Welcome To Care-A-Lot, and SheZow)