A few years ago the Hub network premiered. They would air classic sitcoms at primetime/late night after the daytime kids programming, similar to how Nick at Nite used to be. Shows I saw for the first time on the Hub and liked were The Facts of Life, Blossom, Doogie Howser, M.D. and Laverne and Shirley. They also aired some shows that were already favorites of mine like Family Ties, Happy Days, The Wonder Years, Mork and Mindy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and ALF. Now starting later today the Hub will disappear forever, being rebranded into yet another Discovery network with educational shows replacing the classic sitcoms. I won't be watching this station anymore, terrible decision!

Yeah I hope it tanks completely, if I want to educate and discover new thing I'll read up on Wikipedia.

more than likely they will start out with a couple of educational shows, and then within a couple of months they will start adding stupid reality shows that have absolutely no educational value whatsoever and become another clone of half of the other cable channels - completely worthless.

Honestly, the only show I'm going to miss is "Step by Step".

The Hub was dead a long time ago when they stopped showing the classic sitcoms.

wait so are they going to get rid of the shows like goosebumps and r.l. steins the thinking hour?? ive been watching those for awhile now and are pretty good.

wait so are they going to get rid of the shows like goosebumps and r.l. steins the thinking hour?? ive been watching those for awhile now and are pretty good.
the majority of their programming is probably going to be infomercials for catheters anyways, so it really doesn't matter.

These stations only care for The Almighty Dollar NOT station quality anymore...

exactly!


all these new discovery shows are not FAMILY orientated, they are normal Discovery shows that must not have been interesting enough to make the regular channel.


discovery sucks.

Honestly, the only show I'm going to miss is "Step by Step".

The Hub was dead a long time ago when they stopped showing the classic sitcoms.

you and me both :(


i'll also miss Blossom. that show is great.


sister sister? pfft

another one bites the dust

Honestly, the only show I'm going to miss is "Step by Step".

The Hub was dead a long time ago when they stopped showing the classic sitcoms.

I'm honestly more upset about The Hub's decline that its' transition to Discovery Family. The channel showed so much promise when it first launched, I actually bought in to the notion of it joining the Big 3 kids' networks one day, but Hasbro isn't a media company, they're a toy company, and as the years went by, this became all too apparent. The more dependent The Hub grew on Ponies, Pets, marathons and nostalgia and the less innovative and original the channel's programming became, the more frustrated I grew with The Hub. It became all too obvious that their only goal was to sell their toys and they had no interest in making a quality entertainment channel.

the majority of their programming is probably going to be infomercials for catheters anyways, so it really doesn't matter.

What really annoyed me about the Hub was its bad scheduling. They put some of there great original programing in the afternoon. Come on, kids are normally out playing in the afternoon. Then in the prime time hours where they should be showing their Hub originals (e.g. Dan vs.) all they had on were tired old movies.

It was fun while it lasted...

The Hub is no different than TV Land. Starts off great and it becomes lousy. It wouldnt shock me to find out that the people who run the Hub thought about turning it into Discovery, the day The Hub signed on. Lets face it, these guys have a plan. They could care less about the classic sitcom. They figured that if you watched Step by Step, Blossom, etc. than you'll watch Discovery. Well, I think its safe to say that its bit them right in the ass because NOBODY is watching.

The entire Hub staff has been laid off. (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/10/the-hubs-employees-apparently-laid-off.html)

The fact that most of the DiscFam shows are shows relics from Discovery's vaults or recycled from other Discovery networks is a clear indication that Discovery really isn't interested in doing anything of note with this channel, nor is Hasbro interested in producing any new shows or properties for it.

DiscFam could easily stay a family network while running shows people would actually want to see. To put it in another way, family-friendly doesn't have to mean monotonous, unchallenging and dull as dishwater. Ask a kid if he/she would rather watch a cartoon show or a documentary about the steam engine and 9 times out of 10, that kid is going to choose the cartoon. This is something that Discovery should have considered when attempting to attract kids with this channel.

Wasn't there already another Discovery Channel?

Wasn't there already another Discovery Channel?

Yes it was called Discovery Kids before it was the Hub, and now it's back to a Discovery again.

The Hub is no different than TV Land. Starts off great and it becomes lousy. It wouldnt shock me to find out that the people who run the Hub thought about turning it into Discovery, the day The Hub signed on. Lets face it, these guys have a plan. They could care less about the classic sitcom. They figured that if you watched Step by Step, Blossom, etc. than you'll watch Discovery. Well, I think its safe to say that its bit them right in the ass because NOBODY is watching.

The Hub wasn't so great in its last year or so, but they could have overcome that with a well thought out plan. Unfortunately, by that time everything had hit the fan; I heard that behind the scenes there were a lot of disagreements between Discovery and Hasbro over what form The Hub should take and what direction the channel should go in, to the point where now they've basically drawn a line across the floor and are saying "This half of the channel is yours, this half is ours". It's clear that at this point the notion of Hasbro and Discovery working together again isn't on the table anymore.

the majority of their programming is probably going to be infomercials for catheters anyways, so it really doesn't matter.

DiscFam has "temporary living quarters" stamped all over it. Hasbro is just using it as temporary lodgings and Discovery as a dumping ground for whatever until both parties move on to other venues.

So basically, if a better offer came along, somebody could by The Hub/Discovery Family?

I wish they would turn it into an AntennaTV type channel.

I was wondering why Family Ties wasn't taping anymore. So, I looked the other night and found out that The Hub was gone. Darn.

And, tlc. I really agree with you on that. (About making it an Antenna TV type channel) But, honestly. I really don't see non digital channel networks going there for a while. Seems like all the cable networks show is the same stuff over and over again. And, when they try to get out of that box. They fail miserably. It's a pity really.

Damm Classic TV seems to be only a hit on

The Internet and Digital TV:lol:

A few years ago the Hub network premiered. They would air classic sitcoms at primetime/late night after the daytime kids programming, similar to how Nick at Nite used to be. Shows I saw for the first time on the Hub and liked were The Facts of Life, Blossom, Doogie Howser, M.D. and Laverne and Shirley. They also aired some shows that were already favorites of mine like Family Ties, Happy Days, The Wonder Years, Mork and Mindy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and ALF. Now starting later today the Hub will disappear forever, being rebranded into yet another Discovery network with educational shows replacing the classic sitcoms. I won't be watching this station anymore, terrible decision!Yup..... I liked THE HUB ....... It dissapeared from DirecTV several months ago and was replaced with crap!!


Very sad....... Things just keep getting worse and worse :(

Yup..... I liked THE HUB ....... It dissapeared from DirecTV several months ago and was replaced with crap!!


Very sad....... Things just keep getting worse and worse :(

wow, you guys didn't even get it til the 13th?


i taped all the step by steps i could that last week.



ive started watching blossom on youtbue now, i would much rather have the entire last 3 seasons to watch on tv or dvd but i guess itll next happen now.

Damm Classic TV seems to be only a hit on

The Internet and Digital TV:lol:

You forgot one, HOME VIDEO! :lol:

I just found out Tru TV (Formerly Court TV) is changing their format and becoming another comedy channel. Naturally there will be EVEN MORE "Reality" Shows tossed at you. :rip:

I'm glad to switched my Pay-TV Provider to Bibi's, Targhee, Uncle Wally's, The Big River (That's Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon for those of you in Rio Linda! :D), ioffer.com and sell.com, The only network they show is this one! :rofl:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=196259&stc=1&d=1414068268

Damm Classic TV seems to be only a hit on

The Internet and Digital TV:lol:

demographics aren't as important there

You forgot one, HOME VIDEO! :lol:

I just found out Tru TV (Formerly Court TV) is changing their format and becoming another comedy channel. Naturally there will be EVEN MORE "Reality" Shows tossed at you. :rip:

I'm glad to switched my Pay-TV Provider to Bibi's, Targhee, Uncle Wally's, The Big River (That's Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon for those of you in Rio Linda! :D), ioffer.com and sell.com, The only network they show is this one! :rofl:



so what about us Hub fans who's favorites aren't all out on DVD yet?

so what about us Hub fans who's favorites aren't all out on DVD yet?

Well, if no other network is showing your favorite shows you can always ask if someone has those series on this board's "Trading Post".

If that doesn't work you can try ioffer.com or sell.com.

If these two fail I guess you're s:censored:t out of luck. :(

Well, if no other network is showing your favorite shows you can always ask if someone has those series on this board's "Trading Post".

If that doesn't work you can try ioffer.com or sell.com.

If these two fail I guess you're s:censored:t out of luck. :(



Do everyone a favor and LOG OUT

Well, if no other network is showing your favorite shows you can always ask if someone has those series on this board's "Trading Post".

If that doesn't work you can try ioffer.com or sell.com.

If these two fail I guess you're s:censored:t out of luck. :(


wow, thanks for that website link. you rock.

This is such a disappointment. I loved the Hub. They showed The Wonder Years, Family Ties, and Blossom. I could always count on being able to tune in to one of those shows at night (and none of the other channels aired these shows). I'm seriously disappointed.

I just pulled them up and all they appear to be showing is something called Auction Kings. I will not be watching this channel. Just another one I'll scroll past.

Looks like Blossom is gone forever

Well...it looks like Discovery Kids is back!

The Hub didn't learn from the successors of Antenna TV or MeTV!

Looks like Blossom is gone forever

well, until another station picks it up in a few years

Well...it looks like Discovery Kids is back!

The Hub didn't learn from the successors of Antenna TV or MeTV!

That's a shame. Antenna and Me are absolutely fabulous, and it seems like they're enjoying some success with their formats.

That's a shame. Antenna and Me are absolutely fabulous, and it seems like they're enjoying some success with their formats.

I watch it almost every week...I wish other stations would be like that or CBS' new streamline site that plays classics like I Love Lucy or something like Joanie Loves Chachi.

I hope other studios like Disney and Warner Bros. makes stations that are pay-to-watch online sites.

well, until another station picks it up in a few years


well it won't be another cable station

Well...it looks like Discovery Kids is back!I dunno if it will last long with the garbage they show now!!

Sad part is that I'm sure there are executives saying that classic tv wont draw or nobody watches classic tv. I'd take classic tv over the dreck at the Hub or whatever its called any day.

Btw, what is Discovery supposed to be? It looks like CMT and what I mean is that its all over the place when it comes to shows. One day, there showing Cake Boss, the next there showing Hillbilly Handfishin'.

^That's one of the issues. There's so many of these channels that play the same stuff. Like CMT and now Discovery Family.

All of them play the same darn shows the others play. All the Viacom/Discovery/and Universal owned networks do it. It's so boring. What's the use in having all these channels? When you can just flip to the next and see the same thing? I hate this era of TV. I miss how Cable/Satellite was about 15-20 years ago.

did anyone scroll by this channel on halloween night??? yuck.



they could have been showing classic halloween episodes of their many Hub sitcoms (like Cody Lambert making the world's biggest pumpkin)

did anyone scroll by this channel on halloween night??? yuck.



they could have been showing classic halloween episodes of their many Hub sitcoms (like Cody Lambert making the world's biggest pumpkin)


I looked at a few while I was on the toilet:lol:

did anyone scroll by this channel on halloween night??? yuck.



they could have been showing classic halloween episodes of their many Hub sitcoms (like Cody Lambert making the world's biggest pumpkin)

It seems quite obvious that Discovery really doesn't have a clear, long term plan in regards to what to do w/ the channel formerly known as the Hub. In effect, they're basically holding and stalling for time.

^That's one of the issues. There's so many of these channels that play the same stuff. Like CMT and now Discovery Family.

All of them play the same darn shows the others play. All the Viacom/Discovery/and Universal owned networks do it. It's so boring. What's the use in having all these channels? When you can just flip to the next and see the same thing? I hate this era of TV. I miss how Cable/Satellite was about 15-20 years ago.

That's one of the major problems right there. These media conglomerates refuse to add variety and break away from their boring routine lineups. We don't need three channels airing Law and Order at the same time, or creating different reality shows that feature the same type of people or profession. Which leads to another major problem---viewers. As long as people out there don't care about repetitive programming, it will continue to happen.

https://deadline.com/2014/11/dreamworks-animation-hasbro-merger-negotiations-in-works-1201282751/

EXCLUSIVE (http://www.toonzone.net/forums/toonzone-general-animation-discussion/397511-hasbro-dreamworks-animation-merger-talks.html#.VGRFymfDWHM): DreamWorks Animation is deeply engaged in two potentially game changing negotiations that could transform (http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/511908/dreamworks-animation-hasbro-talks-merger) the company — including one with Hasbro to forge a family entertainment powerhouse to be called DreamWorks-Hasbro. The other talks are with Hearst to turn DWA’s AwesomenessTV into a joint venture. We’re told that a DWA and Hasbro deal is at least 60 days off, if it happens. But the two companies are said to have agreed that Jeffrey Katzenberg would chair the combined operation. The Hasbro board visited the DWA campus recently, following a similar visit in late October by Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner and his management team to discuss potential film, TV, and consumer product synergies.

With an eye to combining and beneficially expanding the diversification that both companies have pursued of late, the DWA CEO is said to be looking for Hasbro to pay $35 a share in a potential deal. That would be a 56.5% premium over DWA’s closing price on Wednesday but a hair less than its 52-week high from January of $36.01.

what does this mean just wondering

Best and Worst Hub/Discovery Family Moments in 2014 (http://www.toonzone.net/forums/toonzone-general-animation-discussion/403711-best-worst-hub-discovery-family-moments-2014-a.html)

what does this mean just wondering

DreamWorks is an Animation Studio and not a broadcast network/mass media company, so probably not much as far as potentially seeing the return of something like The Hub (at least in the near future)

Seriously, it seems that the only shows they have are MLP:FIM (which they do give most of their focus to), Littlest Pet Shop, Chuck and Friends, and Rescue Bots, along with a bunch of edutatinment shows. Granted, My Little Pony is probably whats keeping this network alive, but it's a far cry from how innovative they were back in the Hub days.

I miss The Hub. It was an awesome network. They just couldn't leave well enough alone.

Seriously, it seems that the only shows they have are MLP:FIM (which they do give most of their focus to), Littlest Pet Shop, Chuck and Friends, and Rescue Bots, along with a bunch of edutatinment shows. Granted, My Little Pony is probably whats keeping this network alive, but it's a far cry from how innovative they were back in the Hub days.

My Little Pony is the only thing helping them. At this point, they need it more than anything

When it was announced that Hasbro and Discovery Channel would team up and create a family oriented channel many people thought the idea was clever and so when The Hub was launched Hasbro knew what a success a family channel could be. And so with cartoons such as GI Joe reruns Jem And The Holograms reruns and the popular My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic cartoon Hasbro knew what worked for them and what could fail. The Hub also tried to copy Nickelodeon with game shows starting with Hasbro Family Game Night which was hosted by Todd Newton and Scrabble Showdown hosted by Justin Willman and The Game Of Life. Besides game shows and reruns of classic sitcoms and movie marathons I think The Hub was mainly a channel that was mainly smartly used to sell Hasbro toys and if you watched The Hub you would see advertisements for Hasbro toys and commercials for few family oriented things such as vacations "Walt Disney World" hotels "Marriott Residence Inn" and other things targeted at families. But I think Hasbro was very wrong to let The Hub go broke and renaming it Discovery Family Network instead of expanding The Hub to include more cartoons and family oriented shows. Maybe someday Hasbro and Disney should team up and create their own channel because Hasbro has now become the king of Disney toys now and with Hasbro now the king of Disney a new channel would be a huge hit with families
Bestie

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Hasbro's TV Strategy (https://web.archive.org/web/20150225152055/http://www.adweek.com/news/television/after-rocky-few-years-hasbro-s-tv-strategy-changing-again-163083)

The short-version of this article is that the reasons why The Hub ended the way it did is due to financial reasons. More specifically, Discovery felt it was more of a priority to focus on Oprah Winfrey Network instead of The Hub. This meant that Hasbro had to take on full responsibilities with The Hub Network. But since they are a toy company, they didn't know how run a kids TV channel at that time. Plus, Mattel and Lego bailed out their advertisements for The Hub because they don't want to be in a extremely awkward position to promote their toys from a network that was co-owned by their major rival. That, and also the fact that The Hub was on higher tier cable packages didn't help either. They may have also failed due to simply like relying too much on My Little Pony and nostalgia.

from 1996 to 2010 The Hub network used to be Called The Discovery Kids channel then in 2010 it became the Hub Network until 2014 then 2014 it became the Discovery Family

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My Little Pony, Dan VS, Pound Puppies, LPS, Transformers Prime... SheZow??? The Aqua Bats Super Show??? what do these shows have in common? Pretty much nothing! but in the early 2010s Hasbro and Discovery teamed up to create a space for all these disparate shows. A "hub" if you will. Wasn't too successful but there is a rich history and a few VERY unique shows that a lot of us 2000s kids remember.

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This 7 minute video took my forever to make but it was all worth it!

4mrwyx_v_h0

If you grew up during the early 2010s with premium cable you may remember watching a channel called The Hub, which was Discovery and Hasbro's kids and family channel. Whatever happened to it? Let's find out!

Note: If I missed any important details or spread misinformation I'll make a follow-up at some point.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
0:34 Discovery Kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBDsX4-norI)
3:14 The Hub (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu5Pl-czzSE)
10:57 Discovery Family (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP07j7LGgxo)
14:44 Outro


IRea-VuGbRQ

Let's talk about how one of the best channels to one of the most boring channels out there.


0:23 Video starts here
1:48 Part 1: The Discovery of Mediocrity
3:31 Part 2: The Hub of Greatness
6:29 Part 3: Discovering Trash
7:38 Conclusion


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To celebrate The Hub's 12th Anniversary, Here's a history video I made about it.

what does this mean just wonderingNothing good trust me!!

1HulizJ-re8

The Hub Network is a short lived channel, replacing Discovery Kids in 2010 and being replaced by Discovery Family in 2014. In those short few years the channel premiered many new shows that created a long lasting impact on a lot of people, myself included. If you tuned in at the time, or even if you didn’t, dive in with me to the shows aired during the channels years.

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Layers:

00:00 Intro
00:22 Satellite News Channel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_News_Channel)
03:23 Style / Esquire Network (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esquire_Network)
08:41 Overmyer / United Network (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overmyer_Network)
15:27 El Rey Network (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Rey_Network)
18:52 Discovery Kids / The Hub (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Family)
28:22 Outro

Why I also think Hub Network failed is because when you get the general picture toy companies and TV stations do not mix well in the channel soup and what I mainly think Hub Network was even made was to give Hasbro their chance at making a TV network all their own and hope that it would become the Caesar's Empire "a term I invented that refers to TV shows and TV channels that will make themselves big." Because when you look at it from a different vision Hasbro is the second largest and biggest toy company in America and the world next to Mattel and they have made any toy you name like Disney toys Marvel action figures have the preschool and infant toy company Playskool and launched Claster Entertainment in the 80's for cartoons and almost any toy based on a movie or show is made by Hasbro too so I have no idea why Hub Network would fail. But I do agree that the cartoon that made them huge was indeed My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic and if it wasn't for My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Hub Network would've not gotten a huge mega audience and big ratings. Though I would've also liked to have seen the 1986-87 My Little Pony show added to Hub Network because I adored My Little Pony and still do today. When I saw My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic for the first time I liked it because it was cute. But what also caused Hub Network to fail was also the lack of interesting game shows. Family Game Night seemed to be the only game show hit for Hub Network but all the other game shows were based on Hasbro game shows like Pictureka and they could've had a classic game show hour with reruns of Chuck Woolery's Scrabble and Let's Make A Deal and Wink Martindale's Trivial Pursuit. And wouldn't it have been nice to see reruns of Romper Room And Friends for the preschool set added to Hub Network since Hasbro owned Romper Room And Friends in the 80's? But I think when it comes to good ideas for family TV stations Hub Network was truly the weakest link

The Hub was the greatest channel to ever exist.

Rest in Power, Hub.

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In 2010, then “Discovery Kids” would be re-branded into a brand new “family channel” partially owned by toy manufacturer Hasbro.

Ultimately, the rebrand would be short lived, only lasting 4 years. So I decided to revisit it in this video!

The Hub is 15 (https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/the-hub-is-15.5803056/)

What caused The Hub to fail its promise (https://www.google.com/search?q=What+caused+The+Hub+to+fail+its+promise+of+becoming+the+fourth+biggest+kids+network%3F+It%27s+basically+this%3A+on+analog+cable+and+basic+tiers%2C+there+were+only+three+channels%2C+the+Big+3%3A+Nickelodeon%2C+Disney+Channel+and+Cartoon+Network.&sca_esv=bbc31e5ed1e1e841&sxsrf=AE3TifNz17vF9dHiw__XjhFjQzRttDTi_w%3A1760227391506&udm=50&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ59Aj-dkSgmXWKpa2HWaBZFiTO0ouTWmFCwDJPeX-aDNobczMYkvAHp43B6vI3X8z2h0GQOUJWdy9bKAM7T5zmzUAqmK3Tkxejv5V4mardtWddvn96Ouih9RDPZNcADvHdGRXgpgc-bHu1s0SAxvwskNhaCgnPqmTYSPVxHhQP4qKKToVxpJ49orQ6J2rpLvfNgC2LQ&aep=1&ntc=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC9JODrp2QAxW9OjQIHc6TIS4Q2J8OegQIDBAE&biw=1920&bih=979&dpr=1&mtid=Q_DqaPb4IOjF0PEP_I_dmQg&mstk=AUtExfA8YhcHz2N4UsY75VTkTDe4H15I-JO9GpwP0CKphW5FvnckHCHAwWx2dEf9lUgc671xkKQ-7T_lQOQFBAVtYBMiqE2R5QEb_VL3ux4obZxHNRABq5JUi5XDB5MeaWF3ozVy9XTRNubo2204b76ZivNoVyH017J3_84JsDbIhH7b2QZUQj1CX7HWAj1uwy70sK0Q_OCY7P8NEO5NvKMXsrbcrEC7K0CdnWKK7SsjNOVsnRABx37iSvDoFuE19Ud4mLiAxi5B37w-A3EOHNRjYFmUkrCctpYM4INdwsAy8ri3-ziNgzoNIQSORvxOmXvZFVc_8eDlpbKjzTRVVKBvh5c9N8c02WZC2Q&csuir=1) of becoming (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-caused-the-hub-to-fail-it-zCozqkwdRD6KlN.LLjVVVQ#0) the fourth biggest kids network (https://poe.com/s/twBYzHHEdXqYQG7qaZJ3)?

It's basically this: on analog cable and basic tiers, there were only three channels, the Big 3: Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

But the failure of The Hub was inherited from its ancestor, Discovery Kids.

For years, cable and satellite companies did not "demote" some of their high-tier channels to basic packages (precisely at the time of writing, Xfinity moved CN, a channel without a clear purpose, to high-tier packages, putting it at the same level as Boomerang). I don't know if it was pressure from the cable companies or from the companies that owned the channels themselves.

According to ChatGPT:
Great question — The Hub (later known as Hub Network) did seem poised to become the "fourth big kids' network" when it launched in 2010, especially with Hasbro backing it and Discovery’s distribution muscle. But it ultimately failed to reach that level and was rebranded as Discovery Family in 2014. Here's a breakdown of the main reasons why The Hub couldn't fulfill its promise:

🧩 1. Limited Distribution / Not in the Same Tier

You hit the nail on the head — The Hub wasn't on basic cable for most people.


The Big 3 (Nick, Disney, Cartoon Network) were usually on analog basic cable, included in the cheapest packages.

The Hub replaced Discovery Kids, which was already in digital tiers or higher packages — meaning fewer households even had access to it.

This made it almost impossible for The Hub to match the reach of the Big 3 — which is essential for ratings, ad revenue, and brand presence.


💸 2. Confused Brand Identity

The Hub tried to please too many demographics at once:


Kids (with shows like My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic),

Families (with reruns of Fraggle Rock, Family Ties, etc.),

And nostalgia-driven adults (with Transformers, G.I. Joe, Batman: TAS).


This led to a scattered identity. Unlike the Big 3, which had clear age targets, The Hub was spread thin — and advertisers didn’t know exactly who the channel was for.

🎬 3. Limited Original Content

While it had some successful originals (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Littlest Pet Shop, Dan Vs.), its content library was:


Small compared to competitors.

Heavily reliant on Hasbro’s toy IPs (great for synergy, but limiting creatively).

Mixed with a lot of older reruns, which couldn’t compete with fresh content from Nick or Disney.


The Big 3 constantly pushed new, high-quality animation and live-action content, giving them momentum and pop culture relevance.

🧸 4. Overemphasis on Toy Tie-ins

The Hub was partially a marketing engine for Hasbro toys, which caused some trust issues with parents and critics.


While MLP:FiM was a surprise critical and fan hit, many other shows felt like extended toy commercials.

Contrast that with Disney and Nick, which — despite having merchandise — focused first on building hit shows with strong characters and stories.


The "too corporate" feel worked against The Hub in the long run.

📉 5. Ratings Disappointment

Despite a few standout shows, most of The Hub's lineup had low ratings, and:


It never got close to matching the Big 3.

Discovery eventually cut investment, and in 2014, it rebranded the channel to Discovery Family.

Hasbro reduced its stake and content role — and the dream of a “Big Four” ended.


Summary: Why The Hub Never Became the Fourth Big Network

| Issue | Impact |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| 📺 Limited cable tier access | Shrunk its audience from day one |
| 🎯 Unclear target demographic | Diluted brand identity |
| 🎬 Small content slate | Couldn't compete with constant new hits |
| 🧸 Toy-first approach | Felt like marketing more than storytelling |
| 📉 Weak ratings | Led to eventual rebrand and retreat |


If The Hub had secured basic cable placement, focused more tightly on one demographic, and doubled down on quality original content (instead of leaning so hard into Hasbro IPs), it might have had a real shot. But as it was, it never truly got off the ground the way the Big 3 did.

Would you like a "what-if" scenario of how The Hub could have succeeded with some different strategic choices?