Lionsgate agreed to acquire the eOne content platform from Hasbro for $500 million including $375 million in cash and the assumption of debt.

eOne produces scripted and unscripted television shows and movies. Current programs on the air include ABC’s The Rookie and the spinoff Rookie: Feds, Showtime’s Yellowjackets and Discovery’s unscripted Naked & Afraid.

It has a 6,500 unit library of TV episodes and films. TV titles include Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds and Designated Survivor.

“The acquisition of eOne checks off all the boxes in areas that play to our core strengths,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. 

“It will be immediately and highly accretive, adds a world-class library with thousands of properties, strengthens our scripted and unscripted television business and continues to expand our presence in Canada and the U.K.,” Feltheimer said. "The deal is the culmination of our long-standing relationship with the immensely talented team at eOne, and it continues to build our position as one of the world’s leading independent content platforms with a stockpile of great intellectual properties and a unique, non-replicable portfolio of assets.”

Lionsgate’s studio business is in the process of being spun off from Starz.

Unable to secure the permanent host position on Jeopardy!, LeVar Burton has moved onto another game-show hosting opportunity.

The multi-hyphenate's production company, LeVar Burton Entertainment (LBE) is working with Hasbro's Entertainment One studios unit to adapt the popular Hasbro board game Trivial Pursuit into a game show, with Burton as host. 

Burton will also executive produce the show, alongside LBE's Sangita Patel and eOne's Tara Long and Geno McDermott. 

No premiere date or distribution details have yet been announced for the show. Entertainment One has already adapted Hasbro's Clue and Risk into game shows. It's also rendered Dungeons & Dragons into a movie. 

“Trivial Pursuit is one of the best-known brands in the gaming universe. I am thrilled to have partnered with Hasbro and eOne to bring this beloved game to market as a premium show for television," Burton said in a statement.

Added Long, who serves as president of global unscripted television for eOne: “LeVar Burton has been an iconic member of American pop culture for decades from Roots to Reading Rainbow to Star Trek and beyond. His love for intellectual curiosity paired with his ability to connect with audiences worldwide make him the perfect partner to bring Hasbro’s beloved trivia game to households in a new and exciting way."

Burton guest-hosted on Sony Pictures Television's Jeopardy! in April, following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek. At least on social media, Burton was a popular choice to permanently succeed Trebek, but Sony instead chose the show's executive producer, Mike Richards--a move that proved unsustainable, with Richards resigning under a cloud of controversy in August. 

Former mega-winning contestant Ken Jennings and Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik share interim host duties until Sony can figure out its next move. ■

Vimeo Tuesday said it will offer classic Hasbro animated series as part of a new distribution deal between the two parties.

The collaboration gives Vimeo On Demand access to such series from the Hasbro Classic Collection as Jem and the Holograms,The Transformers (Generation One); G.I. Joe, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic; Transformers: Rescue Bots; Transformers: Prime; Transformers: Robots In Disguise; G.I. Joe: Renegades; Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters; Littlest Pet Shop; Pound Puppies; The Adventures of Chuck & Friends; and B-Daman Crossfire, said network officials.  

Vimeo users can buy individual episodes for $2.99, rent for 24-hours for $.99, or purchase the entire series for $40, according to the company.

Sources confirmed reports that Discovery Communications and toy maker Hasbro are modifying their four-year partnership in The Hub kids’ channel, with Discovery taking a controlling interest in the network and renaming the channel Discovery Family to include programming for parents as well as kids.

News that Discovery and Hasbro were ending their partnership was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Discovery launched the Hub in 2010. The Hub, which linked programming from Discovery Kids channel like Adventure Camp and Flight 29 Down with Hasbro properties like Transformers and My Little Pony, was supposed to be the perfect marriage between commerce and entertainment. But the network, which competed against kids’ programming juggernauts Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel, never was able to carve out a proper niche. And it came under fire early on because of its close association with a toymaker and for what some critics called violent programming.

A spokeswoman for the Hub declined to comment.

Signs that the channel was under pressure surfaced in June, when Hub president Margaret Loesch, who had steered the network form its inception, said she would step down by the end of the year, and no replacement was named. Sources confirmed the Journal report that Discovery group president Henry Schleiff, who already oversees Investigation Discovery, Destination America, American Heroes Channel and Discovery Fit & Health, will add oversight of Discovery Family. According to those same sources, Hasbro will still own a piece of the network and will contribute programming to the channel in the mornings. The evenings will be filled at least initially with science and nature programming from other Discovery Networks.

Discovery has made a business out of repurposing channels and with 70 million homes, The Hub is what Discovery CEO David Zaslav has called “beachfront real estate.”  The programmer has had success in the past converting Discovery Health into the Oprah Winfrey Network,Planet Green into Destination America and The Military Channel into American Heroes Channel.