Sources confirmed reports that Discovery Communications and toy maker Hasbro are close to ending 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.
For the full story go to Multichannel.com.
