NBC Kids
NBC Kids is a former American children's programming block that aired on NBC from July 7, 2012 to September 25, 2016. Telemundo also airs a version of the block under "MiTelemundo" brand, which was aired same as the main program, featuring a separate lineup of Spanish-dubbed programs from July 7, 2012 until December 31, 2017. The last show that was aired on the block was Noodle and Doodle at 12:30 p.m.[1] NBC Kids, which replaced the Qubo block (as a result of NBCUniversal dropping out of the joint venture, which also included Ion Media Networks), was programmed by the other Sprout preschool cable network, as they were both targeted at children ages 2 to 6.[2]
Network | |
---|---|
Launched | July 7, 2012 |
Closed | September 25, 2016 (NBC) December 31, 2017 (Telemundo) |
Country of origin | United States |
Format | Saturday morning pre-school block |
Running time | 3 hours |
The three-hour block featured educational entertainment series for younger children, which met programming requirements defined by the Federal Communications Commission's Children's Television Act.[3][4] All NBC Kids programs featured Descriptive Video Service on the second audio program channel for the visually impaired, with access depending on the local NBC affiliate.
NBC Kids was succeeded by Litton Entertainment's The More You Know which features live-action educational programming on October 8, 2016 on NBC and January 6, 2018 on Telemundo.[5]It was the conclusive Saturday morning block across the major American broadcast networks that primarily featured non-educational programming aimed at preschoolers.
History
On March 28, 2012, NBC announced that the three-hour children's programming time period allocated by the network on Saturday mornings would be taken over by Sprout (which had become a sister television property to NBC following parent company NBCUniversal's 2010 majority purchase by Comcast; NBC later took full ownership of the network, whose owners previously included Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment) and launch a new Saturday morning block called NBC Kids, which is aimed at preschoolers and grade school-aged children ages 2 to 6.[6][7] Sprout also produced a Spanish-language sister block for Telemundo known as MiTelemundo.
NBC Kids debuted on July 7, 2012, one week after the Qubo block ended its run on both NBC and Telemundo on June 30 (leaving Ion Television as the only network to retain a Qubo-branded children's block, as Ion Media Networks is now sole owner of the Qubo properties including the flagship Qubo Channel television service).[8]
On February 24, 2016 and March 1, 2016, NBCUniversal announced that NBC Kids would be discontinued and succeeded on October 1, 2016 (pushed back to October 8, 2016 due to 2016 Ryder Cup) on NBC and January 6, 2018 on Telemundo by The More You Know, a block produced by Litton Entertainment that would feature live-action documentary and lifestyle programs aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, similarly to a block also introduced by Litton for CBS co-owned CW the previous 2 years. The move came as part of a shift by broadcast television networks towards using their Saturday morning lineup solely to comply with the educational programming requirements and when Sprout changed its name into the pre-teen network, Universal Kids. NBC Kids aired for the final time on September 25, 2016 on NBC and December 31, 2017 on Telemundo; it was the last weekend morning block across the major U.S. commercial broadcast networks that featured programs for preschoolers. Such content has shifted towards cable networks and online video on demand services for cartoons and other youth-oriented live-action programming due to those platform's less-onerous regulations for children's content.
Programming
NBC Kids
Title | Premiere date (NBC) | End date (NBC) | Premiere date (Telemundo) | End date (Telemundo) | Moves to | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noodle and Doodle | July 7, 2012 | September 24, 2016 | December 8, 2012 | December 30, 2017 | ||
Pajanimals | January 26, 2014 | |||||
Poppy Cat | June 1, 2013 | |||||
October 4, 2014 | September 27, 2015 | |||||
Justin Time | July 7, 2012 | September 28, 2014 | Qubo | |||
LazyTown | March 27, 2016 | December 8, 2012 | September 24, 2016 | |||
The Wiggles | February 2, 2013 | |||||
The Chica Show | February 2, 2013 | September 24, 2016 | ||||
Tree Fu Tom | June 8, 2013 | January 2, 2016 | ||||
Make Way for Noddy | October 12, 2013 | March 30, 2014 | ||||
Zou | April 5, 2014 | September 28, 2014 | ||||
Astroblast! | October 4, 2014 | July 10, 2016 | ||||
Earth to Luna! | April 4, 2015 | January 31, 2016 | ||||
Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave | July 4, 2015 | September 24, 2016 | ||||
Clangers | October 3, 2015 | March 27, 2016 | ||||
Nina's World | January 2, 2016 | September 24, 2016 | ||||
Floogals | February 6, 2016 | |||||
Terrific Trucks | July 16, 2016 |
MiTelemundo
Title | Premiere date | End date | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Raggs | December 8, 2012 | September 24, 2016 | |
Jay Jay the Jet Plane | December 8, 2013 |
See also
References
- "Telemundo anuncia nuevo bloque infantil "Mi Telemundo!"". Primera Hora. GFR Media LLC. October 24, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- Nellie Andreeva (March 28, 2012). "NBC Launches Preschool Saturday Block Programmed By Sprout". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- "FCC Form 398 "KidVid" Children's Television Programming Report, 2nd Quarter of 2013 for WTVA, Tupelo, Mississippi" (PDF). WTVA. WTVA, Inc. July 2, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
- "NBC Will Launch NBC Kids, a New Saturday Morning Preschool Block Programmed by Sprout®, Saturday, July 7". MarketWatch. March 28, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- Malone, Michael (February 24, 2016). "NBC, Litton Partner on 'The More You Know' Block". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- Jon Weisman (March 28, 2012). "NBC to launch Saturday kids block". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- Lindsay Rubino (March 28, 2012). "NBC, With Assist From Sprout, to Launch Saturday Morning Preschool Block". Multichannel News. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- "NBC Will Launch NBC Kids, a New Saturday Morning Preschool Block Programmed by Sprout®, Saturday, July 7". MarketWatch. March 28, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2015.