.svg){kind=logo} The network's logo since October 13, 2014; currently used as aon-screen bug and in some older promotional advertising. The newer logo below, inaugurated in 2024, is mainly used in promotions and as an identifier inelectronic program guides. | |
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Spanish (viaSAP audio track) |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks (60%) Hasbro (40%) |
| Parent | The Cartoon Network, Inc. (60%) Hasbro Entertainment (40%) |
| Key people | David Zaslav (president,Warner Bros. Discovery) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | October 22, 1996; 29 years ago (1996-10-22)[1] |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Internet Protocol television | Hulu,Spectrum |
| Affiliated Streaming Service(s) | HBO Max/Discovery+ |
Discovery Family (known on-air asDiscovery Family Channel and abbreviated asDFC) is an Americancable television channel co-owned byThe Cartoon Network, Inc. andHasbro Entertainment, which are divisions ofWarner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks andHasbro respectively.
The channel was originally launched by Discovery Communications (laterDiscovery, Inc.) on October 22, 1996 asDiscovery Kids Channel (laterDiscovery Kids), a spin-off ofDiscovery Channel featuring science- and nature-themed programming aimed towards a youth audience. In 2010, Discovery Kids was relaunched asThe Hub (laterHub Network) as part of ajoint venture with Hasbro led by veteran executiveMargaret Loesch. The relaunch pivoted the channel towards a general entertainment format, withdayparts targeting preschool, youth, and family audiences respectively. Some of The Hub's original programming included adaptations of Hasbro-owned properties, such as game shows based on itsboard games, and animated series produced as a part of toy lines such asMy Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Littlest Pet Shop,Pound Puppies,Transformers andKaijudo.
After Loesch resigned in 2014, Discovery acquired a larger stake in the Hub Network and rebranded it as Discovery Family; while Hasbro continued to program the channel's daytime lineup, its primetime lineup now features a mixture of series from Discovery's other networks. The 2022 merger of Discovery, Inc. withWarnerMedia to form Warner Bros. Discovery has brought Discovery Family under common ownership withCartoon Network;Michael Ouweleen now oversees both channels.
As of November 2023[update], Discovery Family is available to approximately 28 million pay television households in the United States, down from its peak of 71 million households in 2014.[2]
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Discovery Communications launched Discovery Kids Channel on October 22, 1996,[1] as part of a suite of four newdigital cable channels that includedDiscovery Travel & Living Network,Discovery Civilization Network, andDiscovery Science Network.[3][4] Upon its launch, the channel primarily offered adventure, nature, and science-themed programs aimed towards a children's audience between ages 6 and 11.[5] Marjorie Kaplan, the network's senior vice president, explained that the creation of Discovery Kids Channel was influenced primarily by children, who were watching itsparent network's programming together with their parents.[6]
From 1996 to 2000, Discovery Kids Channel was carried by only a select few cable television providers. In 2001, the channel shortened its name to Discovery Kids and by the end of that year, it was carried in at least 15 million homes.[5] In September 2001, aCanadian version of Discovery Kids was launched in partnership withCorus Entertainment.[7]
In December 2001, Discovery Kids announced a partnership withNBC, in which it would produce a new Saturday morning block for the network known asDiscovery Kids on NBC, beginning in September 2002. The block, which replaced a teen-oriented block consisting of live-action shows and sitcoms,TNBC, featured programming that met theeducational programming guidelines from the U.S.Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including new original series (such as thereality television seriesEndurance), existing Discovery Kids programming, along with children's spin-offs of programs from sister networks, such asAnimal Planet and Discovery Channel.[8]
With the launch of the new block, Discovery Kids also started airing original animated programming with the premieres ofKenny the Shark andTutenstein.[9][10] In March 2006, Discovery declined to renew its contract with NBC for its Saturday morning block, citing a desire to focus exclusively on the Discovery Kids channel. Since the launch of the NBC block, Discovery Kids had grown its cable carriage to over 43 million homes.[11] NBC would replace the Discovery Kids block withQubo in September 2006.[12]
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On April 30, 2009, toy manufacturer and multimedia companyHasbro announced that it would be forming ajoint venture with Discovery Communications to re-launch Discovery Kids as a new family-oriented television channel, paying $300 million for 50% ownership of the channel. The company had also invested $371,783,000 in the joint venture.[13] Under the arrangement, Discovery would be in charge of focusing advertising sales and distribution for the new channel, while Hasbro would be involved in acquiring and producing programming. While educational series (including those carried over from Discovery Kids) were slated to be maintained on the schedule, plans called for new original programs based on Hasbro-owned franchises such asG.I. Joe,My Little Pony,Transformers andgame shows adapted from its board game brands.[14][15][16] Discovery Communications was looking for a business partner to draw the improved types of advertisers on the channel.[17]
In July 2009, the joint venture appointed veteran television executiveMargaret Loesch as itschief executive officer;[18][19] prior to this, Loesch had ledFox Kids, and served as president and CEO ofMarvel Productions from 1984 to 1990, assisting in the production of several Hasbro-tie-in series such asG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,My Little Pony, andThe Transformers.
In January 2010, Discovery and Hasbro announced that the channel would be known as The Hub; this was soon followed two months later with the announcement that The Hub would launch on October 10, 2010. The channel's original imaging was developed by Troika Design Group and built around an emblem nicknamed the "hubble", which was designed to embody a "catalyst of action and imagination". The final logo design was the result of a number of drafts by Troika designers, some of which had incorporated typography similar to Hasbro's logo.[17][20]
The relaunched channel, which would compete against established children's channels such asCartoon Network,Disney Channel, andNickelodeon,[21][22][23][17] planned to continue targeting Discovery Kids' main demographic of children aged 2–12 (a market which its staff felt was being abandoned by its competitors in favor oftweens) but also planned to feature a prime-time block with family-oriented programming; it was originally targeted at preteens and teenagers aged 9–14.[21][22][24] Launch programming included the game showFamily Game Night, animated television seriesPound Puppies,My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (a new animated entry in theMy Little Pony franchise developed byLauren Faust),Littlest Pet Shop (developed by theCahill spouses),Deltora Quest, reruns of theJim Henson seriesFraggle Rock, and the preschool-oriented programsAnimal Mechanicals andThe WotWots.[25][21][24][23] The channel promised to keep the proportion of programs supplied from Hasbro to "less than 20%" of the total of its programming.[22]
TheChildren's Television Act (CTA) in the United States limits the commercial time during children's programming, and prohibits television broadcasters from airing advertisements for products associated with a program during or in timeslots adjacent to the show itself. During time slots that targetedpreschool audiences (aired during a block branded as "HubBub"), The Hub was to broadcast six minutes of advertisements per hour, below 12 minutes per hour on weekdays, and 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends as mandated by the CTA. Additionally, it was planning to broadcast 10.5 minutes of advertisements per hour the rest of the day throughout the week, a policy upheld from its previous incarnation as Discovery Kids.[21][22] The channel was planning to sell itsadvertising inventories to toy companies other than Hasbro as well; as reported byAdvertising Age in May 2010, The Hub was even in talks withMattel, one of Hasbro's major competitors in the toy industry.[21] The channel, however, also planned to restrict certain categories of advertisements, includingjunk foods and "advertisers in the sugar category".[24]
One vocal opponent of Hasbro's involvement in the joint venture wasCampaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), founded bySusan Linn, concerning that the channel would be exploited by the toy company as a platform to plug its products. Ahead of the channel's re-launch as The Hub, CCFC called the whole project an "infomercial", and stated that they would be monitoring the channel.[17] Linn said "It will make a mockery of existing ad limits and the current prohibition of product placement in children's television" at the April 2009 announcement of the Discovery-Hasbro joint venture,[14] and toldLos Angeles Times that "[t]he notion of a toy company owning a television channel for the sole purpose of promoting their toys is egregious practice" in the days before the channel's re-launch.[22] Loesch stated that The Hub's goal was to be "vibrant" and "diverse" in its programming, that the channel would not purely be a marketing vehicle for Hasbro products, and pointed out that the animated series not commissioned by toy companies would have its toys released anyway.[24] Loesch also said that Hasbro was partnering with Discovery Communications for the channel, and declared "we have programming from them and are using their DNA".[22]
To promote The Hub, sneak peeks ofCosmic Quantum Ray,The Twisted Whiskers Show, andFamily Game Night aired onScience Channel,Animal Planet, andTLC respectively.[26] Discovery Kids' re-launch as The Hub was preceded by amarathon ofKenny the Shark (broadcast under the @DK block), running from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m.ET. Immediately after, the channel was rebranded as The Hub with "Sneak Peek Sunday", a sampler lineup of programs set to air on the channel in the coming months.The Twisted Whiskers Show was the first program to air of the channel, followed by episodes ofDennis and Gnasher,Cosmic Quantum Ray,Atomic Betty, and the channel's premiere of the 2004 filmGarfield: The Movie.[24][23][27]
In a June 2011 debt filing with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, Discovery Communications indicated that the channel may be worth less than recently believed, based on low viewership figures. The management of The Hub subsequently underwent a fair value analysis of the channel. A Discovery Communications spokesperson considered the action to be "apro-forma accounting exercise", and noted that Discovery felt "very positive and encouraged by The Hub's early days' performance, and ability to grow its audience in the future."[28][29]
In March 2013, The Hub picked upStan Lee's Mighty 7, an animated pilot film that aired on February 1, 2014. The network also began to phase in an amended branding as the Hub Network.[30] On January 13, 2014, Hub Network introduced an updated logo, along with a new imaging campaign, "Making Family Fun", which was developed by the Los Angeles-based agency Oishii Creative.[31]
On June 12, 2014, it was reported that Margaret Loesch would resign from her role as Hub Network president and CEO by the end of the year.[32] On September 17, 2014,The Wall Street Journal reported that Discovery Communications was preparing to acquire a controlling stake in Hub Network from Hasbro and then rebrand it as Discovery Family. Along with Discovery's CFO Andrew Warren, Hasbro staff acknowledged that increasing competition in the children's media landscape, especially by subscription video-on-demand services such asNetflix, had an effect on the overall performance of the network and Hasbro's original content.[33][34][35] As it was majority-owned by a competitor, other major toy companies such asMattel refused to purchase advertising time on Hub Network, affecting its ability to air advertising that targeted its main audience; by 2014, the network had made only $9 million per year. Discovery staff was also unable to display a full commitment to Hub Network's operation, due to factors such as the troubled launch of theOprah Winfrey Network. Believing that they had overvalued its stake in the venture, Hasbro decided to cede the operation of the network to Discovery so it could focus more on content, and its core toy business.[35]
Discovery and Hasbro publicly announced the planned rebranding on September 25, 2014, Hasbro's CEOBrian Goldner explained that Discovery Family would be the "next chapter" in its joint venture with Discovery, "[combining] highly rated award-winning storytelling around Hasbro's brands and Discovery's most popular non-fiction shows that appeal to both children and families alike." Following reports earlier in the year that Hub Network presidentMargaret Loesch would resign by the end of the year, Discovery acquired 10% of Hasbro's stake in the network, and Henry Schleiff replaced Loesch, who leads sister networks such asDestination America andInvestigation Discovery.
Hub Network was re-launched as Discovery Family on October 13, 2014, just over four years since the earlier re-launch as The Hub. With these changes, Discovery Communications now held a 60% stake in the joint venture; Hasbro continued to hold a 40% stake in Discovery Family, and continued to program the network's daytime lineup with children's programming. Following the re-launch, the network's primetime lineup was replaced by reruns of family-oriented non-fiction programming from Discovery Channel's library.[36] Henry Schleiff, who leads sister channels such as Destination America and Investigation Discovery, leads the re-launched network, with Tom Cosgrove (who previously served as CEO of Discovery Channel andScience) as general manager.[36]
In re-launching Hub Network, Discovery executives noted that there would be a larger emphasis on programming of interest to both children and their parents; Warren argued that sinceABC Family had become, in his opinion, aimed towards teenage girls, there was a gap in the broadcasting industry for a new, family-oriented network.[33][34] With these shifts in the network's operation, it was announced on October 7, 2014 that theTransformers: Prime follow-upTransformers: Robots in Disguise, which was initially announced for Hub Network, would instead be airing onCartoon Network (whose parent company would later merge with Discovery).[37] Hasbro Studios president Stephen Davis felt that Cartoon Network was a more appropriate home for aTransformers series due to its male-oriented demographics,[35] describing Hub Network's lineup as being "traditionally skewed towards girls".[37] Other recentTransformersanimated series preceding the original launch of The Hub also aired on Cartoon Network.[38][37] Davis remarked that Hasbro was still "100% committed" to its joint venture with Discovery.[38] Despite the move forRobots in Disguise, fellow Hub NetworkTransformers seriesTransformers: Rescue Bots remained on Discovery Family for its third season.[39]
On February 7, 2022, Hasbro CFO Deborah Thomas stated that the company was exploring strategic alternatives for its stake in the channel, citing the growing shift towardscord cutting and streaming services. She noted that the channel had been a "terrific investment" that had "driven over a $1 billion in revenue for the company", but that there had been "changes" in the cable industry since. These discussions came ahead of the then-upcoming merger ofDiscovery, Inc. withWarnerMedia to formWarner Bros. Discovery, a transaction which brought Discovery Family into the Entertainment Group division ofWarner Bros. Discovery Networks.[40][41]
Following the merger, Discovery Family was placed under the oversight of Cartoon Network's presidentMichael Ouweleen.[42] Despite Hasbro's2021 annual report reporting that its licensing agreement to produce and broadcast new television shows on the channel ended in 2021,[43] the next annual report stated that its operating agreement with Discovery was renewed to run until March 31, 2025, though this was filed months before Hasbro spun off itsnon-children's entertainment assets and instituted layoffs.[44] According to Warner Bros. Discovery's 2022 annual report, neither that company nor Hasbro took any action regarding the latter's 40% interest in Discovery Family within 2022, when the decision was originally due.[45]
Despite continuous financial losses on the channel, Hasbro did not exercise the right by the election period expiration date of March 31, 2025, and the company's noncontrolling interest was "reclassified from redeemable noncontrolling interest to noncontrolling interest outside of stockholders' equity on the Company's consolidated balance sheets".[46]
The majority of Discovery Family's daytime programs are tied tomedia franchises owned by Hasbro itself, with newer series previously produced through its subsidiary Hasbro Studios (later known asAllspark) and laterEntertainment One (which Hasbro acquired in 2019), alongside a selection of series licensed fromWarner Bros. beginning in 2023. As the Hub Network, it also previously airedgame shows tied to Hasbro'sboard games, such asFamily Game Night.
One of the network's most noteworthy series isMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, an animated series produced as part of thethen-recent revival of Hasbro'sMy Little Pony franchise. The series not only became The Hub's highest-rated program within its target demographic of young girls, but attracted an unexpectedly significantcult followingamong male teens and adults.[47] Following the conclusion of the series in October 2019, a spin-off series featuring its cast,My Little Pony: Pony Life, premiered in November 2020.[48] A similar situation occurred withLittlest Pet Shop andLittlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own.
The Hatchery, a company co-founded byMargaret Loesch (who served as the channel's president and CEO from 2009 to 2014) and Bruce Stein in 2003, and had a majority stake acquired byAmerican Greetings in 2004, supplied certain series to the channel, includingDan Vs. andR. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour.[49] American Greetings also suppliedStrawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures (part of the 2009 relaunch ofStrawberry Shortcake, a property which was owned by American Greetings until 2015),The Twisted Whiskers Show,Maryoku Yummy, andCare Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot to the channel. Hasbro was named the master toy licensee ofCare Bears and Strawberry Shortcake in 2008.[50]
The channel had also acquired new series unrelated to properties of Hasbro, The Hatchery and American Greetings, includingAnimal Mechanicals,The Aquabats! Super Show!,Cosmic Quantum Ray,Majors & Minors,Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch,Secret Millionaires Club, andSheZow.
During its years as the Hub Network, the channel also aired reruns of other acquired series, such asFraggle Rock andLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a collection of variousWarner Bros. Animation series, such asBatman Beyond,Batman: The Animated Series,Superman: The Animated Series,Animaniacs, andTiny Toon Adventures, a few formerFox Kids shows such asGoosebumps andNinja Turtles: The Next Mutation, and various off-network sitcoms (at the end of the Hub Network's run, these includedBlossom,Step by Step, andSister, Sister);Blossom briefly returned to Discovery Family's schedule in 2016. A limited amount of original Discovery Kids programming, such asAdventure Camp andFlight 29 Down, remained on the lineup upon its launch as The Hub.
In 2019, Discovery Family acquired the cable rights to several series and specials from41 Entertainment, includingPac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures andSuper Monsters.[51]
Following the relaunch as Discovery Family in October 2014, Discovery began programming the channel'sprimetime schedule with family-orientedfactual programming (including Discovery library programs), while leaving Hasbro responsible for programming its daytime schedule as a minority partner.[36]
The original programs commissioned for the channel in this timeslot includeBake It Like Buddy,From Wags to Riches withBill Berloni,My Dog's Crazy Animal Friends,Reno, Set, Go!,Secrets of America's Favorite Places and burn-off the remaining episodes of season 9 ofCake Boss.
Final logo used from 2017 to 2022 | |
| Broadcast area | France Monaco |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language | French |
| Picture format | 16:91080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Discovery Networks EMEA |
| Sister channels | Discovery Channel Discovery Science Discovery Investigation |
| History | |
| Launched | 14 September 2017 (2017-09-14) |
| Closed | 29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) |
| Links | |
| Website | discoveryfrance.fr/discoveryfamily |
Discovery Family operates one feed nationally, and does not operate atimeshift feed for thewest coast.[17] A1080ihigh-definition simulcast of the network was introduced alongside its re-launch as The Hub, withDish Network,Verizon FiOS, andAT&T U-verse as the first to carry the HD feed.[52]
Based on numbers fromNielsen,Variety ranked Discovery Family as the 132nd most-watched broadcast or cable network in the United States in 2022 based on total viewership.[53]
On March 31, 2016, the pan-EMEA version ofDiscovery World was re-launched as a regional version of Discovery Family.[54]
On September 14, 2017, aversion of Discovery Family was launched inFrance; the channel ceased operation on March 29, 2022.
Discovery Family was a French family-orientedspeciality television channel owned byDiscovery, Inc. which launched on 14 September 2017. In France, the channel was available exclusively to SFR TV subscribers, as a part of a deal betweenAltice (parent company ofSFR) and Discovery.[55] The channel shut down on 29 March 2022.[56]
Unlike the American counterpart, the channel did not include programming aimed at children.
Discovery Networks, U.S. will launch the Discovery Kids network, a new 24-hour digital channel, beginning October 22.
Discovery was the first non-fiction channel to embrace digital cable services. Home & Leisure, Science, Civilization, and Kids launched in October 1996.
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| The Cartoon Network, Inc. |
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| Defunct and former ventures |
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