| Qubo | |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 9, 2006 (block) January 8, 2007 (channel) |
| Network | Ion Television NBC Telemundo (broadcast in Spanish) |
| Owned by | QUBO Venture, LLC. ION Media Networks NBCUniversal Nelvana Scholastic Corporation Classic Media |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Slogan | Where the good fun begins! |
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | National (but not available in all markets) |
| Formerly called | Smart Place for Kids |
| Sister channel(s) | Ion Television, ION Life, NBC, Telemundo |
| Website | http://www.qubo.com |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| digital television | varies; usually xx.2 of ION Television stations |
| Satellite | |
| Dish Network | Channel 217 (6am-6pm) |
| DirecTV | Channel 347 (6am-6pm) |
| Cable | |
| Available on selected cable systems. | Check local listings for channels |
| IPTV | |
| Sky Angel | Channel 307 |
| AT&T U-verse | Channel 328 |
Qubo (pronounced /ˈkjuːboʊ/ kyew-boh) is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media. The endeavor operates multiple services under the Qubo branding, including programming blocks in English and Spanish on the NBC, Telemundo, and Ion Television networks, a digital television network, and video on demand content. The first of these, the Saturday morning blocks, debuted on September 9, 2006.
Contents |
On May 8, 2006, ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Corus Entertainment's Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media announced plans to launch new children's entertainment endeavor spread across all media platforms, including video-on-demand on digital cable and an interactive webpage. Originally announced under the name "Smart Place for Kids", the official name Qubo was announced in August 2006.[1] The name "Qubo" was chosen for the platform due to its "fun" sound and marketability in both English and Spanish.[2] Each owner contributed shows to the network.
The primary goal for Qubo is to "provide quality, entertaining children's programming in a safe environment." The endeavor utilizes ION's digital broadcast outlets, the educational, literary, and creative assets of Scholastic, the acquisition duties of Classic Media, and the combined content libraries and production facilities of Nelvana, and NBC Universal, which will also dedicate its weekend morning lineups to Qubo. Qubo's Saturday morning block debuted on NBC and Telemundo on Saturday, September 9, 2006, replaced the Discovery Kids block on NBC. This was followed by the Qubo block repeating on Ion Television, which began on Friday, September 15, 2006. This was followed by the launch of a digital television network on January 8, 2007 on the digital subchannels of Ion Television affiliates.[3]
Initially, religious content was edited out of the original VeggieTales broadcasts by request of NBC's standards and practices department.[4] The removal drew criticism from the Christian conservative watch group Parents Television Council, which complained to NBC.[5] NBC replied that the editing conformed to the television network's broadcast standards of "not to advocate any one religious point of view." VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer also expressed discontent with the edits, stating that he was not informed that religious content would be removed from the series, and he would have refused to sign a contract if he had known of this beforehand. Vischer said, "I would have declined partly because I knew a lot of fans would feel like it was a sellout or it was done for money."[6] Still, Vischer added that he understood NBC's wish to remain religiously neutral, and said, "VeggieTales is religious, NBC is not. I want to focus people more on 'Isn't it cool that Bob and Larry are on television?'"[7]
A 24-hour standalone digital broadcast television network, carried via the -DT2 digital subchannel of ION's affiliates, began broadcasting on January 8, 2007.[3] Qubo’s digital channel initially launched with a rolling four-hour block of children’s programming. Almost all of the programming also comes with an alternate Spanish language soundtrack via the SAP channel, and Spanish closed captioning via CC3.
On December 3, 2007, Qubo expanded its offerings on the digital channel to include shows from other producers, as well as some programming currently seen on the main Qubo block on NBC. In addition, the block was expanded to a 6-hour block, seen four times each day.[8]
In January 2008, ION Media Networks and Comcast reached an agreement to continue carrying ION's bouquet of digital channels; Ion Television, Qubo and ION Life except in Atlanta, GA as of September 10, 2011 where the Comcast viewers are oblivious to the network's existence.[9][10] ION is currently seeking the inquiry of the Federal Communications Commission for must-carry cable and satellite carriage of Qubo.[11]
The same date Qubo's Night Owl was released, the network began officially advertising itself as "Qubo Channel" (which the NBC and Ion Television blocks already referred to the channel as in promos for the channel's programming on those networks' qubo-branded blocks) instead of simply "Qubo" in order to discern the channel from the Qubo-branded blocks on NBC, Telemundo and Ion Television.
While there is no Qubo channel available on DirecTV, the channel entitled "ION West" airs a Qubo block from 6:00 am to 4:00 pm every day.
On September 28, 2010, Qubo Channel launched a late night programing block aimed at older audiences entitled "Qubo's Night Owl", the block airing nightly from 12 a.m. - 6 a.m. Eastern time, features animated series primarily from the Filmation animation library such as He-Man, She-Ra, BraveStarr, and Filmation's Ghostbusters.
Not all shows are seen on all stations. During the NBC block, the programming might be delayed or pre-empted because of local affiliates schedules, or delayed by the network to show sporting events such as Wimbledon, The French Open, and the USGA's U.S. Open. As with all Saturday morning programming it is advisable to check local listings for showtimes. It is also required in the E/I regulations for stations to tell viewers where to find qubo's programming in an on-air programming note if it is not in its usual timeslot.
Due to ION's extension of regular programming, ION airs the block in one hour sections, Wednesdays-Fridays at 8:00 am Eastern/7:00 am Central.
These programs are also aired on the qubo channel.
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