Universal Kids (formerly Sprout) (TALKBACK)

[Tacomaster]

My vision for Universal Kids has them becoming a boy-skewing network not unlike Disney XD, and NASCAR would fit in well.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

Maybe NBCUniversal should had just sticked to Qubo...

Yeah......

 

[Otakuninja2006]

My vision for Universal Kids has them becoming a boy-skewing network not unlike Disney XD, and NASCAR would fit in well.

Yep.

 

[Tacomaster]

Man, this thread is more dead than the network

 

[JMTV]

Man, this thread is more dead than the network

Well, honestly, there's not much we can talk about Universal Kids at this point.

No surprise announcements for Universal Kids, all of it's originals moved over to Peacock, and their scheduling is absolutely horrible. Nothing really changed.

NBCUniversal should just give up on Universal Kids and shut down the channel for good and all moved of its kids and family offerings to Peacock. I know Comcast won't, but they should do it.

 

[Anthonyg3281]

Barney has been removed from the shows list on the Universal Kids website, though the show page is still up if you Google search it.

 

[superkeegan9100]

Barney has been removed from the shows list on the Universal Kids website, though the show page is still up if you Google search it.

Kinda ironic given how it's on Peacock

 

[Tacomaster]

Will you guys just stop? Yes, it's coming to Peacock, but it's not leaving Universal Kids. At least I don't think so. When did they ever say Universal Kids was going to stop showing it completely?

well this aged swimmingly

 

[Mandouga]

well this aged swimmingly

Okay, look. I made that post more than two years ago. I even forgot I made it (I had to search for it on Google), as well as what it referred to (the then-new Where’s Waldo series). I’m guessing the show has left the channel since then. All I was trying to say is that we shouldn’t be so quick to say that the sky is falling (i.e. “Universal Kids is DOOMED!!”) until we have some kind of definitive word from the official source (in this case, the people running Universal Kids) itself. That really is all there is to it. Yes, the channel’s future is uncertain at this point, but until they say otherwise, we’re going to have to wait and see what happens next, whether it’s some kind of rebrand, going off the air for good, or whatever. We just shouldn’t assume the worst possible outcome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PinkieLopBun]

I never watched Universal Kids much, but not long ago I was flipping through my TV listings and noticed there was preschool programming in an hour I haven’t seen it in since the Sprout days. It seems at some point during the downtime, the channel became dominated by preschool programming again. I only found shows for older kids from midnight to 6 A.M.

 

[harry580]

I never watched Universal Kids much, but not long ago I was flipping through my TV listings and noticed there was preschool programming in an hour I haven’t seen it in since the Sprout days. It seems at some point during the downtime, the channel became dominated by preschool programming again. I only found shows for older kids from midnight to 6 A.M.

I guess they could rebrand the channel back to sprout

 

[Moe]

I guess they could rebrand the channel back to sprout

Universal is more likely to close Universal Kids, rather than rename as Sprout.

Rating for Universal Kids is abysmal, worse than Boomerang. Name changes aren't going to fix.

 

[Insidus]

I feel like NBCUniversal could have kept Sprout and leveraged of its success and before folding it under Universal Kids. Sprout could have tried airing content for older kids particularly educational and factual shows similar to that of Da Vinci and Curiosity.

 

[CNNickFan]

Universal Kids would have been a good idea about 15 years ago. Universal needs to realize that they don't have the content/back catalog of programming to justify a 24/7 network, and this painfully shows if you look at their schedule.

When Sprout was still a thing, half of their content was imported from PBS/Hit/SW, and the other half was international acquisitions.

You could even argue when the channel rebranded, they still had to share space with preschool programming from Sprout!

Despite all this, I think Sprout would have been on it's way out, even if NBC had no interest in reviving the channel. They literally lost almost all their shows, and the shows they did have definitely would not have kept longevity in terms of reruns.

 

[superkeegan9100]

Universal Kids would have been a good idea about 15 years ago. Universal needs to realize that they don't have the content/back catalog of programming to justify a 24/7 network, and this painfully shows if you look at their schedule.

Blame NBCUniversal buying DreamWorks Animation

 

[Moe]

It is shame to see Universal Kids failed but Universal has very strong box office for animated and family friendly movies.

I do think Universal should try to introduce a kid block back on USA and SYFY to see if it does help to boost the rating, but oh no, Universal make a lot of money by license their contents out.

 

[CNNickFan]

It is shame to see Universal Kids failed but Universal has very strong box office for animated and family friendly movies.

I do think Universal should try to introduce a kid block back on USA and SYFY to see if it does help to boost the rating, but oh no, Universal make a lot of money by license their contents out.

Remember when Sprout tried to do that on NBC? And it bombed horribly?

Or when Disney tried to do it on ABC Family? And they got fined by the FCC?

If E/I requirements are still a thing, and broadcasters don't want to pay Litton for their crappy programming anymore, then Universal COULD try shopping their catalog from the channel to broadcasting networks; but like I said with Sprout/NBC Kids, that bombed horribly.

Although, something like that could work. That was back when everyone thought cable and streaming had fufilled the need for children's content; even though, at this point, the bubbles for both of those industries have burst. So maybe, but I don't think so.

 

[harry580]

why can't they rebrand the channel as dreamworks channel like in Singapore & Australia

 

[Moe]

Remember when Sprout tried to do that on NBC? And it bombed horribly?

Yes, I remember, I saw this in 2014 when I was at salon and I was like whoa, Saturday morning kid block run by NBC returned after two decades of absence and my stylist told me that she remembered about Smurfs aired on NBC in 1980s when she was young adult at that time.

Or when Disney tried to do it on ABC Family? And they got fined by the FCC?

It is weird to see Disney got fine for violation on cable channel, but if ABC channel, I can understand.

If E/I requirements are still a thing, and broadcasters don't want to pay Litton for their crappy programming anymore, then Universal COULD try shopping their catalog from the channel to broadcasting networks; but like I said with Sprout/NBC Kids, that bombed horribly.

E/I requirement is still under FCC rule and Children's Television Act (CTA) hasn't repealed, despite most kids don't watch those shows and yeah, you are right about NBC Kids failed miserably.

If E/I requirement is repealed, studios could bring normal kid shows back and if CTA is repealed, they definitely replace with extra infomercials that is very undesirable. I'm all for repeal FCC rule but leave CTA intact with mandatory 3 hours for main channels and 1 hour for subchannels.

why can't they rebrand the channel as dreamworks channel like in Singapore & Australia

Universal tried with air DreamWorks Animated shows on Universal Kids, ended up with rating bombed, so rebrand as DreamWorks Channel isn't going to change to make a better.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

You know, maybe if Universal spun off USA Cartoon Express into it's own channel in say, 1996, 1997 or even 1998, then it would have done amazing, especially considering all the mass clout USA Networks had at the time and the block was still a bit popular. I feel that if that happened, then USACX would have become the fourth network and perhaps the alternative to Cartoon Network, especially in the late 2000s.

@Tacomaster, thoughts?