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qubo (kyoo-bo, called Smart Place for Kids until August 23, 2006[1]) is the name of the children's programming endeavor involving three broadcast networks, a new digital television network, and numerous children's entertainment producers.

On May 8, 2006, ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, Corus Entertainment's Nelvana unit, Scholastic Books, and Classic Media and its Big Idea Productions unit announced plans to launch a new children's entertainment endeavor spread across all medium platforms, including video-on-demand on digital cable and an interactive webpage.

The primary goal for qubo will be to "champion literacy and values in the children's television category."[2] The endeavor will utilize ION's digital broadcast outlets, the educational, literary, and creative assets of Scholastic, and the combined content libraries and production facilities of Nelvana, Classic Media, Big Idea, and NBC Universal, which will also dedicate their weekend morning lineups to qubo. More than 1,000 half-hours of children's programming, including a new, original series from each of the partners per year, will air throughout the year.

Qubo debuted on NBC and Telemundo on Saturday, September 9, 2006. This was followed by NBC's qubo block repeating on i, which began on Friday, September 15, 2006.

A 24-hour digital television network, carried via the digital signals of ION's affiliates, began broadcasting on January 8, 2007. This apparently phased out the Pax channel, which vanished in late September 2006 and was replaced with a repeating, 30-second promo loop of the new qubo channel.[3] qubo’s digital channel initially launched with a rolling four-hour block of children’s programming. Currently, programming on qubo's digital channel is entirely exclusive to that channel, but will soon expand its offerings to include shows from other producers, as well as some programming currently seen on the main qubo block on NBC. [4]

All programming on qubo meets Federal Communications Commission "E/I" requirements; they utilize the same E/I bug used for PBS's programs (although they are not affiliated with PBS in any way). None of the partners has publicly explained why the name "qubo" was chosen, or why its logo is a cube.

On October 24, 2006 qubo officially announced that it has appointed Rick Rodriguez as President/GM and Kerry Hughes as Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales and Sponsorships.

Viewership

Qubo had a very auspicious beginning in its ratings among its target demographic, children ages 2-3. In its first five weeks on the air, qubo reported a 20% increase in ratings, and a 25% increase in what it calls "impressions". Its three networks, NBC, Telemundo and the i network, have all reported healthy increases in viewership during the period from September 9, 2006 through December 2, 2006:

  • The i network reported a 163% increase during the period and a 61% increase between the last two weeks of the period.

NBC's Saturday morning children's block qubo delivered its biggest kids 2-11 audience to date on December 2, extending the powerful momentum qubo generated in the November sweep as it built by more than 50 percent on NBC's Saturday morning 2-11 audience for November 2005.

  • On Saturday, Dec. 2, qubo averaged 447,000 kids 2-11 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, a season high for qubo among kid viewers aged 2-11. Versus the same Saturday last year (December 3, 2006) for Discovery Kids on NBC, the qubo average for kids 2-11 is up 57 percent (447,000 vs. 285,000). The 447,000 kids 2-11 is a 48 percent gain versus qubo's premiere results on Saturday, Sept. 9 (302,000).

Garnering the biggest kids 2-11 audience on qubo on December 2 was "3-2-1 Penguins! and Larryboy Stories" at 11 a.m. ET with 537,000 kids 2-11. Other results were "VeggieTales" at 10 a.m. with 348,000 kids 2-11; "Dragon" at 10:30 a.m. with 476,000 kids 2-11; "Babar" at 11:30 a.m. with 432,000 kids 2-11; "Jane and the Dragon" at noon with 457,000 kids 2-11; and "Jacob Two Two" at 12:30 p.m. with 432,000 kids 2-11.

NBC was up 57 percent in kids 2-11 on Saturday mornings for the November sweep compared with its November 2005 average (348,000 vs. 222,000 for Discovery Kids on NBC). NBC is the only major broadcast network that's up versus year-ago November-sweep results in kids 2-11. CBS is down 63 percent, Fox is down 31 percent, and ABC is down 15 percent. The top program for NBC during the sweep was "3-2-1 Penguins! and Larryboy Stories" with an average of 430,000 kids 2-11.[5]

Programs seen in the qubo block

All shows are seen in this exact order on all three networks, although the Telemundo broadcasts are split between two days. The only series held over from a previous block is Jacob Two-Two, which was already on Telemundo (as Jacobo Dos-Dos) prior to the start of qubo.

Not all shows are seen on all stations; some are delayed or pre-empted for local or syndicated programming, especially on NBC stations.

The VeggieTales broadcasts initially did not feature the religious content that appears on the videos before and after the main feature, since the block is designed to educate all viewers. This has drawn criticism for the block and NBC in particular from the Parents Television Council, as well as VeggieTales co-creator Phil Vischer, who claims that he was unaware of the intent to edit out religious content when the three programs were acquired for qubo.[6]. Starting with King George and the Ducky, the religious content was left intact in the storyline.

qubo's digital schedule

All times Eastern Time a.m. and p.m. Currently qubo digital runs a 4-hour block loop of programming. There are future plans for the block to be expanded to six hours.

* -- Repeats of former PBS programs

† -- Repeats of former Cartoon Network programs

~ -- Repeats of former Nick Jr. programs

References

  1. ^ "Qubo to launch on NBC, Telemundo and the i Network this September".
  2. ^ http://www.ionmedia.tv/press/press.cfm?id=4
  3. ^ "Qubo 24/7".
  4. ^ "qubo Launches as 24-Hour Digital Broadcast Channel on ION Media Networks Station Group".
  5. ^ "NBC'S NEW SATURDAY MORNING BLOCK QUBO DELIVERS BIG GAINS" (Press release). NBC Universal. 2006-12-11. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/22/veggietales.controversy.ap
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