Children's programming on Telemundo

Children's programming has played a part in Telemundo's programming since its initial roots in television. This article outlines the history of children's television programming on Telemundo including the various blocks and notable programs that have aired throughout the television network's history.

See also: Qubo, NBC Kids, and The More You Know (TV programming block)

History

Nickelodeon en Telemundo (1998–2001)

On September 15, 1998, Telemundo entered into a programming agreement with Nickelodeon to carry the cable channel's programming as part of a morning children's program block, "Nickelodeon en Telemundo" ("Nickelodeon on Telemundo"). The block, which debuted on November 9, 1998 and was considered a sub-block of Telemundo Infantil, consisted of Spanish dubs of Nickelodeon's animated series aimed at older children and preschool-oriented programs aired by the channel's Nick Jr. block (such as Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life and Blue's Clues). The block ran on weekday mornings until September 5, 2000, when it was relegated to Saturday and Sunday mornings in order to make room for Hoy En El Mundo (lit. "Today in the World" or "In the World Today"). Nickelodeon's contract with Telemundo ended in November 2001, following the network's acquisition by NBC; Rugrats (Joined by All Grown Up!) and Hey Arnold! continued to be aired sporadically for a few years afterward beginning September 18, 2004.[1][2]

Telemundo Kids (2003–2006)

After Nickelodeon en Telemundo was discontinued, Telemundo eventually launched a weekend morning block that turned out to be a revival of the "Telemundo Kids” block, but branded differently from the block from 1995 to 1998. The block consisted of Spanish dubs of various Sony Pictures Television and later Nickelodeon and Canadian shows including Jackie Chan Adventures, Dragon Tales, Rugrats, Wimzie's House, Hey Arnold!, Dora the Explorer and Jacob Two-Two. Following the sale of Telemundo to NBC in 2001 and the CBS/Viacom split in early 2006, the block was discontinued September 2, 2006. However, Jacob Two-Two carried over to the block’s direct successor Qubo, which premiered the following week.

Qubo on NBC/Telemundo (2006–2012)

In May 2006, NBC Universal and Ion Media Networks announced plans to form Qubo, a joint venture in conjunction with Scholastic Corporation, Classic Media and Corus Entertainment subsidiary Nelvana. The multi-platform programming endeavor, aimed at children between 4 and 8 years of age, would comprise children's program blocks airing on NBC, Spanish-language sister network Telemundo and Ion Media's i: Independent Television (now Ion Television), as well as a 24-hour digital multicast channel on i's owned-and-operated stations (alternatively known as Qubo Channel), video on demand services and a branded website. The reasoning why the name "qubo" was chosen for the endeavor, or why its logo is a cube, has not been publicly explained by any of the partners, although general manager Rick Rodriguez stated in an interview with Multichannel News that the name was intended to be something that sounded fun, and be a brand that could easily be uniformally used in English and Spanish.[3][4]

MiTelemundo (2012–2017)

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 NBC Universal's 2010 majority purchase by Comcast; NBC later took full ownership of the network, whose owners previously included PBS, 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 9.[5][6] 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).[7]

MiTelemundo (Litton Entertainment) (2018–present)

On February 24, 2016 and March 1, 2016, NBC and Telemundo announced that it would lease its Saturday morning lineup to Litton Entertainment, The More You Know beginning October 2016 on NBC and January 2018 on Telemundo.[8] Named after NBC's series of public service campaigns, the three-hour Saturday morning block is programmed by Litton Entertainment, and features live-action programming aimed at teens, all of which is dubbed in Spanish.[9][10] Despite the change of programming, it did not change the name of the block, which remains as MiTelemundo.

References
  1. "Telemundo, Nickelodeon in pact". Advertising Age. Crain Communications. September 15, 1998. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  2. Richard Katz (October 23, 1998). "Telemundo deal: Nick in Spanish". Variety. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  3. Andrew Hampp (August 24, 2006). "NBC Debuts Kids Programming Brand Qubo". Advertising Age. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  4. Luis Clemens (February 16, 2008). "Qubo's Rodriguez: Offering a 'Building Block' to Kids". Multichannel News. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  5. Jon Weisman (March 28, 2012). "NBC to launch Saturday kids block". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  6. Lindsay Rubino (March 28, 2012). "NBC, With Assist From Sprout, to Launch Saturday Morning Preschool Block". Multichannel News. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  7. "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.
  8. "NBC AND LITTON ENTERTAINMENT EXPAND ICONIC 'THE MORE YOU KNOW' PLATFORM INTO NEW THREE-HOUR SATURDAY MORNING PROGRAMMING BLOCK" (Press release). Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  9. "NBC, Litton Partner on 'The More You Know' Block". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  10. "TELEMUNDO KICKS OFF 2018 WITH THE NEW "Mi TELEMUNDO" KIDS PROGRAMMING BLOCK PREMIERING SATURDAY, JANUARY 6 AT 8AM/7C". NBCUniversal. January 4, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
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