Around the 1990s, after decades of being one channel, Discovery decided to extend their educational prowess by adding and creating more channels. From acquiring channels like TLC and The Travel Channel to creating newer ones, such as Animal Planet. By the time the 90s came to an end, Discovery Communications have a lot of channels at their disposal. However, there is one channel that, to this day, will change its format for good or for ill, but mostly ill. And that network is none other than...Discovery Kids.
(MK3 Vs. Screen Fanfare)
Discovery Kids was launched on October 7th, 1996. Launched on the same day along with the channels that came with it, such as Discovery Civilization, Discovery Wings, Discovery Science, and Discovery Travel & Living. DK was formed in 1996, but it didn't take off fully until Marjorie C. Kaplan became this channel's senior vice president.
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| Marjorie C. Kaplan - Discovery Kids Senior VP |
Marjorie Kaplan joined Discovery between 1996 and 1997. When she joined Discovery and help out with the channel establishment, Kaplan wanted to have a channel that has the same qualities as Discovery, but for kids. According to her, Discovery Kids was inspired by children who watches Discovery programming with their parents. Thus, giving Discovery the inscentive to green-lit this idea and make Kaplan its senior VP. Anyway, DK's target audience are children ages 6 to 11. Think Discovery Channel, but for kids. GET IT?!
(Crickets Chriping; Random Cough)
Sorry, joking is not one of my strong points, mostly. Anyway, Discovery Kids' programming consists on shows that follow the Educational/Informational guidelines for little kids. More on that later.
There are a lot of shows on Discovery Kids, but I can't list them all at once. But, I will mention the ones that are familiar to you and the ones that put DK on the map. Shows like The Magic School Bus, Timeblazers, Truth or Scare, The Save-Ums!, Flight 29 Down, Bindi the Jungle Girl, Endurance, Croc Files, The Saddle Club, Time Warp Trio, Tutenstein, and Kenny the Shark.
To extend DK's reach even further, its Canadian division formed a partnership with Corus Entertainment on September, 2001. Meanwhile, back in the states, on December of the same year, they form a partnership with NBC, resulting in forming the Discovery Kids on NBC block on September, 2002. Because of its success in the beginning and under Kaplan's leadership, DK earned 14 Daytime Emmy nominations in 2006. Discovery Kids had some promise in the beginning, but it didn't stay like this for long.
On September, 2006, DK's partnership with NBC ended, which resulted the end of its DK block itself. Their partnership ended due to a contract dispute and the fact that DK wants to focus solely on the channel itself. That decision alone ended up being their downfall. The DK on NBC block was replaced with by a new block from Qubo, which in turn was replaced by NBC Kids, and then replaced by another Edutainment block by those yahoos from Litton Entertainment, which has become the FCC's watchdogs against all of animation. Believe me, I got a lot to say about them. And I assure you, that my bark is as worse than their bite!
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| Joker Sting: "WOOF WOOF! But that's a whole 'nother story!" |
As for Discovery Kids itself, it showed promise in the beginning, but because of its politics and backstabbing, along with their deal with NBC falling apart, with the exception of its popular shows like Kenny the Shark, Tutenstein, Bindi the Jungle Girl, Endurance, Time Warp Trio and The Magic School Bus, the rest of Discovery Kids has become...well...a little help here, Pinkie.
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| Pinkie Pie: "Duh! BORING!!" |
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| Fonzie: "AAAAY!!" |
Next Episode: Where Everything Comes Together: The History of The Hub!
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Because of "stuff" we missed the 10-year anniverssary of The Hub. The Modern World Sucks!
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