Hasbro and Discovery Channel close deal to create rebranded television network

Hasbro Closes Investment in Joint Venture with Discovery Communications

Fingers crossed for good things to come from this.

This!

This could go either way. Should be interesting to see where this goes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to spend my money elsewhere while I'm waiting for a half-decent Transformers TV show/toyline.

But that is over a year awaaaaaaaaaaay!

Still, glad this worked out. I am praying for retro G1 and Beast Wars/1 Would be great to watch on television again.

A year without any new media outside of comics and the movie is gonna suck a little. I'm just hoping that good things will come to those who wait.

Agreed that the potential of having classic G1 and Beast Wars on TV again would be sweet. I wonder if they could play the the G1 repeats along with classic Hasbro toy commercials.. not only Transformers, but also GI Joe. That would kick ass.

Don't forget the PSAs and Classic commercial bumpers.

"We now return to the transformers"

As for media . I need to get animated season 3 on dvd, the matrix of leadership g1 box set, and of tcourse revenge of the fallen's dvd when that comes out presumably in november.

Well there goes all hopes for a more "mature" Transformers series. I don't see Transformers ever using guns again. I can see the Transformers becoming even more lame. I did a quick check on the shows that Discovery Kids has and not one of them is anything but educational.

Something good better come outta this...

I have a feeling that TFs won't be airing at 6am anymore...

I think what you will get is a more diverse spread. Discovery's educational shows, plus Hasbro's properties which need not be educational as well. I doubt Hasbro will want to take either of their big "war" franchises (GI Joe being the other) down an educational route. Probably they'll form up an "action" block for Transformers.

And what's wrong with the guns going away, anyway? Granted, the plantbombs from Beast Machines were a bit much, but Animated has done just fine with melee weapons instead, and I'll tell you this - battles where they're using signature melee weapons instead of sitting there blasting each other (and missing a lot) are a lot more memorable and interesting.

Besides, we don't need a darker and edgier series. Just an enjoyable one with good characters that is fun to watch.

Win on all three points.

Hmm.... I wonder if we could possibly get a kick-ass new Dungeons & Dragons series...

A cool new TF cartoon that looks good and has great storylines could be in the pipeworks very soon and I can't wait. It has been too long.

Animated has had plenty of guns in it. They just don't do much besides destroy buildings.

And no, we don't need some mature 13+ series, but let's hope we get something better than the Animated dud this time. K?

I hope the scenario in the meantime is a return to universe/classics after the movie. BUT WITH A SMALLER FOOTPRINT IN STORES AND LESS INVENTORY.

I guess if Funimation can have it's own channel, Hasbro can too. I just don't want Transformers FOR KIDS!

Wow so this will be the first time robots have been on a Discovery channel in the last ten years (ho ho)...

How will they make room between giving birth and wedding shows?

This ^

It will have to be Robots having babies and getting married. Actually getting married first, THEN babies. After that, Transformers Mythbusters starring Wheeljack and Percerptor with the Dinobots as the build team.

We'll see.

They are taking an awful risk here. But they'll know soon enough.

So, Animated just ended.
Movie comes out in June. Lets say the movie can carry well to Christimas.

That leaves at least 9 MONTHS WITH NO NEW TF MEDIA.

I can't possibly conceive of Hasbro waiting that long.

Lets' just hope the new TF show plays on other channels too, because I don't want my mom to pay for stupid digital channels just to watch one show.

I think they're going to count on the movie to sustain the property throughout the beginning of next year. Considering that the movie will have just come out on DVD last this Fall/early winter (I'm guessing) and they will push TFS hard for the x-mas season and for awhile after.

The first movie line lasted 18 months, well over a year after the actual movie came out, and was profitable beyond Hasbro's wildest dreams. It needed no media beyond the movie, even with a totally different show (Animated) being broadcast while the Movie AllSpark Power subline was in command of the toy asiles. If ROTF does even better than the first movie, which at this point it does, Hasbro may not need a show for that period of time to keep themselves afloat financialy thanks to the money ROTF is sure to rake in.

Hasbro will be fine until Fall 2010.

But...Transformers has always been for kids. Are you saying you don't want Transformers?

I dunno about this. I mean seems a little over stretched to me. Why not work on dropping the prices of the toys instead of spending all this money on a channel that many might not watch due to life? Don't get me wrong I will be watching it every chance I get but NOT ALL THE TIME.

But if a TF series is moved over to this new channel, the chances of watching that show increase dramaticaly. I mean, all CN did was show ONE Animated episode per week on a Saturday morning, while this new channel could show TF episodes once a day.

Plus, droping prices NOW when ROTF, the biggest potential cash cow ever for Transformers, would be cutting some chunks out of profits.

... see the buckets Cartoon Network's starting to sweat?

and you though Adam and Jamie made big explosions , you aint seen nothing yet!

Id love to see many of the Classic TF series running along with what ever new stuff Hasbro puts on it and of course a new series which id like to blend the spirit of G1 with writing of TFA and the animation style of Beast Wars/Beast Machines

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.

Time to fire up the "Make a prime time TF show for adults!" argument.

The lead character can be Optimus Prime Time or some other creative, yet equally stupid, play on words.

What the hell are they going to play at 8:00pm? Or even as late ast 10:00pm?

I am mostly curious about what TF show they launch with.

Same here. But Hasbro will do what's it's going to do no matter how much the bean counters think consumers have money to spend.

The same thing they do on all of their channels, Science/educational programming.

I don't understand why people constantly comparing this launch to things like CN when Discovery Channel doesn't operate that way and has like 8 channels that follow the same format... None of which will have an adult-swim like programming block. That is not what discovery channel does.

Hasbro is not going to be the expert in television channel operations or programming in this union. People are seriously stretching and wishing really hard if they feel the educational and family friendly broadcasting company of discovery combined with the child-focused properties of Hasbro will result in ADULT EDGY PG13+ or R rated Television broadcasting.

So will this channel be playing both movies in a perpetual loop?

Cool, first waiting a year for the channel to debut, then another year of getting nothing but commercials that say "call your cable provider and ask them to carry Hasbro Discovery!"

Fo Sho!

I wont hold my breath but it'll be awesome if they do a Classics show... It'll be a year after RotF so they'll need a new show out... They already have most of the cast out, just need to reissue them WHILE at the same time dropping in new classics molds of yet-to-be-made G1 characters to continue Uni. 3.0 and use in the show... I would love that. Classics needs a show so bad, its jealous that the shitty Armada line got one.

Wonder what the programing will be.

Fall 2010-

(sighs) That's a loooong time to wait for a TF show. I don't know what I will do for sixteen months. Not intrested in RoTf like most of you guys and gals. Animated ended this morning. Barely any toys I want that are currently out (although) there's not much selection) or going to be out (RoTF). What a boring 25th anniversary for me. Thanks, Hasbro!

With this news, late 2010 is when I expect the next TF series to hit the airwaves.

*Brain hurts from trying to understand that*

And G.I.Joe. It's not like Hasbro's only IP is Transformers.

-airfox

This is not news.

*reserves judgement till results are shown*

What's all this "we don't need a darker series" BS? Speak for yourself.

Maybe they could have a late night block of programming like Adult Swim and fill ALL wants. Kiddie stuff during the day, and serious adult stuff at night. They'll have a whole channel to fill. Who knows WHAT they will do.

Interesting...I'll keep my fingers crossed & hope for the best.

Looking forward to seeing the Glo Friends again!

They're always bright and cheerful...

Except when the fearful Moligans appear.

Do you know anything about the Discovery Channel? They are not anything like Turner Broadcasting.

Why does everyone assume they will fill this KIDS channel with 100% HASBRO programming and will have an ADULT block? Go look at all the channels Discovery does. That is not what they do. At night they re-run educational programming.

Anyone who expects DISCOVERY KIDS, the company who will have the primary control and experience in broadcasting, attached to a company DISCOVERY who has like 15 channels of education, family friendly programming is somehow going to end up making a 24 hour Transformers channel with original TF programming on day 1 of the channel's launch with an adult-oriented animation block at night is *DELUSIONAL*. It is not reality... And the constant droning on about how we are going to get "Transformers: Buckets of blood" as Discovery Kids first series is absurd. They will need YEARS of viable success in the target demographic before they can even hope to expand resources to develop NEW ADULT PROGRAMMING on a network meant for kids... Cartoon network took years for them to begin even trying to do that.

I do not want an adult transformers and I do not want an adult programming block on discovery kids, mainly because I live in the real world and I don't expect companies to make harmful decisions to please me personally, especially when I am not their primary focus.

Well, please explain. I don't mean to be rude, but that statement confuses the hell out of me.

And there's one advantage to this if this network does end up being the new home of TF: they probably would treat it like crap like CN has been doing for the last few years.

Nobody knows, but it doesn't have to be GRIMDARK HURRR AUTOBUTT BLOODZ!!1 to be a good series.

I'm not assuming they will do anything, and unless you're on the development board for this NEW channel you can't say either way.

Nobody knows.