Telemundo Kids

Telemundo Kids (borrowing its name from Telemundo's 1995–1998 Saturday morning block Telemundo Infantil) was an American children's programming block that debuted on October 6, 2001 on the Spanish-language television network Telemundo.[2][3] The three-hour block, which aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and Pacific Time, featured live action and animated series aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 14.

Programs featured on the block consisted of a mixture of series originally produced in Spanish and dubbed versions of series that were originally produced and broadcast in English. All shows featured on Telemundo Kids were designed to meet federally mandated educational programming guidelines defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through the Children's Television Act. Telemundo Kids closed on September 3, 2006. The following week, the block's successor Qubo en Telemundo debuted.

History

Launch (2001–2003)

Discontinuation and transition to Qubo

Following the sale of Telemundo to NBC back in 2001 and CBS and Viacom's split in early 2006, in May of that year, NBCUniversal and Ion Media Networks unveiled a joint venture with Corus Entertainment (and its subsidiary Nelvana), Scholastic, Classic Media (and its subsidiary Big Idea Productions) known as Qubo, which would aim to provide educational programming aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 8. This multi-platform programming endeavor would comprise children's programming blocks consisting of two English versions on NBC and Ion Media's i: Independent Television (now Ion Television) respectively, as well as a Spanish version on Telemundo. The endeavor would also include a separate 24-hour digital multicast channel on i’s owned-and-operated stations (alternatively known as Qubo Channel), a video on demand service, and a branded website.[9]

For Telemundo, the Qubo endeavor included a three-hour morning block divided into two 90-minute blocks airing on both Saturdays and Sundays. It would be the network's first and only children's block to offer English subtitles via the CC3 caption channel, which Telemundo normally utilizes for its weeknight prime time lineup. Conversely, the companion blocks on both NBC and i, as well as the standalone Qubo Channel, would all utilize the CC3 track to transmit Spanish subtitles. Qubo Channel would further support Spanish-speaking audiences with the inclusion of a Spanish audio track accessible via the second audio program (SAP) feed.[10][11]

Telemundo Kids was officially discontinued on September 3, 2006, and was replaced by Qubo en Telemundo the following week on September 9. While Jacob Two-Two transitioned to the new block the following day on September 10, all other prior programming, including the Nickelodeon shows, was dropped from Telemundo’s lineup. The overall launch of the Qubo brand marked the first time that VeggieTales was broadcast as a television program (although the religious content was edited out at the request of NBC's standards and practices department), with the companion Qubo on NBC block also facilitating the first English-language broadcast of Jacob Two-Two on American television. The Qubo on i block launched less than a week later on September 15, while the standalone Qubo Channel launched nearly four months afterwards on January 8, 2007.[12][13]

Due to Discovery declining to renew its contract with NBC for its Saturday morning Discovery Kids on NBC block after March 2006, the discontinuation of Telemundo Kids occurred concurrently with the discontinuation of Discovery Kids on NBC, citing a desire to focus its children's programming efforts exclusively on the Discovery Kids cable channel.

Transferring of Nickelodeon programs to other networks

Though Telemundo dropped Nickelodeon programming from its lineup following the launch of Qubo en Telemundo, some Nickelodeon programs would move to other children's programming blocks.

When rival network Univision launched its Planeta U block on April 5, 2008, the inaugural lineup included two Nick Jr. shows, Dora the Explorer and its spin-off Go, Diego, Go!, as well as Pinky Dinky Doo from Nickelodeon’s sister network Noggin (now the Nick Jr. Channel). Contrary to Telemundo’s broadcasts of Dora the Explorer, Univision incorporated on-screen captions of the Spanish words spoken in English. Another Nick Jr. show, The Backyardigans would later join the lineup on June 25, 2011. On September 3 of that year, Pinky Dinky Doo was pulled from the lineup, being replaced by PBS Kids' Maya & Miguel the following week. A major programming shift occurred on May 24, 2014, when Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! were pulled together from the lineup to accommodate the launch of “Disney Junior en Univision” during the first two hours of the block, added Spanish dubs of both Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny (both of which originally premiered on Playhouse Disney in 2006, with the latter show having specifically premiered one day after the Qubo on i block launched). The final Nick Jr. holdover, The Backyardigans, was eventually pulled on July 25, 2015.

In addition, for a short time between July and October of 2010, Tr3s, another sister network to Nickelodeon, aired a daily block of Spanish-dubbed Nick Jr. programs under the name Tr3s Jr. to meet E/I requirements for its broadcast affiliates. Shows like Blue's Clues (previously seen on Nickelodeon en Telemundo) and Wonder Pets! were featured in the block, with SpongeBob SquarePants also being broadcast outside of the Tr3s Jr. schedule.

Despite these program migrations, Telemundo would eventually air reruns of LazyTown from July 7, 2012 to March 26, 2016 as part of MiTelemundo, a block programmed by PBS Kids Sprout that replaced Qubo en Telemundo. After the Nick Jr. Channel lost the broadcast rights to LazyTown on July 19, 2010, the show moved to Sprout from April 18, 2011 to September 26, 2016.

Programming

Schedule issues

Due to regulations defined by the Children's Television Act that require stations to carry E/I compliant programming for three hours each week at any time between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. local time, some Telemundo stations defered certain programs aired within its Saturday morning block to Sunday daytime or earlier Saturday morning slots, or (in the case of affiliates in the Western United States) Saturday afternoons as makegoods to comply with the CTA regulations.

Although the Telemundo Kids block regularly aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings, affiliates in some parts of the country deferred certain programs within the lineup to Sunday morning time slots to accommodate locally produced programs (such as weekend morning newscasts) or due to scheduling issues with regional or network sports broadcasts that start in time periods normally occupied by the block.

Telemundo Kids had concerns about commercial limits during its programming to its affiliates, including KTEL-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[14][15]

The six Telemundo Kids animated and live-action Spanish-dubbed shows including Jackie Chan Adventures, Dragon Tales, Juana la Iguana, Las Tres Mellizas, Nico and Dragon Ball Z were having a changed schedule for a weekend as the Sábados de Fantasía (Fantasy Saturdays) block aired on every Saturday, but the six shows were still included with Domingos de Aventura (Adventure Sundays) in scheduled and changing the time at 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET/PT on Telemundo since October 25, 2003 with the paid programming continued with Telemundo Kids in the next schedule time clock area on weekends.

However, other shows (including Men in Black: The Series, Max Steel, Ni Ni's Treehouse, Auga Viva, Bizbirije and Toonimals!) were removed or changed in the schedule on October 19, 2003, while the schedule was changed again when Nickelodeon programming return to air four shows and some Canadian shows with Spanish-dubbed in Telemundo Kids premiered on October 2, 2004.

Not only were changing schedules and commercial limits had concerns on the children programming block, they were also delays on programming premieres. Men in Black: The Series was originally scheduled to premiere on the block on November 11, 2001. However, it was delayed for one week due to scheduling issues with Dragon Tales on Telemundo at 7:30 a.m. Men in Black: The Series was rescheduled to November 18, 2001.

History

Launch (2001–2003)

Rerurn of Nickelodeon programming (2004–2006)

Discontinuation and transition to Qubo

Transferring of Nickelodeon programs to other networks

Programming

Schedule issues

Former Telemundo Kids shows programming

See also

External links

References

country	United States
formerly known	Telemundo Infantil (September 16, 1995–November 7, 1998)
premiered	October 6, 2001‡R1R‡
closed	September 3, 2006 (later became Qubo)
channel	Telemundo
format	Saturday and Sunday mornings children's block
parent	Telemundo Network Group, LLC (NBCUniversal)
runtime	3 hours
language	Spanish
website	Telemundo Kids