Why arn't there any factual/kids subchannels?

zeebre12

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Feb 25, 2015
289
51
new york
Why are there no factual or kids subchannels. You'd think there would be some Discovery, Food Network, Crime & Investigation Network type subchannel showing repeats of this type of programming from 10 years ago with maybe an original series or two? They would be much cheaper than scripted series.
Also why isn't there any kids subchannels? I know PBS are due to launch a new 24/7 kids channel but after that there is nothing. Even a subchannel showing retro TV shows from late 90's/early 00's would be good like old cartoons and sitcoms?
 
Qubo is a sub of Ion here in my area which is pretty good, geared toward younger kids and one of our PBS sub's plays kids stuff nearly all day.

Pretty slim pickings for factual shows OTA here, PBS and one other that I can't think of the name of because I never watch it, it has Unsolved Mysteries and a bunch of crime stuff, which I don't really care for.
 
Qubo is a sub of Ion here in my area which is pretty good, geared toward younger kids and one of our PBS sub's plays kids stuff nearly all day.

Pretty slim pickings for factual shows OTA here, PBS and one other that I can't think of the name of because I never watch it, it has Unsolved Mysteries and a bunch of crime stuff, which I don't really care for.
PBS CREATE might fit your expectations.
 
PBS Kids and Ion Qubo are 24/7 channels for kids plus many of the subchannels have a couple hours of childrens educational and informational programming on the weekends to meet their federal requirements. PBS Create and Ion Life have a lot of the cooking, how to and travel type shows. The criminal investigations stuff is on Escape and I think GetTv or Heroes and Icons has an hour or so block of some those types of shows.
 
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For the 60 or so markets that have an ION station, ION's Qubo provides kids programs, and ION Life has some old HGTV / Food Network programs (mostly Canadian produced shows). ION Life is kind of an odd mix, with lots of scripted series mixed in with the lifestyle programs. The PBS Create channel actually has better cooking shows (in my opinion) than Food Network/Cooking channel. I agree that there is opportunity in this space, but it might need the cooperation of Scripps Networks, which owns HGTV, DIY, Food Network and Cooking channel and probably controls the library of shows that appeared on those networks.
 
Why are there no factual or kids subchannels. You'd think there would be some Discovery, Food Network, Crime & Investigation Network type subchannel showing repeats of this type of programming from 10 years ago with maybe an original series or two? They would be much cheaper than scripted series.
Also why isn't there any kids subchannels? I know PBS are due to launch a new 24/7 kids channel but after that there is nothing. Even a subchannel showing retro TV shows from late 90's/early 00's would be good like old cartoons and sitcoms?
C&I = Justice channel
Kids = GetTV, Qubo, PBS Kids
Food = Lifestyle TV, Create
 
C&I = Justice channel
Kids = GetTV, Qubo, PBS Kids
Food = Lifestyle TV, Create
Get TV is not kids, PBS Kids is not a proper channel and there is no such thing as Lifestyle TV..PBJ could have been more of a success if it didnt show old kids shows from the 70's. Surely late 90's/Early 00's kids shows cant be that expensive to get the right for?
 
The channels don't exist OTA because they can sell them for considerably more via subscription services.

Remember also that children aren't typically all that nostalgic and they certainly don't need to fill their formative minds with outdated information.
 
Get TV is not kids, PBS Kids is not a proper channel and there is no such thing as Lifestyle TV..PBJ could have been more of a success if it didnt show old kids shows from the 70's. Surely late 90's/Early 00's kids shows cant be that expensive to get the right for?

It's GRIT not GetTv that has kids stuff on weekend mornings as part of their E&I commitment. PBS kids has been a 24/7 OTA channel around here for at least a decade. Most of the stuff from the 90's and 2000's are probably part of Disney or Viacom and locked in their vaults for SVOD.
 
Get TV is not kids, PBS Kids is not a proper channel and there is no such thing as Lifestyle TV..PBJ could have been more of a success if it didnt show old kids shows from the 70's. Surely late 90's/Early 00's kids shows cant be that expensive to get the right for?
As noted above, it's Grit, not GetTV, my typo, and Lifestyle should have been Living Well. As to "PBS Kids is not a proper channel ", I have no idea what that means, it's been a sub of PBS for years.
 
I blame Litton and the rise of cable TV subscriptions (as well as the Internet) for the lack of over-the-air kids' programming on Saturday mornings.

(Oh how I miss Kids' WB and FOX Kids)
 
I see a lot of E/I programming geared towards older children on stations like METV, THIS, and a few on Bounce Tv. But no cartoons except on cable/satellite/Sling/Vue subscriptions
 
I lament the passing of entertaining cartoons at the hands of crummy animations that were engineered to overtly pound in a social message. If you have to be told the message outright, they didn't do it right.

Learning is coming to a realization in your own terms -- not having it hammered in without motivation or understanding.
 
I sometimes watch Qubo Kids Corner on Ion (usually when Doki is on), since my area does not have the full Qubo channel, since Ion in my area is the second digital subchannel of our local ABC affiliate.

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At least there might be some people lucky enough to live close enough to the U.S.-Mexico border and receive an over-the-air Televisa-owned Mexican kids' channel called "Canal 5", whose channel airs Spanish dubs of various cable TV programs for kids during the day (SpongeBob SquarePants and Adventure Time for example) and Spanish dubbed programming for teens/young adults/adults at night (Law & Order, Malcolm in the Middle, etc.). The channel also airs soccer (futbol) games and other sporting events. The only drawback of this channel is everything is dubbed in Spanish, for those who do not have good grasp of the language.

XETV-TDT CW 6 of San Diego, California/Tijuana, Baja Norte has Canal 5 on channel 6.2.
 
Our "Canal 5" XHJUB in Juarez, Mexico is in HD on Rf 33 and has English as a secondary audio program. Almost all shows come through in English but commercials do not. They also have a lot of recent movies, especially on the weekend. It can be received with a good antenna as far as most parts of southern New Mexico.
 
Even if there was a channel that showed factual programs from the UK, Australia, Canada. Id say it would fairly well.
Will the new PBS Kids channel also be available on satellite/cable?
Could Create/World ever be on satellite/cable? Wasnt PBS You on Directv/Dish
 
Even if there was a channel that showed factual programs from the UK, Australia, Canada. Id say it would fairly well.
Will the new PBS Kids channel also be available on satellite/cable?
Could Create/World ever be on satellite/cable? Wasnt PBS You on Directv/Dish
Not too sure about Create/World on satellite. Those tend to be more digital subchannels they don't carry. Here, on cable, we get 2 PBS, 2 Create, and PBS Knowledge. One of the Create channels used to be PBS kids. But that's cable and they are more prone to cover subchannels vs satellite