[TFW2005]

Originally posted by: Kickback @ TFW2005.com

Quote:

There's been a lot of Transformers Dark of the Moon news and hype over the last week - everything from new TV spots, the video game being released, and more and more toys. But lost in all of that glorious fun is a story detailing the darker side of reality - Hasbro and Discovery Communication's parternship network, The Hub, might be in trouble.

According to reports from Deadline.com and the Hollywood Reporter, Discovery Communications (the other half of The Hub) has ammended their agreement with Hasbro Inc. regarding the fees for airing animated programs. The ammendment is based around a "trigger event", which could lead to a writedown of the channel's overall worth. Discovery Communications submitted a $500 million dollar debt filing to the SEC Monday morning.

The Hub is currently averaging around 23,000 viewers, down from 24,000 a mere month ago. These ratings pale in comparison to the other children's network giants Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. It is important to note that no new network has ever shot up the charts and they all had growing pains in the beginning. The fear is that Discovery Communications and Hasbro are trying to do so in a failing economy and, for most United States customers, to even watch The Hub you have to pay a premium cable package which raises your cable rates upwards of $100 a month, which for most people, isn't worth it when you can just watch it online the next day thanks to the power of the Internet.

It is speculated that with the $500 million dollar debt filing, Discovery Communications will begin repurchasing its own stock while under the new ammended agreement, Hasbro will foot more of the bill to air their own programs such as My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic and Transformers Prime.

What does this all mean exactly? In short, by Q3 (Third Quarter in Business Lingo) it may come to be that The Hub is not worth what everyone thought it was in a financial sense. Depending on what that overall amount is, it could cause one or both partners to pull out of the agreement, and The Hub will fade away in to the midsts of obscurity. That is worst-case-scenario however, but it's important to note that it is a viable possibility.

What can you do? Figure out a way to get The Hub with your cable package. Convince people you know with children how great The Hub is with their family-oriented programming. Instead of watching CSI while the kids play video games, gather the family around to watch your favorite family programs from the 1980's and 1990's. And, of course, watch Transformers Prime!

We'll keep you updated. A special thanks to The Live Action Transformers Movie Blog for the initial heads up on this story.

Original Source: And Now For Some Bad News - The Hub in Trouble? @ Transformers - TFW2005.com.