Nearly a week after the sudden exit of president and CEO Margaret Loesch, no clear succession plan has emerged for the Hub Network.
And according to a Thursday Deadline Hollywood report, other key questions are emerging for the four-year old channel, co-founded by Discovery Networks and toy giant Hasbro to take aim at a profitable but crowded cable programming market dominated by Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.
For starters, Deadline says there is talk about moving the network's headquarters from the TV programming hub of Burbank, Calif., to Discovery's nerve center in Silver Spring, Md.
This would jibe with some of the names being mentioned as Loesch's replacement--such as Discovery veteran Tom Cosgrove, who now manages the company's 3D TV co-venture with Sony and IMAX. Also mentioned has been Henry Schneiff, group president of Investigation Discovery, Destination America, American Heroes Channel (formerly the Military Channel) and Discovery Fit & Health.
Meanwhile, there's also speculation that the channel--which is available in about 70 million U.S. pay-TV homes and still hasn't dented the kids market after four years--will further move away from its original boys 6-11 target audience and continue to rebrand as a network for family programming. (The recent addition of '90s young-adult hit Blossom is sort of a prototypical example of this new programming theme.)
Complicating things could be Hasbro's commitment. The toymaker invested $300 million for a 50 percent stake in the co-venture, and has given no indication that it wants out.
For more:
- read this Deadline Hollywood story
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