The History of Sprout & The Failure of Universal Kids (Part 2)
Preschool cable network Sprout came under the ownership of NBCUniversal in 2013, who gradually removed its older programming in favor of new originals and contemporary acquisitions, as to better compete with fellow networks such as Nick Jr. and Disney Junior.
Prior to their purchase of Sprout, NBCUniversal's family-friendly holdings were very limited. Their only recognizable one was Illumination Entertainment, which was established in 2007 and had just started to experience wide commercial success with its CGI-animated films.
That all changed in August 2016, when Universal Pictures acquired DreamWorks Animation for US$3.8 billion. In addition to feature films, DreamWorks had been producing streaming television series such as All Hail King Julien, DreamWorks Dragons, and Turbo FAST. The company also owned the DreamWorks Channel, a children's network seen in select global markets like Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
With this growing library of content, NBCUniversal announced in May 2017 that Sprout would be relaunched as Universal Kids on September 9. The new network would continue to target preschool children in the daytime (even maintaining the Sprout name), while simultaneously looking to capture 6 to 12-year-old viewers in the evening.
Universal Kids’ launch slate included content from DreamWorks Animation Television, acquisitions from countries around the world (Hank Zipzer, Little Lunch, The Next Step, Nowhere Boys, Officially Amazing), and unscripted/reality-based original programs (American Ninja Warrior Junior, Beat the Clock, Get Out of My Room, The Noise, Top Chef Junior). These series would air between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. every day, while preschool programming occupied the rest of the channel’s airtime.
Despite NBCUniversal’s efforts, the relaunch did more harm than good. For the rest of 2017, ratings for Universal Kids were down by 30%, before they decreased an additional 73% in 2018. Around this time, all remaining traces of the Sprout branding were removed.
Universal Kids continued to produce original series, joined by newly-acquired DreamWorks cartoons and live-action. The channel would also undergo multiple rebrands, including one in April 2019 that introduced a simplified logo.
However, just two months later, NBCUniversal announced that the channel had suspended the production of all future original series, in an effort to ensure long-term viability. Bajillionares, Norman Picklestripes, Powerbirds, Remy and Boo, Top Chef: Remix, and Where’s Waldo would be some of the last original series to come out of Universal Kids.
By the summer of 2020, Universal Kids’ schedule consisted of nothing but “marathon” blocks of series such as Mighty Mike and Masha and the Bear.
