Well, it’s not a whole lot, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?
The Hub debuted at 10:00am this morning, and immediately featured a promotional sizzle for the station, including a few scant seconds of Renegades footage as well as some decent footage of Transformers: Prime. Check out the YouTube link below!
Throughout the online community there’s been some discussion about the promotion of The Hub (or perceived lack thereof), so I figured it would be of interest to readers to point them to an Adweek Interview with Hub Marketing Chief Amber Tarshis.
She talks about the marketing angle with The Hub and how they’ve used other networks (including other Discovery Network channels) to promote the coming of The Hub. One really interesting nugget I’ve listed below:
“Every single network [in the Discovery family] is contributing in some way. That includes running commercials for the Hub free of charge to us and creating sponsored programming stacks. For example, the mom-targeted morning programming on TLC is sponsored by the Hub. We even have the Military Channel sponsoring a stack “brought to you by the new G.I. Joe Renegades.”
Pretty interesting to see them putting a stack on the military channel about the upcoming G.I. Joe series. I know a lot of folks have also reported billboards throughout the country as well as web-based advertisements on various websites out there, too.
Check out the full interview right here.
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Although we’ve heard no new news officially about the debut of G.I. Joe: Renegades, TV focused website MultiChannel.com has posted an article about The Hub’s new On Demand television service (which I checked out for myself over the weekend).
The biggest news for Joe fans in this article is the tail end paragraph, which reads:
“In December, this fresh fare will follow: G.I. Joe Renegades, R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series and multiple installments of Transformers Prime.”
The above article also reiterates the statement the The Hub will show some “sneak previews” of upcoming shows on October 10th, but The Hub themselves still shows no evidence of this on their Program Schedule.
I’m not sure why Hasbro or The Hub couldn’t have made this information public by now, since it’s apparently news out there somewhere, but there you go. Check out the article right here. We will endeavor to get some clear information about this as soon as possible.
Initially they had set a date of October 4th, but a few days early, Hubworld.com has released their TV Schedule for the first 5 days of broadcast, and unfortunately G.I. Joe: Renegades is nowhere to be found. At least, not yet.
This is somewhat of a bummer to me, as I was really looking forward to the launch, but on the other hand, if it gives Hasbro and The Hub some more time to promote the station and the series, then it’ll end up being better in the long run. I know many folks have already reported seeing commercials on broadcast networks for The Hub, so word is getting out there. Hopefully we’ll hear shortly what the plan is going forward.
On the plus side, however, starting October 12th, at 12:30 (half past midnight), The Hub will start airing classic episodes of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Hopefully Renegades isn’t too far behind.
With cross-marketing in mind, Hasbro and The Hub obviously plan a blitz of G.I. Joe: Renegades items once the show starts picking up steam, and apparently high on their list of items to produce are comic books. Now, the IDW October Solicitations list mentioned a first issue of G.I. Joe: Renegades as part of their shipping schedule that month, but issues of Previews since then have curiously ommitted the title.
Evidently something is still planned, however, as Amazon.com has two pre-orders posted for the first two volumes of what appear to be G.I. Joe: Renegades Trade Paperback collections of those comics. With posted release dates of February, 2011, you would think the comic should still be slated to hit shortly, but who knows for sure at this point?
Along with the pre-orders, Amazon has also posted a pair of cover images, one featuring the Snake Eyes art we’ve seen before, and a second featuring the familiar Arashikage Clan symbol, which will evidently play a major role in the cartoon series. Check out the pre-orders and the mirrored images below:
Big thanks to GeneralsJoes reader Captain N. for the information!
In a somewhat disappointing bit of bad news, it turns out that according to a recently distributed Press Release from The Hub, G.I. Joe: Renegades in fact will NOT be launching October 10th, contrary to many listings found in various online sources.
According to this press release, the Hub will present a “Sneak Peek Sunday” giving viewers a sneak peek at the various series’ and specials that will be broadcast, however, G.I. Joe: Renegades and Transformers: Prime do not appear to be part of that schedule:
10:00 AM: “The Twisted Whiskers Show”
10:30 AM: “Dennis And Gnasher”
11:00 AM: “Cosmic Quantum Ray”
11:30 AM: “Atomic Betty”
12:00 PM: Hub Family Movie: Garfield
2:00 PM: “Pound Puppies”
2:30 PM: “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic”
3:00 PM: “Strawberry Shortcake Berry Bitty Adventures”
3:30 PM: “Fraggle Rock”
4:00 PM: “Cosmic Quantum Ray”
4:30 PM: “Deltora Quest”
5:00 PM: “Men In Black”
5:30 PM: “Batman Beyond”
6:00 PM: “Meerkat Manor”
6:30 PM: “The Twisted Whiskers Show”
7:00 PM: “Family Game Night”
8:00 PM: Hub Family Movie: Garfield
However, the press release also states that on October 4th, the Hub’s full programming schedule will be revealed, and their normal slate of programming will begin Monday, October 11th. There is no indication that either Renegades or Prime will be part of that slate from the get-go.
To read the full Press Release click the “Read the Rest of this Entry” link below. Somewhat disappointing news, but all should be revealed on October 4th.
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