HBO Kids (formerly Jam) is an American preschool/children's television morning block operated by Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO), a division of Warner Bros. Discovery. The block runs on HBO Family, HBO's sister station that targets children and families.[1]
The block runs from 6:00 am to roughly 8:00 to 9:00 am (ET) on weekdays; the block's shows are not shown in a standard half-hour timeslot. The block used to have an weekday 4pm timeslot, which was filled with The Electric Company. The block used to also air on weekends until October 2020.
History[]
In 2001, HBO Family launched two children's programming blocks: Jam in the morning, and Magnet on weekday afternoons. Programming for both blocks was developed in coordination with CINAR Animation, Nelvana Limited, Sony Entertainment, Sandpaper Films, Scholastic, Devine Entertainment, S4C, HiT Entertainment, Golden Egg Entertainment, Poseidon Pictures, Cuppa Coffee Studios, Curious Pictures, Hyperion Pictures, and Planet Grande.[1] Starting in 2007, with a new set of CGI bumpers for the block, HBO began to slowly remove the block's acquired programming, exclusively focusing on HBO's original children's series. For several years, no new programs were produced or acquired for the block, focusing exclusively on reruns of HBO's own children's programs.
On August 13, 2015, HBO announced a deal with Sesame Workshop to move first-run Sesame Street episodes on HBO.[2] The episodes premiered on the network on January 16, 2016, alongside other Sesame Workshop-produced programming, including The Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo.[3] The following day (which was January 17), Jam rebranded as HBO Kids. On November 12, 2020, first-run Sesame Street episodes moved to HBO Max (via. Cartoonito) starting with its 51st season.
On August 18, 2018, an animated series entitled Esme & Roy, also produced by Sesame Workshop, premiered.[4] HBO removed all Sesame Workshop shows from its HBO Family channel by January 2021, reverting the block back to HBO's original children's series. However, most of the acquired shows from Sesame Workshop were still available on the HBO Max streaming service until January 2, 2021, with only Sesame Street, Esme & Roy, and any Sesame Workshop show made exclusive for the streaming service still being available. Currently, the block's schedule shows four of HBO's original programs, followed by a children's TV special, before airing one more program, then starting one of the channel's circulated movies or specials.[5]
Programming[]
Current programming[]
- 1 = Airs occasionally.
Original programming[]
| Title | Original run | HBO Kids run | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Little Curious | February 1, 1999 – May 1, 2000 | August 26, 2001 – present | [note 1] |
| Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | March 12, 1995 – July 18, 2000 | August 26, 2001 – 2004;[6] January 2005[7] – present | [note 2] |
| Crashbox | February 1, 1999 – April 1, 2000 | January 2005[7] – present | [note 4] |
| Kindergarten | August 26, 2001 – September 7, 2001 | August 26, 2001 – present | |
| HBO Storybook Musicals1 | November 18, 1987 – December 8, 1993 | August 26, 2001 – present | |
| El Perro y El Gato1[note 6]
|
October 2003 – August 13, 2012 | 2008 – present | [note 7] |
| Classical Baby1 | May 14, 2005 – present | May 14, 2005 – present |
Former programming[]
- Harold and the Purple Crayon (December 1, 2001 – 2011)
- I Spy (December 2002 – July 2011)
- Stuart Little (March 2003 – 2010)
Former acquired programming[]
- Pippi Longstocking (1998–1999)
- Babar (2001 – 2004)
- George and Martha (2001 – 2009)
- Postman Pat (September 1, 2005 – September 30, 2007)
- Magic Cellar
- Sesame Street (January 17, 2016 – November 1, 2020, now on PBS Kids and HBO Max)[8]
- Fraggle Rock (December 2016 – 2019) (now on Apple TV+)
- Animated Tales of the World
- Anthony Ant
- Encyclopedia
- Esme & Roy (Now on Cartoonito)
- Rainbow Fish
- The Adventures of Paddington Bear
- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures
- The Little Lulu Show
- The Neverending Story
- The Storyteller (1998–2000)
Reruns of ended Sesame Workshop series[]
| Title | Original network | Original run | HBO Kids run | Now on | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Electric Company | PBS Kids Go! PBS Kids |
January 23, 2009 – April 4, 2011 | January 17, 2016 – November 1, 2020 | [3] | |
| Pinky Dinky Doo | Noggin Nick Jr. |
April 10, 2006 – June 17, 2010 | January 17, 2016 – January 2, 2021 | Knowledge Kids | [3] |
Short-form programming[]
- HBO Family: 411 (1999 – 2016)
- Who Knew? (1999 – 2016)
- Smart Mouth (1999 – 2016)
- Jammin' Animals (2001 – 2016)
- My Favorite Book (2001 – 2016)
- El Perro y El Gato (2003 – 2016)
- Just Wondering (2009 – 2016)
- Sesame Street Shorts (January 17, 2016 – November 1, 2020)
- And Now You Know
- Eat 5
- I Want To Be
- Matters of Fact
- Lisa
- The Way I See It
- When I'm...
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This show first aired before airing on Jam, first premiering in 1999.
- ↑ The show first aired before airing on Jam, first airing in 1995.
- ↑ Season 1 and 2 first aired only on the HBO channel, before being moved to HBO Family to air its third season on there.
- ↑ The show originally aired on Magnet, before moving to Jam in January 2005.
- ↑ This show first aired before airing on Jam, first premiering in 1999.
- ↑ The show was first an interstitial series in 2003. Then, it became a half-hour series in 2008.
- ↑ This is the TV series (not to be confused with the interstitial series), which is still airing.
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "HBO Family Announces New Lineup for Fall 2001". WarnerMedia (August 1, 2001).
- ↑ Steinberg, Brian (August 13, 2015). "Why 'Sesame Street' Had to Turn a Corner". Variety. Retrieved on June 22, 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "HBO Takes On Netflix With A New Kids Section Featuring "Sesame Street" And More". TechCrunch. Retrieved on June 22, 2019.
- ↑ Petski, Denise (July 25, 2018). "'Esme & Roy': HBO Sets Premiere Date For New Animated Series From Sesame Workshop – TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved on June 24, 2019.
- ↑ "HBO TV Schedule" (January 27, 2021). Retrieved on December 31, 2020.
- ↑ "HBO Family" (August 18, 2004). Archived from the original on August 18, 2004. Retrieved on September 13, 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "HBO Family" (January 11, 2005). Archived from the original on January 11, 2005. Retrieved on September 7, 2020.
- ↑ The show started releasing new episodes on HBO Max in 2020, starting with its 51st season.
