The Rise and Fall and Rise of Hasbro's TV Strategy

What went wrong with The Hub, and what the toymaker hopes will go right

What looks like an entertainment company, spends like an entertainment company and programs like an entertainment company? It's Hasbro, a toymaker.

Hasbro makes not just toys but also hugely popular intellectual property, which for decades has been key to its bottom line. But as kids' consumption patterns change radically with the advent of new technologies, the company has struggled to find a balance between its core business and its entertainment properties.

Over the last few years, the company has poured billions of dollars into (and received billions of dollars from) big-budget movies and triple-A video games, plus a joint-venture cable network called The Hub (a costly misstep), which since was rebranded and partially sold back to partner Discovery.

And now, Hasbro is trying something new.

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