The home of The Magic School Bus franchise from 2010 to 2021.
The Qubo Channel, or Qubo (stylized: qubo) was an American children's television network owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and it had its beginnings as a programming block on other Scripps networks: NBC, ION, and Telemundo, in 2006, before becoming its own independent channel in 2007. It ceased broadcast in 2021 with The Magic School Bus Rides Again.
qubo was available in English and Latin American Spanish.[1]
Throughout qubo's lifetime, it broadcasted mostly Canadian programs, which were often originally from PBS Kids and its predecessor PTV Park, as well as other children's blocks like Sprout and NBC Kids. The Magic School Bus Rides Again was the only Netflix Original to air on this channel.
The Magic School Bus programming on qubo[]
The Magic School Bus Rides Again was letterboxed into 4:3 on the channel's SD feed, as seen on this VHS recording.
- The Magic School Bus (El Autobús Mágico through SAP and on the Latin American feed) (2010-2012)
- The FOX KIDS prints of the series aired here, with the shortened intro, cut producer segments, and different credits sequence.
- The Holiday Special as it aired on FOX KIDS (1998) and qubo (2010) survives on the 2012-2018 Region 1 DVDs by NewVideo Group. It's used instead of the uncut version to give it the feeling of a "special." It is available on disc 6 of The Magic School Bus: The Complete Series, the 2012 release of The Magic School Bus: Holiday Special (and its 2014 deluxe edition, The Magic School Bus: Season's Greetings), and the 2015 release of Season 3.
- The Magic School Bus Rides Again (El Autobús Mágico vuelve a despegar through SAP) (2020-2021); also the last show the network ever aired
- Unlike its predecessor, Rides Again was uncut. The intro, producer segment, and credits all remained intact.
- Only the first and second seasons aired.
Trivia[]
- The channel's name is a portmanteau of the English "cube" and Spanish "cubo" - both meaning "cube". The Q is there for its English letter name cue, which gives the "ky" pronounciation found in the word "cube" to complete the portmanteau.[2]
- qubo was the final television network to air both Magic School Bus series. The Magic School Bus stopped airing on television in the United States in 2012 on the network, and The Magic School Bus Rides Again left American television in 2021, the year qubo shut down.
- The first and final programs that qubo aired, Dragon and The Magic School Bus Rides Again, respectively, were both produced by Scholastic Entertainment.