Ion Plus and Qubo to shut down

[Justin Hill]

Inspector Gadget is on Pluto.TV

As well as countless streaming channels...

 

[Justin Hill]

I watched the qubo Saturday morning block on Ion once, the cartoon I watched was Doki. I could say that was my only experience with qubo as Ion was only ever available in Green Bay, Wisconsin as a digital subchannel of local ABC network affiliate WBAY-TV 2.3 (it is now on WBAY-TV 2.6).

Goodbye, qubo, I hardly knew 'ya...

 

[zippyfrog]

I like the fact that MeTV is adding the classic cartoons to their schedule, it's something I commend MeTV and their parent company Weigel Broadcasting for. I knew from the moment that the Flintstones started to air, that it would open a Pandora's Box full of other classic cartoons including Popeye, Betty Boop, Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny and most recently, The Jetsons. I hope they keep this up by adding Top Cat and Yogi Bear, two other cartoons by Hanna-Barbera, to the schedule...

Here in Chicago we get MeTV in HD OTA, and I have never seen some of these cartoons in such clarity before. These classic cartoons look so sharp with their colors and restoration that was done. At least I assume they were restored somehow. Some of them are the 4:3 aspect ratio with the black bars on the side, some are closer to 16:9, but they are all so sharp. This morning I saw a Bugs Bunny episode I haven't seen since I was a child. I love the cartoons in the morning on MeTV. I didn't realize the Jetsons were on MeTV. That has to be a relatively new addition.

 

[Justin Hill]

That has to be a relatively new addition.

The Jetsons were added just last month. They air Sunday Mornings at 10:30 AM after three episodes of The Flintstones and before The Brady Bunch's Brady Brunch Marathon.

 

[N5XZS]

I just wish KRTN-CA, get back in HD, for ME-TV but never did.

Thanks by added unneeded duplicates Spanish TV Network called Telexicos on KRTN-CA!

Fun to watch classic cartoons in HD and same goes for M*A*S*H KW1 shows.

 

[edisonprime]

I kinda like seeing Saturday morning cartoons back, even if it’s not on one of the Big Four or CW. Even if those Saturday morning cartoons are only on MeTV, it’s still pretty cool!

 

[zippyfrog]

The Jetsons were added just last month. They air Sunday Mornings at 10:30 AM after three episodes of The Flintstones and before The Brady Bunch's Brady Brunch Marathon.

Thanks for pointing that out to me - I have the Jetsons on right now - and just like all the other cartoons, it looks like it is digitally restored and colors are very vivid.

 

[zeebre12]

It's a wonder Discovery/A&E haven't started their own/partnered to launch a FTA channel like they have done in other countries? Doozy and Defy seem to have a lot of content from the A&E back catalogue. A&E have recently launched a few FAST channels like Lively Place/Skills and Thrills on Pluto and Roku but no diginet.

 

[Juan]

It's a wonder Discovery/A&E haven't started their own/partnered to launch a FTA channel like they have done in other countries? Doozy and Defy seem to have a lot of content from the A&E back catalogue. A&E have recently launched a few FAST channels like Lively Place/Skills and Thrills on Pluto and Roku but no diginet.

FTA is huge in Europe..rather than subscribe to a cable company they just buy a receiver

 

[Justin Hill]

FTA is huge in Europe..rather than subscribe to a cable company they just buy a receiver

I guess the reason FTA failed to gain traction in the United States was because pay services, including cable TV and satellite TV were still popular with the majority of the American TV audience.

 

[Juan]

I guess the reason FTA failed to gain traction in the United States was because pay services, including cable TV and satellite TV were still popular with the majority of the American TV audience.

Tv use is licensed in europe...so you actually pay annual fee to the bbc for example..its a different situation..here private companies build the distribution networks...we actually get alot more than europe does

 

[localclassictvfan]

That sounds like a waste of bandwidth. I'm so sick of unreality TV. Pickers and Pawn Stars are already in syndication on a bunch of OTA stations out there.

Tegna is coming out with one in April called Twist TV. I seen the lil video on the website

 

[mwdxer1]

For the Portland market, from another source, states that the scripps contracts run out for Nexstar this Summer and Meredith June 2022. So it looks like there will be changes sooner than later.

 

[edisonprime]

Thanks for pointing that out to me - I have the Jetsons on right now - and just like all the other cartoons, it looks like it is digitally restored and colors are very vivid.

The only thing I wish is that it would air in the original 4:3 ratio. Right now it's partially zoomed in and not a complete 16:9, but even so, I don't care if the black bars on the sides being bigger, but I would like to see the whole screen from the show, not a cropped one. They zoom in on too many TV shows nowadays, such as The Simpsons, Two and a-Half Men, That 70's Show, and too many others to count. They should show the frame rate the shows were shot in!

 

[Justin Hill]

The only thing I wish is that it would air in the original 4:3 ratio. Right now it's partially zoomed in and not a complete 16:9, but even so, I don't care if the black bars on the sides being bigger, but I would like to see the whole screen from the show, not a cropped one. They zoom in on too many TV shows nowadays, such as The Simpsons, Two and a-Half Men, That 70's Show, and too many others to count. They should show the frame rate the shows were shot in!

I agree.

 

[PasTypique]

Since the recent shutdown of ION+ and Qubo, the Detroit market now has the following digitnets duplicated:

Court TV (on 7.4 and now duplicated on 31.2)
Court TV Mystery (on 20.3 and now duplicated on 31.4)
Grit (on 38.2 and now duplicated on 31.3)

It's a total waste of bandwidth, which would be better served to broadcast the popular channels on WHNE-LD (RF 3, low power) which can barely be received by any households. Channels 7, 20, and 31 are full power stations which are seen throughout the Detroit DMA.

 

[Dennis Huffman]

For the Portland market, from another source, states that the scripps contracts run out for Nexstar this Summer and Meredith June 2022. So it looks like there will be changes sooner than later.

I would imagine their might be changes here too in the Peoria, Illinois area also? Last year our My Network affiliate wasn't offered a new contract to broadcast Antenna TV. Our Nexstar owned station here is WMBD31 a CBS affiliate. They currently carry LAFF, Bounce and Court TV Mystery. So I wonder if Antenna will come when the contracts expire being Antenna TV is owned by Nexstar?

 

[Justin Hill]

I hope they replace the duplicate subchannels in some markets soon. My guess is that Dabl, Decades, getTV and other would be vying to fill up that extra space. What would really be nice, is if some of those subchannels would open up doors to some potential new small-market Univision and Telemundo affiliates...

 

[edisonprime]

I hope they replace the duplicate subchannels in some markets soon. My guess is that Dabl, Decades, getTV and other would be vying to fill up that extra space. What would really be nice, is if some of those subchannels would open up doors to some potential new small-market Univision and Telemundo affiliates...

I don’t watch Spanish channels, but I agree.

 

[mwdxer1]

I would imagine their might be changes here too in the Peoria, Illinois area also? Last year our My Network affiliate wasn't offered a new contract to broadcast Antenna TV. Our Nexstar owned station here is WMBD31 a CBS affiliate. They currently carry LAFF, Bounce and Court TV Mystery. So I wonder if Antenna will come when the contracts expire being Antenna TV is owned by Nexstar?

I am really hoping someone picks Decades back up in Portland that we can get on the coast. Movies & THIS would also be nice.