"Great shows, full force!" ~ Tagline
Magnet was an afternoon block that initially aired from 5:00pm to 7:00pm daily on HBO Family, targeted towards a grade-school audience, mainly tweens. The block began on August 26, 2001, on the same day as morning block Jam, and ended in June 2005. It is uncertain why the block was discontinued (it could possibly be because the channel wanted more airtime for films or because there weren’t a lot of shows for the block’s target audience).
Also in 2004, most of the shows seen on the block were no longer aired, and the block got pushed to 1:30pm to 3:30pm. It stayed that way until the block's discontinuation in 2005.
For a short period of time, the block also aired in the mornings.
Bumpers[]
The main design for the block took place in a field, and featured adolescents skateboarding or doing other things on the "M" in the Magnet logo. Most of these bumpers start with a voice saying "MAGNET". Apart from this, other bumpers included kids doing typical after school stuff such as lounging outside in the grass or going to a diner, with "electrifying" effects.
Shows[]
Final programming[]
Former programming[]
- 30 by 30: Kid Flicks
- Animated Tales of the World
- Dear America
- Freshman Year
- The Adventures of Tintin
- The Worst Witch
- What Matters
Short-form programming[]
Interstitials that air in-between shows in commercial breaks.
Trivia[]
- During the 2004 change, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child started airing on the block.
- When the block was shut down, Animated Tales of the World and Crashbox started airing on Jam. The latter show still airs on HBO Kids. Magnet's shutdown also caused Happily Ever After: Fairy for Every Child to return on Jam.
- Some of Magnet's interstitials still aired on HBO Family after the block was discontinued.
- There is a bulletin for the block in 2005 seen in the defunct HBO Family website saying that it aired during weekday mornings, even though Jam was airing during that time, and Magnet ended that year. The block's presence in the website was still there until the website's rebrand in 2007.
- The website also erroneously put most of Jam's programs in the Magnet lineup on the website's homepage, such as A Little Curious and George and Martha.
- The block had its own website in 2001-02 called HBOMagnet.com. It replaced HBO4Kids.com and was replaced by the HBO Family website.
- The block had its own online Flash game which was called Magnet Dude. It was released on HBOMagnet.com in 2001.