Hasbro Owns The Power Rangers Now
Deadline broke the news this afternoon that the Power Rangers franchise has just been purchased by Hasbro. The deal also included some lesser 80s properties like My Pet Monster and Popples, but Power Rangers was the big get.
The Power Rangers brand has ping-ponged around several businesses in its 25-year existence. Billionaire Haim Saban came up with the whole notion of translating Super Sentai for America, and co-owned Power Rangers with Fox up until around 2002, when Fox sold its Family Channel and much of its children-centric properties to ABC and parent company Disney. Disney kept the Power Rangers going on ABC Family until the late 2000s, when Saban bought the rights back from them and continued the series himself on Nickelodeon.
No one knows at this point what convinced Saban to sell again, but perhaps it had something to do with his big Power Rangers relaunch movie failing at the box office. Hasbro already has a venue for the Rangers — the Discovery Family channel — and our best assumption is that the next season shows up there, unless they opt to debut it on a streaming service. Or both.
At the moment, the Rangers also have a lucrative DVD deal going with Shout Factory, and a series of critically praised comic books being published by Boom. Whatever happens to both deals is unknown at this time, but hopefully they keep going. Saban and his company will stay on board for the franchise “in a consulting role” according to Deadline, but final decisions from this point are Hasbro’s. Transformers/Power Rangers crossover movie perhaps? Or maybe Rita is about to attempt a takeover of Celestia…