Private company

Claster Television

US television program distributor

Claster Television, Inc. was a Baltimore, Maryland–based television distributor founded in 1953 by Bertram H. (Bert) Claster and Nancy Claster (née Goldman) as Romper Room Inc. It was originally a producer of the children's show Romper Room, one of the first preschool children's programs.2 It is part of Hasbro.1 It ceased to exist in 2000.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1953Founded1
  • Industrybroadcast syndication1
  • HeadquartersBaltimore1

Claster Television, Inc. was a Baltimore, Maryland–based television distributor founded in 1953 by Bertram H. (Bert) Claster and Nancy Claster (née Goldman) as Romper Room Inc. It was originally a producer of the children's show Romper Room, one of the first preschool children's programs.2

Corporate structure

Claster Television is part of a group headed by Hasbro. 78 entities, 26 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

Products and brands

  • television program

Listed on Wikidata.1

Romper Room was fairly successful in its early years. CBS offered to pick up the show, but the Clasters instead decided to syndicate and franchise it, by taping episodes and selling the tapes to local stations or giving the option to local stations to produce their own version of the show.

In 1969, Hasbro bought Romper Room Inc. and renamed it Claster Television Productions. Throughout the 1970s, Claster continued to make Romper Room and did not distribute anything else until 1978 when it brought the anime Star Blazers into the United States. It also developed the television series Bowling for Dollars.

In the 1980s, Hasbro formed contracts with animation studios to make cartoons that would promote the sale of Hasbro's toys. In 1983, Claster distributed the animated series G.I. Joe, which was fairly successful. A year later, Claster distributed The Transformers, which was a major success for Hasbro and Claster.

G.I. Joe ended in 1987, while The Transformers left off airing new run episodes in the United States but continued to air for some time in Japan under the supervision of Takara, the Japanese rightsholder to the Transformers franchise. Beginning in 1989, Claster distributed a G.I. Joe animated series sequel that was made by DIC Entertainment. This ended in 1991. Romper Room finally ended in 1994 due to a loss of interest and popularity, giving the program a run of 41 years. Romper Room had been the longest-running children's show in history to date, a record that Sesame Street passed in 2010.

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In 1992, Claster Television made its only attempt at a teen/adult television programme, Catwalk, but it only lasted for two years.

In 1996, Claster syndicated ReBoot, the first all-CGI television show, for a short time after it was canceled by ABC. At the same time, they distributed a CGI revival of Transformers known as Beast Wars until 1999 (its sequel, Beast Machines, would air on Fox Kids). Claster released The Mr. Potato Head Show in 1998, which was another attempt to sell Hasbro toys.

The entire list of Claster shows ended in 1999 when Hasbro formed a central media division. This division eventually became known as Allspark, and eventually folded into Entertainment One.

From Wikipedia’s article on Claster Television, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Former owners and parents

  • independent business 1953 to 1969
  • Hasbro 1969 to 2000

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Allspark1
  2. Succeeded by Hasbro Entertainment1
  3. Succeeded by Lionsgate Canada1

Timeline

  1. 2000Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1969Acquired Acquired by Hasbro1
  3. 1953Acquired Acquired by independent business1
  4. 1953Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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