 The "Washington Post" felt that the re-branding symbolically marked the end of USA's "blue sky" era, as the channel had been increasingly producing more "intense" series with darker themes.NBCUniversal marketing executive Alexandra Shapiro explained that the "Characters Welcome" campaign and associated programming was reflective of the "weirdly optimistic" mood of the network's key demographic at the time.In August 2016, NBCUniversal acquired the television rights to the "Harry Potter" film franchise from 2018 through 2025, including the main film series and their spin-offs (with the first, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", to have its cable premiere in 2019), and other content.