Cartoon Network is a cable television channel created by Turner Broadcasting and dedicated to showing animated programming. It premiered on October 1, 1992 in the United States, and September 17, 1993 in the United Kingdom.

History

USA

By the end of the 1980s, Ted Turner's cable TV conglomerate had acquired the MGM film library (which included the older catalog of Warner Bros. cartoons), and its cable channel Turner Network Television had gained an audience with its film library. In 1991, they purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library. The Cartoon Network channel was created as an outlet for Turner's considerable library of animation, and the initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of re-runs of classic Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons, with many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons used as time fillers.

In 1996, Time Warner purchased Turner Broadcasting, and the Cartoon Network came under their corporate umbrella. This provided still more material for the Cartoon Network, as the channel now had access to the Warner Bros. cartoon library from the 1950s and 1960s.

Time Warner changed the direction of Hanna-Barbera Productions, and focused the studio exclusively on creating new material for the Cartoon Network channel (which were baptized Cartoon Cartoons). Among the numerous shows the studio has produced are Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo (1997), Cow and Chicken (1997), and The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Ed, Edd 'n Eddy (1999), along with more recent hits 'Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004) and Camp Lazlo (2005).

The older Hanna-Barbera cartoons, as well as the entire Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library and non-Tom and Jerry cartoons made by MGM such as those made by Tex Avery have been largely moved to the nostalgia-themed Boomerang sister network.

In recent years, Cartoon Network has also made attempts to attract viewers outside its core audience (young children). Their mid-afternoon cartoon block Toonami consists of acceptable-for-teens anime from Japan, as well as some American animation, while a late-night cartoon block called Adult Swim shows more risque, teenage- and adult-oriented cartoons (with a combination of anime and American-produced comedies such Futurama and Family Guy). On April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved to Saturday evenings and the afternoon slot was filled with Miguzi, showing action-oriented American TV shows aimed at a slightly younger age group than Toonami.

By October 2004, nearly all of CN's classic cartoon programming had been replaced by new programming, except for Tom and Jerry (a longtime staple of the Turner networks). In Europe, Boomerang is a block on the original Cartoon Network. In Brazil and Latin America, Boomerang (TV channel) is a separate channel.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, in September 2000, Toonami began broadcasting weekdays for two hours between 4pm–6pm, and 9pm–11pm, as well as weekends from 10am–12pm and 10pm–12am. Its output consisted almost solely of Japanese anime such as the cult Dragonball Z, Tenchi Muyo, and Gundam Wing. The only non-Japanese shows for quite some time were the American-produced The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Batman Beyond (Batman of the Future in the UK). Around the same time, there was almost completely new programming on the channel, and so Boomerang began in a late night slot. On May 27, 2000, most "classic" cartoons were removed from Cartoon Network and moved to Boomerang, which became a channel in Britain on that date, running from 6am–12am. Before long, however, it became 24 hours, and the remaining shows were removed from Cartoon Network.

In June 2002, Toonami disappeared from Cartoon Network UK, and in October, a new channel was created called CNX. It was hailed as a high-octane, "'triple A' mix of Action, Adventure, and Anime." All American and Japanese animation shown on Toonami was broadcast on this 24 hour channel from 6am–12am, and during the night, there were hard hitting American dramas such as The Shield, adventure shows such as Spawn, martial arts films and extreme sports programmes. In 2003, there was a slot between 9pm and 10pm showing Cartoon Network produced comedy such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The extreme sports and films were moved to a small slot between 10pm and 2am. For the rest of the time, Toonami returned, on CNX, showing all of its previous output, plus a number of new shows. In September 2003, after 11 months on air, CNX was shut down, and Toonami became a 24-hour channel, in line with Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Cartoon Network also broadcasts in other languages like Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Hindi, Urdu (in Pakistan), etc. Most of the Cartoon Network channels in Europe are broadcast from the United Kingdom, including an English language audio channel). Most of the Kids' WB shows are broadcast on Cartoon Network in locales where Kids' WB does not exist, such as Latin America and Poland.

Turner Europe recently announced that they will be launching 2 new channels in the UK : Boomerang +1 and Cartoon Network Too. Boomerang +1 will be a timeshift channel of Boomerang. Cartoon Network Too will show classic cartoons such as Yogi bear and Wacky races. Both channels are expected sometime in 2006.

Special programming blocks

Fridays