Cartoonito (Middle Eastern and African TV channel)

Cartoonito (Middle Eastern and African TV channel)
Cartoonito is the name of two children's channels that air animated series for preschoolers: Cartoonito Africa — broadcast in Africa, and Cartoonito MENA — broadcast in the Middle East and North Africa, Greece, and Cyprus. Both channels are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA.
Background
Boomerang was launched in English for the Middle East and select African countries in March 2005. On 5 June, the channel expanded to Europe, with audio tracks for Polish (though partial) and Hungarian viewers. December saw the addition of a Greek audio track.
On 1 August 2007, the channel began broadcasting from the Astra 1K and Hot Bird 7A satellites in CIS and Baltic countries. Select programs were also available in Russian.
An Arabic audio track and a complete Polish audio track became available in 2008. In January 2010, Boomerang expanded to Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, bringing its total distribution to 9.5 million homes.
The channel's African website, BoomerangTVAfrica.com, launched in 2010. On 12 October 2011, a dedicated Central and Eastern European feed was launched, serving Poland, Hungary, and Romania and featuring audio tracks for each respective country along with English. Preschool brand Cartoonito joined both feeds as a morning and afternoon block. Despite the split, Boomerang continued to air in several European countries (such as Portugal and the Netherlands) until 2015.
History
As Boomerang (2016–2023)
On 14 January 2015, the channel adopted the global rebrand and renamed itself as Boomerang Africa. On 1 July 2016, Boomerang MENA – an official feed for the Arab world, launched to replace the African feed on the region's TV providers, as well as in Greece and Cyprus. The HD channel carries a separate schedule and set of censorship rules, with three audio tracks: English, Arabic, and Greek. Boomerang Africa switched to 16:9 widescreen on 21 September 2016. On 4 March 2019, it began broadcasting in HD.
As Cartoonito (2023–present)
In Africa, Cartoonito was launched as a daily morning (formerly morning and afternoon) block beginning on 12 October 2011. The original block ended on 1 January 2014, but later returned on 4 April 2022, as part of the May 2021 relaunch. On 8 February 2023, it was announced that Cartoonito would expand into a full-time channel in Boomerang's place on 25 March.
On 22 June 2023, the broadcasters announced that Boomerang in the MENA would rebrand to Cartoonito on 4 September 2023, along with its Turkey and Nordic counterpart.
Programming
Current programming
Original programming
Baby Looney Tunes
Batwheels
Bugs Bunny Builders
Lamput
Acquired programming
The Adventures of Little Penguin
Cocomelon
Dino Ranch
Fireman Sam (MENA only)
Toad and Friends
Lu and the Bally Bunch
Grizzy & the Lemmings
Interstellar Ella
Kikoumba
Kingdom Force
Legends of Spark
Lucas the Spider
Masha and the Bear
Masha's Tales
Mecha Builders
Mighty Mike
Moley
Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
Mush Mush & the Mushables
Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go
Zig & Sharko
Sister channels
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a television channel offering animation ranging from action to comedy for children aged 7–14.
Boing
Boing is a television channel that airs repeats of programs formerly seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It launched on 30 May 2015, as the fourth extension of Turner's larger Boing brand.
Toonami
Toonami is a television channel catered towards young adults consisting of DC animation from Batman, Superman and Young Justice. It launched in 2017 on Kwesé TV until the platform went defunct in 2019. Then it was made available on Cell C's defunct streaming service Black for that same year.
In March 2020, the channel was revived as a 2 month pop-up channel on DStv and GOtv thereafter it was made available full-time on the StarTimes platform after its closure. As of March 2021, Toonami can also be found on Canal+, Intelvision, Azam TV and Zuku TV.
See also
Cartoonito
List of international Cartoon Network channels
List of programs broadcast by Cartoonito
References
External links
Official Middle Eastern website
Official African website
Middle East and Africa
Middle East and Africa
Television channels and stations established in 2016
Television stations in the United Arab Emirates
Television stations in Saudi Arabia
Television stations in Egypt
Television channels in Jordan
Television stations in the State of Palestine
Television stations in Iraq
Television stations in Algeria
Television stations in Libya
Television stations in Lebanon
Television stations in Morocco
Television stations in Kuwait
Television stations in South Africa
Television channels in Greece
Television channels in Cyprus
Television stations in Yemen
Television channels in Syria
Television stations in Kenya
Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA