Cartoon Network (Central and Eastern European TV channel)

Cartoon Networkis a Central Europeanpay televisionchannel broadcast in the Baltic States (except Latvia),Bulgaria,CIS(exceptRussia),Croatia,Czech Republic,Hungary,Moldova,Poland,Romania,Serbia,SlovakiaandSlovenia. It launched on 1 June 1998  and is owned byWarner Bros. Discoveryunder its International division.
Throughout September 2024, Cartoon Network's European channels (save for theUK, Ireland, andItaly) were gradually remerged into pan-regional feeds. Cartoon Network CEE has a brand new signal on 18 September 2024, merging the Polish and RSEE feed. The following day, on September 25th, he launched theWestern European signal, merging with the Dutch, French, German, Scandinavian, and Portuguese feeds.As of the same day, Cartoon Network's current slogan in Central and Eastern Europe andWestern Europesince 2024 is:This is your Cartoon Network.
Before the feeds united, Poland launch its channel on 1 June 1998. Hungary, Romania and Moldova received the Polish feed of Cartoon Network on 30 September 2002, broadcasting in Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and English.
On 4 January 2008, the channel started broadcasting 24 hours a day in Romania.Initially only TV provider Dolce offered the 24h feed. A CEE feed specifically for Romania and Hungary was launched, replacing Cartoon Network Poland on 1 October 2009.
On 1 April 2015, the channel started broadcasting 24 hours a day in Hungary.
Czechia and Slovakia used to receive this feed in English. However, on 20 September 2017, a Czech audio track was added to the channel in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.That same year, on 20 October, Cartoon Network started broadcasting 24 hours a day on all providers in Romania, following the end of timesharing with TNT (now known as Warner TV).
On 26 February 2018, the channel launched a high-definition feed.Later, on 15 October, Cartoon Network changed its aspect ratio from4:3to16:9. On 18 September 2024, Cartoon Network CEE merged with thePolishandRSEEfeed.
Cartoon Network Poland was launched on 1 June 1998 replacing Cartoon Network Europe.
On 30 September 2002, the channel began airing inHungaryandRomania, thus sharing its video feed with those countries while adding two additional audio tracks in Hungarian and Romanian.
On 1 March 2007, Cartoon Network Poland started broadcasting 24 hours a day. On 1 October 2009, aseparate feed of Cartoon Networkwas created for Hungary and Romania, while the two additional audio tracks that were previously to the channel added in September 2002 were moved there. Both feeds are transmitted from Warsaw. The channel also carried aToonamiprogramming block between 2002 and 2006.
On 14 October 2015, Cartoon Network launched in HD.
On 1 September 2016, Cartoon Network Poland rebranded using Check It 4.0 package.
On 4 June 2018, Cartoon Network Poland aired Cartoon Network Classics block for the first time.
On 31 December 2019, Cartoon Network Poland aired Cartoon Network Classics block for the last time.
On 1 January 2021, Cartoon Network Poland began airing with the Czech license from RRTV.
On 2 September 2024, Cartoon Network Poland started sharing schedule with theCEEandRSEEfeed. On September 18, 2024 Cartoon Network Poland merged with CEE andRSEEfeed.
From 14 April 1996 to 6 April 1997, the Russian channelTV-6broadcast the Cartoon Network block with the channel's bumpers dubbed in Russian, as well as two multi-part projects — the animated seriesThe Jetsonsand the classicTom and Jerryshort cartoons.
In October 1996, Cartoon Network Europe began to be rebroadcast in English by the pay-TV operatorKosmos-TV(owned by an American company Metromedia International),the duration of the broadcasts was not fixed. Broadcasting was carried out from 5:00 to 21:00 Moscow time, and the TNT UK TV channel was broadcast in the evening.In October 1999, the channel TCM Europe began broadcasting during non-working airtime instead of TNT UK.
On 1 November 1999, the pan-European version of Cartoon Network officially began broadcasting on the territory of Russia and in the CIS andBaltic countrieson the platform of the Russian satellite operatorNTV Plusand in other cable networks, broadcasting from theSirius 2(partially duplicated).Broadcasting was from 8:00 to 23:00 Moscow time, with the TV channel TCM Europe being broadcast at overnight hours. The distributor of the channel in the CIS and the Baltic States was Chello Zone.
On 1 April 2005, the pan-European Cartoon Network received a full-fledged Russian audio track.
In mid-May 2006, a rebranding was carried out, which included an updated version of the logo and a new design. Later, the Cartoon Network Cinema block appeared.
In 2008, a representative office of Turner Broadcasting System Russia opened inMoscow, which began distributing the channel.
On 1 October 2009, a separate feed was established — Cartoon Network Russia and Southeastern Europe (CN RSEE), broadcasting in the CIS, Baltic States and Southeastern Europe.There is also a new block Cartoon Toon Toon. Both the CIS countries and Bulgaria received separate advertising.
On 26 November 2010, a new corporate identity was introduced, as well as a new design.In the same year, a website was launched - cartoonnetwork.ru and cartoonnetwork.bg, the site is controlled and maintained in London.
Since March 2011, with the switch of the channel to 24-hour broadcasting, timesharing with TCM Europe on its frequencies ceased.
As of 2014, the editorial office of the TV channel was located in Munich,however, the broadcasting center is still located in London. In the same year, the Marathon Mix block appeared.
At the end of 2015, it became known that the distributor of the channel in Russia and the CIS would be Media Alliance, a subsidiary of the state media holding National Media Group and Discovery Inc.The transaction was completed in May 2016.The company managed the Russian legal entity of the channel — Turner Children's Programs LLC, which was headed by Discovery representative Grigory Lavrov, who was also the general director of Media Alliance.
Since 18 November 2020, Cartoon Network RSEE has a Czech license (RRTV) in order to ensure the continuation of legal broadcasting in theEuropean Union(EU) in accordance with the EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services (AVMSD) and the law on the single market following thewithdrawal of the UK from the EU. Since the Czech Republic has minimum broadcasting rules, it was chosen for licensing purposes in the EU. The broadcasting center of the channel is still located in London.
Croatian, Serbian and Slovene audio tracks were added on 6 November 2021.
On 9 March 2022, the channel ceased broadcasting in Russia, along with Boomerang and Discovery channels, as part of a response byWarnerMediaandDiscovery Inc.on the actions of theRussian invasion of Ukraine, which happened more than a month before itsmergerwas finalized.It continues broadcasting in other CIS and Baltic countries.
From 1 August 2022, some new cartoon series began to be released without Russian dubbing.
On 17 April 2023, the version of the channel stopped being distributed to Latvia and was replaced by theScandinavian versionat the request of theCzech regulatorbetween the Latvian regulatorNEPLP.
On 18 September 2024, Cartoon Network RSEE merged with theCEEandPolishfeed.
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