Cartoon Network (Quantumverse)

Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Turner Networks and Turner Broadcasting System. It is a part of CNEnterprises, Inc, a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Adult Swim, Boomerang, Cartoonito, Hub Network, CNX, WB Kids, and Toonami under its purview.
Founded by Ted Turner, Scott Watson, and Eileen and Albert Bryant (who appointed Betty Cohen as the first president of the network), the channel was launched on October 1, 1992, and primarily broadcasts animated television series, mostly children's programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. It currently runs from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET/PT on weekdays and 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET/PT on weekends. Cartoon Network primarily targets children aged 6–14, while its early morning Cartoonito block is aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners aged 2–6, and the channel shares channel space with its sister network Adult Swim, which targets older teenagers and young adults, 18–34. In 2007, TimeWarner (now called Warner Bros. MGM) and Turner Broadcasting System assumed full control of the channel.
Cartoon Network offers an alternate Spanish-language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English audio track removed as part of a package of Spanish-language television networks sold by subscription providers, or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.
As of March 2021, Cartoon Network is available to approximately 94 million paid television households in the United States.
== History ==
In 1986, Quantum Holdings purchased animation studios Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears while Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists. On October 18, Turner forcibly sold back MGM. However, Turner kept much of the film and television library of MGM made before May 1986 (including some of the UA library) and formed Turner Entertainment Co. After they regained control of their namesake company in 1991, Scott Watson (CEO of Quantum Holdings) partnered up with Ted Turner (owner of Turner Broadcasting) and Eileen and Albert Bryant (owners of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) to create a cable network for cartoons. They selected Betty Cohen (then-Senior Vice President of TNT) to devise a network to house these programs. On February 18, 1992, Quantum Holdings, Turner Broadcasting, and MGM/UA Communications announced their plans to launch Cartoon Network as an outlet for an animation library. On October 1, 1992, the network officially launched as the first 24-hour single-genre cable channel with animation as its main theme. The continuity announcers would call it "The Cartoon Network," until 1995 when it was simply dubbed Cartoon Network as it is today.
In 1994, Hanna-Barbera's new division Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on What a Cartoon! This show debuted in 1995, offering original animated shorts. In 1996, Cartoon Network aired two programs: Big Bag, a live-action/puppet show produced by Children's Television Workshop, and Small World an anthology TV series. Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner, which consolidated/reverted ownership of all the Warner Bros. cartoons. The network could then continue more original productions. MGM/UA divested its shares in Cartoon Network in 2001. However, Quantum Holdings would put up for sale of animation studios Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears to Turner Broadcasting System in 2003 the deal was purchased, allowing Quantum Holdings to sell Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears to Turner Broadcasting System for a full purchase of $391 million ending Quantum's venture into animation studios until they acquired Frederator Studios in 2012 and Mainframe Studios in 2017 (Wow Unlimited Media) and Turner sold back of pre-May 1986 library to MGM/UA Media in 2009, and Turner Entertainment became a subsidiary of the owners MGM/UA Media (50%) and WarnerMedia (50%) and also TimeWarner, although the channel currently has a long-term agreement to carry MGM animations/cartoons, Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears. In 2007, TimeWarner and Turner Broadcasting System acquired the remaining shares held by Quantum Holdings, bringing Cartoon Network under full TimeWarner control.
== Programming ==
Cartoon Network's current original programming includes such shows as The Amazing World of Gumball, Craig of the Creek, Animaniacs, Bee and Puppycat, Wakfu, and We Baby Bears. The network's original programming is produced at Cartoon Network Studios, while other shows have either been co-produced with or acquired from other studios, including the affiliated Warner Bros. Animation. In the past, Cartoon Network has also produced and aired live-action and animated hybrid programming.
Over the years, Cartoon Network has aired various Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Tom and Jerry, and Droopy shorts in constant rotation, dating back to the network's launch in 1992 until 2017. In its early days, Cartoon Network benefited from having access to a large collection of animated programming, including the libraries of Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Tom and Jerry), Ruby-Spears and Hanna-Barbera (The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Snorks). Turner's ownership of Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears gave the network access to an established animation studio, something its rivals didn't have. Most of these series were removed by 1999 and moved to Boomerang in 2000.
=== Original series ===
Much of Cartoon Network's original programming originates from the network's in-house studio, Cartoon Network Studios. Beginning as a division of Hanna-Barbera, this studio would produce some of the network's earliest original series, including Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, Johnny Bravo, and The Powerpuff Girls. Cartoon Cartoons were once the branding for Cartoon Network's original animated television series, but it was seldom used by the network by 2003. The name was eventually discontinued in 2008. Additionally several of the Cartoon Network's original series have been produced by studios other than the network's in-house studio. Notable examples of this are Ed, Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Codename: Kids Next Door. The name was resurrected by the network in 2021, for a new animated shorts program.
=== Programming blocks ===
From 1999 to 2003, Cartoon Cartoon Fridays served as the channel's flagship block, featuring premieres of Cartoon Network original series that fell under the Cartoon Cartoons branding; from 2003 to 2007, the block was renamed to "Fridays" after Cartoon Network began to phase out the Cartoon Cartoons branding. The Toonami block, which originally ran from 1997 to 2008, primarily carried action-oriented series aimed towards an older youth and teen audience, including imported anime series; it was later re-launched under the auspices of Adult Swim in 2012. 2007 saw the introduction of CN Real, a block that featured live-action reality television series aimed towards a youth audience, but it was rejected by Cartoon Network in 2009 and later moved and aired on Bold (By TNT) in 2009. In 2011, the channel introduced DC Nation, a block that would be focused on series adapted from DC Comics properties.
In September 2021, Cartoon Network introduced new blocks oriented towards preschool and family viewing respectively, as part of an effort under new head Tom Ascheim to broaden the channel's demographic reach. Both blocks debuted in September 2021 and consisted of the new preschool block Cartoonito, and the new Sunday evening block ACME Night–which primarily carries family films and library content, as well as other original series, specials, and television films from Ruby-Spears, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. Animation, and MGM Animation.
=== Editing of theatrical cartoon shorts ===
Cartoon Network has, during its history, broadcast most of the Warner Bros. animated shorts created between the 1920s and the 1960s, but the network edited out scenes depicting the discharge of gunfire, alcohol ingestion, cowboys and Indian's gags, tobacco, and politically incorrect humor. The unedited versions were kept from both broadcasting and wide release on the video market. Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943), a politically incorrect but critically well-regarded short, was notably omitted entirely, while The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950) and Feed the Kitty (1952), both well-regarded, had their finales heavily edited due to violence.
There was media attention in June 2001 over a network decision concerning further omissions from broadcasting. Cartoon Network formerly scheduled a 49-hour-long marathon annually known as June Bugs, promising to broadcast every Bugs Bunny animated short in chronological order. The network originally intended to include 12 shorts for its 2001 airing of the marathon (one of them part of the Censored Eleven list of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons effectively shelved from distribution) that had become controversial for using ethnic and national stereotypes, albeit broadcasting them past midnight to ensure few children were watching, with introductions concerning their historic value as representatives of another time. The network's corporate parent considered it likely that there would be complaints concerning racial insensitivity. This led to all 12 being omitted in their entirety. Laurie Goldberg, vice president of public relations, defended the decision, stating, "We're the leader in animation, but we're also one of the top-rated general entertainment networks. Certain responsibilities come with that."
== Related brands and units ==
=== Programming Blocks ===
=== Cartoonito ===
Cartoonito is a preschool programming brand owned by Warner Bros.; the brand was first launched in 2006 for use in international markets. In February 2021, it was announced that Cartoonito would make its U.S. debut as a block on Cartoon Network and as a content brand on HBO Max; the Cartoon Network block launched on September 13, 2021.
=== Adult Swim ===
Adult Swim (often stylized as [adult swim] or [as]) is the adult-oriented programming brand of Cartoon Network. The programs featured on Adult Swim are geared toward a mature audience, in contrast to the all-ages, preteen daytime programming of Cartoon Network. As a result, Adult Swim is treated by Nielsen as a separate network in its ratings reports (similar to Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite block) and marketed as such because of its different target demographics. The network broadcasts both animated and live-action shows (including original programming, syndicated 20th Century Fox Television shows, and Japanese anime) generally with minimal or no editing for content.
Adult Swim is usually broadcast from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. ET/PT in the United States. Its start time was moved up an hour to 8 pm on March 31, 2014, though the 8 pm hour has been given back to Cartoon Network on numerous occasions. Such occasions include the premieres of Adventure Time: Stakes in 2015, the final season of Regular Show in 2016, new episodes from the sixth season of The Amazing World of Gumball in 2018, and the first ten episodes of Steven Universe Future in 2019.
==== Toonami ====
Toonami (a portmanteau of "cartoon" and "tsunami", suggesting a "tidal wave" of animated cartoons) is a brand used for action-oriented programming blocks and television channels worldwide. The original program blocks launched on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 17, 1997, and primarily aired both American cartoons and Japanese anime. The block would end its original run on September 20, 2008, before it was later revived on May 26, 2012, as a relaunch of Adult Swim's Saturday night anime block. Toonami's current incarnation is similar to that of the "Midnight Run", a special version of the block that originally ran on Saturday nights and was the forerunner for Adult Swim. The block is best known for its branding and aesthetic, including its animated host, a robot named TOM, that was later voiced by Steven Blum.
The Toonami brand was also used internationally for dedicated networks in the United Kingdom (replacing CNX), Asia (in December 2012), India (in February 2015), and France (in February 2016).
=== Sister channels ===
=== Boomerang ===
Boomerang is a brand dedicated to classic and theatrical cartoons aimed at children 7–13. It was originally a weekend programming block that aired on Cartoon Network from December 8, 1992, until October 3, 2004. On April 1, 2000, Boomerang received a new look and was spun off into its cable channel. In 2017, an online Boomerang video-on-demand service was launched, which includes classic series along with new episodes of original series like Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, New Looney Tunes, and The Tom and Jerry Show.
=== CNX ===
The channel's programming was divided between an adult-aimed output in the evenings and younger-skewing programming, The station primarily aired anime and action cartoons. The channel's film telecasts predominantly consisted of anime films, and action films.)
=== Hub Network ===
The channel was originally launched on October 7, 1996, as Discovery Kids, which primarily featured science and nature-themed programming aimed towards a youth audience. On October 10, 2010, Discovery Kids was relaunched as The Hub (later Hub Network). The relaunch pivoted the channel towards a general entertainment format, with dayparts targeting preschool, youth, and family audiences respectively. On October 13, 2014, Hub Network rebranded as Discovery Family. But in 2019, Turner Broadcasting System brought the stakes of Discovery Family from Discovery, Inc, and however, the name Discovery Family was renamed to Hub Network, therefore reviving its previous branding as The Hub/Hub Network from 2010-14. It is a joint venture with Hasbro that Warner Bros. acquired a majority stake in a long and carries animated and live-action programming in the daytime along with family-oriented factual programming (including Hasbro, Fox, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Corus Entertainment, Mattel, etc. library programs) at night.
==See also==
List of programs broadcast by Cartoon Network (Quantumverse)
Category:Quantumverse