The Animation Station (TV channel)

The Animation Station
 Broadcast area
 Headquarters
 Language(s)
 Picture format
 Timeshift service
 Owner
 Sister channels
 Launched
 Website
 Available on many cable providers
 DirecTV
 Dish Network

**The Animation Station** (formerly **ToonNation**) is an American satellite and digital cable television network, owned and operated by Starpixy Networks. It launched on November 13, 2003.

## History

### 2001-2003: Starpixy Networks beginnings

Starpixy Networks started in December of 2001, when about twenty of BronzePlanet International employees left due to budget cuts, and five ex-employees of Take Five USA joined together and invested all of their money into a production unit for a cartoon studio, which they produced two shows of five episodes each, and went from Nickelodeon to Jetix, to finally Cartoon Network, of which showed new episodes on Friday nights at 1:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. ET/PT (technically, Saturday morning).

However, Cartoon Network wasn't impressed with the ratings after the shows ended their run, so the team had to figure out something. Lead production director Jimmy Nateson went into talks with Supervising animation director about developing their own network, focused on animation. They then talked with various cable companies and in the summer of 2003, received a channel slot for the channel. In the next two months, they talked with production companies and cable companies about syndicating their shows, and carrying the network, respectively.

The channel launched on November 13, 2003 with a block comprised of animated comedies from the 1970s and 1980s.

### 2003-2005: ToonNation launch and original programming

After the big launch of ToonNation on November 13, 2003, cost was high to keep the channel at a large distribution, so only about 45 million people who had televisions had access to it. So, during the late weeks of 2003, Nateson decided to go into talks with BronzePlanet about reviving their flagship show for most of the late 90s, Cosmic Outerwing. BronzePlanet accepted and the two started a joint production effort to get the revival undergoing. Most of the cast did not return, so they hired Ocean Studios to help do the voice work for the show. When the show premiered on March 27, 2004, the ratings were the most popular the channel has ever seen. This promoted more distribution on cable networks, and more money for original programming.

This also meant that Saturday nights will be the block that will hold the most premieres, and thus it was called Saturday Night Party. However, most of the new episodes were imports from Japan, Canada, or the United Kingdom.

Rolling into the winter of 2004, five more original shows were aired, three of them on the Saturday night block and the other two on weekdays. The network got the license to air about 28 Christmas specials. Some of them were Rankin-Bass, and other classic Christmas specials. But some of them were also originally aired on Cartoon Network.

After the holiday season, Starpixy went into talks with Blur Studio to create a indent package and a new logo for the network. The new look premiered on April 4, 2005.

### 2005-2006: ToonNation Late Night and Friday Night Action

On June 1, 2005, ToonNation added a late night block that aired from Sundays to Thursdays from 12a-5a. The block focused on adult animation, Japanese animation, and animated comedies. Every Thursday night there was a movie premiere. The blocks bumper identity was created by Luma Pictures and Storm Studios featuring urban and rural environments that appeared rugged. On June 6, 2005, a summer block called **Summer Day** started airing for two months. It lasted from 10am to 3pm, featuring premieres of original comedies and action animation. An unnamed anime block started to air on Sunday nights, but the block was merged with Friday Night Action premiered in 2006. The summer block **Summer Day** returned, with a new focus on comedy animation, lasting from 11am to 2pm, with programs repeating throughout the day.

On December 1, 2006, Friday Night Action premiered, featuring anime from ToonNation Anime Late Night, and Saturday Night Party. The same week, on December 3, 2006, ToonNation Late Night featured a brand new branding package, developed by Luma Pictures again. On December 11, 2006, a variety show, called ToonNation Live premiered.

### 2007-2008: New focus

At the annual ToonNation Upfront in February 2007, it was announced that they would shift from the 5-14 male demographic into the 8-17 male demographic, featuring more action animation and less comedic animation. Comedies will have their own block on Sunday nights before ToonNation Late Night starts. The move was mixed, as ToonNation comedies were premiering on weeknights, but in contrast, they were also taking up the majority of the late morning and early afternoon on the schedule. The change started that winter, with comedies being shifted towards Sundays. Although, some comedies do appear on the schedule on weekdays.

In 2008, more original programming were announced for a winter 2008 release, with one of them being a 3D animated post cyberpunk television series developed by Nathan Woods, a writer for BronzePlanet. During the summer of 2008, ToonNation Late Night rebranded as **ToonNation: After Hours**, and started an hour earlier. Storm Studios took over production of bumpers.

### 2008-2009: The Age of Cyberpunk

On December 1, 2008, to lead up to the premiere of **Cybers**, the overall primetime look (6p-1a) was changed to a dark futuristic city, featuring alleyways, cityscapes, among other cyberpunk things. On December 6, 2008, Cybers premiered to 2.5 million viewers, the highest rating for a ToonNation primetime original on Saturday nights. The week after that, a gothic horror show premiered as well.

### 2022-present: The Animation Station Era

In October of 2021, it was announced that ToonNation will consolidate their two headquarter locations into one starting in April 2022, with the previous Irvine, CA and Newark, NJ locations being used as animation production studios for the network.

On April 2, 2022, with a live event on the network at 2PM, the new headquarters were revealed to be at the Cubework Lincolnwood complex in Lincolnwood, IL, about 20 minutes away from Chicago. After the live event, a new "era" was formed with a new name, a new logo, new look, and new bumpers. New programming was announced, with a focus of tweens, teens, and young adults. The channel was renamed **The Animation Station** on April 4th with the following blocks: Thursday Night Movie Presentation (returning after a 10 year hiatus), Friday Night Action, Saturday Night Party, and Red Light. A weekday primetime block is also planned, as well as a summer-long block to help promote the new branding and channels.

## Programs

### Current programming

#### Original programming

* School In Session (2019)
	+ Comedy-drama / Slice of Life
		- TV-Y7 FV
* StarPlus Anthem (2020)
	+ Magical Girl / Idol (Music) / Action-Adventure / Comedy
		- TV-Y7 FV
* Mobile Mecha (2021)
	+ Military science fiction / Action-Adventure / Space Opera / Giant Robot (Mecha)
		- TV-PG V
* Cosmic Outerwing (2022)
	+ Action-Adventure / Space Opera / Space Western
		- TV-PG V
* Lazy Generation (2022)
	+ Teen comedy sitcom
		- TV-PG DV
* Sunstar Legends (2022)
	+ Science fantasy / Action-Adventure
		- TV-Y7 FV

### Upcoming programming

#### Original programming

* Kaiju Invasion (2023)
	+ Monster / Survival / Action-Adventure
		- TV 14 LV
* Dark Phantom (2023)
	+ Dark fantasy / Supernatural Western / Action-horror
		- TV-14 LV