CNX (TV Channel)

**CNX** (short for Cartoon Network Extreme) was a short-lived British television channel operated by Turner Broadcasting System Europe in the UK and Ireland from 2002 to 2003. It was aimed at a male audience, with daytime programming aimed at older children and teenagers (predominantly 12–18 years of age), and evening programming aimed at older teenagers and young adults (the 17-34 demographic). The channel was carried in the 'Entertainment' section of the Sky programme guide and was also available on Telewest and NTL. On 8th September 2003, CNX was replaced by Toonami.

The channel serves as the main inspiration behind CSN, alongside SYFY and FX, as the channel started out as a CNX revival project before becoming it's own thing entirely. CSN's current branding package is based off a mock by CSN creator, Cypher.Sonic, depicting CNX if it was relaunched in 2022. The main theme of CSN is F.E.A.R, which was also the main theme of CNX in 2002. CSMovies is also inspired by CNX with it's AAA Movies block.

## History

CNX started out as an offshoot of Cartoon Network UK, specifically its Toonami block, which had been garnering high viewership on CN. On 24 September 2002, Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced the launch of CNX on 14 October. In April 2003, Turner Broadcasting System had considered launching a U.S version of CNX, but Mark Lazarus, former head of Turner Entertainment, said it was "not imminent", and never materialised.

At the beginning of 2003, the channel introduced a Toonami programming strand that would air during the daytime hours. On 9 July 2003, Turner announced that CNX would close and rebrand as a standalone Toonami channel beginning in September 2003, with a Turner spokesperson citing that the adult market being "crowded and competitive" as the reason for its closure. On September 1, it was officially revealed that CNX would rebrand as Toonami on September 9, and on that day, CNX closed for the final time at 1am and its slot on Sky Digital and NTL was moved to the "Kids" sections and relabelled as Toonami, which launched at 6am on that day. The last shows to be aired on CNX were the movie, Point of No Return, The Shield, which now airs on CSN, and *Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Collection*, according to Trilt.

## The "TV That Keeps You Up" Contest

In December 2002, CNX hosted an event in which six individuals undertook the challenge of watching TV continuously for 47 hours. This competition aimed to surpass the existing world record set by a man who had watched TV for 46 hours, 30 minutes, and 50.91 seconds. The attempt succeeded, with three of the participants—Steven Hayes, Adam King, and Nick Tungett—reaching and surpassing the target time.

Their achievement earned them a place in the 2002 edition of the Guinness World Records. Additionally, they were awarded a cash prize of £5,000, along with a curated collection of audio and visual equipment valued at £2,000. Concurrently, CNX organized a contest tied to the event, inviting viewers to text their predictions for the winners. The offered prize was an enticing Plasma TV worth £3,500. However, the identity of the contest winner remains unknown at present.

The event was broadcast on CNX's linear channel and via the internet, though the associated media is currently considered lost.

## CSN - April Fools 2023

On 1st April 2023, CSN transformed into CNX for the first 3 hours of its broadcast. Included in this one-off CNX block was branding that used to be featured on CNX, promos, bumpers and shows including *The Shield* and *Aqua Teen Hunger Force* (which aired on CNX). CSMovies would be rebranded as AAA Movies for the premiere of *Yakuza: Like A Dragon*, a martial arts film based on the 2005 SEGA video game, Yakuza.

## Programming

The channel's programming was divided between an adult-aimed output in the evenings and younger-skewing programming under the Toonami block, which was moved to the channel in May 2003 after a few months of the former Toonami shows being shown under the CNX identity. The station primarily aired anime, extreme sports, and dramas (principally action/crime series such as *The Shield* and *Birds of Prey*).

## AAA Movies

The channel's film block, AAA Movies, predominantly consisted of martial arts films, anime films and action/drama and aired everynight from 10PM. After the closure of CNX, some of these movies would go to air on CNX's sister channel, TCM, until that channels closure in 2023, now these films are said to move to TCM's sister channel, Quest. This block would go on to inspire CSN's CSMovies strand of programming. Films that aired on the block include:

* 2000 AD
* 2002
* Blue Submarine No. 6
* Death Race 2000
* Demolition Man
* Executioners
* Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
* Guns & Talks
* The Heroic Trio
* Jungle Juice
* No Blood No Tears
* Point of No Return
* The Shining
* Skyline Cruisers
* Tokyo Raiders
* Friday The 13th
* Shaft
* Brainstorm
* Shaft’s Big Score!
* The First Option
* Passenger 57
* Interview with the Vampire
* Burning Paradise
* Shaft in Africa
* Hit Man 1972
* Kelly’s Heroes
* Police Story
* The Big Boss
* The Way of the Dragon
* Hitman 1998
* The Avenging Fist
* Police Story II
* Magnificent Butcher
* Ice Pirates
* Fist of Fury
* The Hunger
* The Avenging Fist
* Wise Guys
* Project A
* Soylent Green
* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* Once upon a Time in China
* Demon Seed
* Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow
* Drunken Master
* The Young Master
* My Lucky Stars
* The Armour of God
* The Canton Godfather
* Dead Calm
* Tai Chi Boxer
* Demolition Man
* Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
* Legend of a Fighter
* Poltergeist
* Once Upon a Time in China Part II
* Batman and Mr Freeze: Subzero
* Tango and Cash
* Ninja in the Dragon’s Den
* Enter the Dragon
* Game of Death
* The Killer
* Once Upon a Time in China 3
* Cobra
* New Dragon Gate Inn
* The Enforcer
* Sudden Impact
* Crime Story
* The Long Kiss Goodnight

## See Also

* CSN
* CSMovies
* SYFY
* FOX

1. ↑ Non-stop TV earns Guinness record (en) (2002-12-13).
2. ↑ CNX Print Ad – DON PARKER (en-US).