History Of Toonami In The UK

## Introduction

This article explains the history of Cartoon Network's action and anime programming block - Toonami in the UK and Ireland, the programming block was such a success that it expanded into its very own television channel. Discussed in this article is how the programming block was formed, starting off with the premiere of Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing before the block existed, when Toonami merged into a new young adult focused channel called CNX, the reintroduction of Toonami on CNX, with CNX's eventual rebranding as Toonami, Toonami's short foray into acquiring live-action sitcoms and its eventual closure and merger with Cartoon Network Too.

For this article, I recommend watching DBZimran's History of Toonami UK video on YouTube, and also his Dragon Ball Z in The UK video, these videos will give a detailed overview of Toonami and Dragon Ball Z's history in the UK.

## Before Toonami UK

On Monday 17th March 1997, a brand new action animation programming block called "Toonami" launched on Cartoon Network in the United States. The new programming block aired for two hours every weekday afternoon between 4-6pm, and originally comprised of reruns of 1980s animated hits ThunderCats and Voltron: Defender of the Universe plus new episodes of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. In between each half-hour show was 15 minutes of classic cartoons, plus interstitial segments featuring Toonami's original mascot, Clyde 49, a robot who keeps track of the "coolest things in the universe for kids" for pop culture fanatics on his home planet.

By the time Toonami was introduced in the U.K., Toonami already rebranded with a new logo, and Clyde 49 was replaced with its more famous and current mascot - TOM (the Toonami Operating Module) hosting from his spaceship, the Absolution.

Toonami was created at Cartoon Network by Jason DeMarco and Sean Akins, the programming block name is a portmanteau of the Japanese word "Tsunami" (literally "Harbour Wave") and cartoons, implying that the block is a big wave of cartoons. The block's Japanese originated name suited Toonami as years went by as it became a home for anime on Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network producer and executive Mike Lazzo originally disapproved of the name, but the name eventually grew on him. The U.S. Toonami team had no involvement in the development or operation of any international version of Toonami, including any programming block, the CNX TV Channel or the Toonami TV channel. More information about CNX is explained later in this article.

## The Development Of Toonami In The UK

The Toonami story in the UK starts off with a slightly unrelated matter, on 15th October 1999, Cartoon Network UK became "scrambled" (or encrypted) on analogue satellite and was no longer available on Continental Europe, this meant that anyone that did not have a VideoCrypt Version 1 analogue box (primarily sold in the UK and Ireland) could no longer watch the channel, however, a shadow alternate version of Cartoon Network UK was developed as a pan-feed for Europe, Middle Eastern and African audiences (which were yet to have their very own localised version of Cartoon Network), this version of Cartoon Network UK excluded some shows where the channel only had the broadcasting rights for the UK, these shows were then replaced with other shows from their own animation library.

This new arrangement allowed Cartoon Network UK to buy broadcasting rights for third-party shows intended for the British and Irish market only, as the broadcasting rights for parts of Europe and Africa were at an additional cost or likely unobtainable as other broadcasters already acquired the rights. This extra flexibility of broadcasting a schedule variant allows Cartoon Network to specifically acquire the broadcasting rights specifically for UK television market only, this was instrumental in the establishment of Toonami.

Two of these shows weren't available on the pan-feed version of Cartoon Network were Dragon Ball Z and Angela Anaconda. Turner only had the rights for Dragon Ball Z in a few countries such as the UK (which includes Ireland, as they share the same pay-TV and streaming market as the UK) and the Netherlands, and the UK, French, Spanish and Dutch rights for Angela Anaconda. Promos for these UK only shows were still aired on the channel. This unusual arrangement continued until the launch of an ad-free pan-feed in 2001, which was when Cartoon Network Netherlands closed and merged with the pan-feed, which meant Dutch audiences could no longer be able to watch Dragon Ball Z or Angela Anaconda. Ned's Newt was also not available on the pan-feed but was aired on the original version of Cartoon Network UK.

On 18th February 2000, Cartoon Network UK announced that they have acquired the broadcasting rights to Japanese animation series Dragon Ball Z, this included 67 half-hour episodes, this included the first two seasons known as the Saiyan Saga (Season 1) and the Namek and Captain Ginyu Sagas (Season 2).

Dragon Ball Z premiered on Cartoon Network UK on 6th March 2000. Dragon Ball Z's premiere on Cartoon Network UK was important, as it became the cornerstone of the future Toonami programming block.

On Monday 4th September 2000, Batman to the Future premiered on Cartoon Network UK, marking the unofficial start to a Toonami programming block on the channel, as it was scheduled next to Dragon Ball Z.

Dragon Ball Z has a convoluted history with its English language dubbing, originally there was a dub from Funimation (now known as Crunchyroll) using a cast recording from Ocean Studios in Vancouver with Saban offering production support until dubbed episode 53, after this point, Cartoon Network USA started repeating these episodes with high viewership and ordered more episodes from Funimation but using a soundalike cast based in Texas. In the UK, from dubbed episode 108 (the halfway through Season 4), Westwood Media/Ocean Studios in Canada produced an alternate English dub for AB Groupe in France, this dubbed version was used by the UK, the rest of Europe, and later Canada because it meets Canadian content requirements. The United States and Australia carried on with the Funimation dub. The Westwood Media/AB Groupe dub used the same voice cast from the original 53-episode dub produced by Funimation, it featured an alternate soundtrack by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell.

The Funimation dubbed episodes also aired in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand. However, beginning with episode 108 (123 uncut), Westwood Media (in association with Ocean Studios) produced an alternate English dub, distributed to Europe by AB Groupe. The alternate dub was created for broadcast in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland, although it also aired in Canada beginning from episode 168 (183 uncut) to fulfill Canadian content requirements.

On 17th November 2000, Cartoon Network UK bought the broadcasting rights to Gundam Wing, this included 52 half-hour length episodes. Cartoon Network Europe's vice-president of programming development and acquisitions at the time - Finn Arnesen bought the rights based on successful viewing ratings of Dragon Ball Z and Batman of the Future (also known as Batman Beyond in the U.S.).

There was censorship of Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network UK as some of the scenes are just too violent or gory. Each episode had to be edited to meet UK Broadcasting Standards Commission and ITC (Independent Television Commission) regulations (both now governed by Ofcom - **O**ffice **f**or **Com**munications). Cartoon Network UK tried to make sure the censorship edits would not ruin the story.

## Toonami Launches In The UK

Toonami officially premiered as a programming block on Cartoon Network UK on Monday 18th December 2000. Toonami launched as a three hour long programming block, originally featuring Dragon Ball Z and Batman of the Future. As part of the channel's press announcement at the time, the block, launching a week before Christmas, will soon feature Gundam Wing, and the block will (pretend to) be broadcast from Toonami's Space Cruiser "Absolution" under the command of a smooth talking, 3-D animated robot named TOM - the Toonami Operating Module, which is just like the original U.S. version of the Toonami programming block, utilising 3D CGI environments. In a statement by James Greville, who was the head of Cartoon Network UK at the time - "The (Toonami) block is aimed squarely at fans of action and anime cartoons who will come to know that Toonami is the home of the very best shows of the genre".

In the run-up to Toonami's introduction on Cartoon Network UK, the channel started airing a teaser promo for the block, featuring clips from Dragon Ball Z, Batman of the Future, and segments featuring TOM and his Absolution spaceship, set to the song "Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo.

Between 2001-2004, Dan Balaam served as Creative Director of Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and CNX (which later became Toonami), where he maintained and developed the on-air presentation, print publication and website presentation for four separate channel brands.

On 5th February 2001, Cartoon Network UK's Toonami block premiered the comedy space opera anime, Tenchi Muyo!. Cartoon Network UK added a new online game - Susami's Run on their website for Toonami's new addition.

On 2nd April 2001, Toonami started airing Dragon Ball Z episodes from the Android Saga. On 3rd September 2001, Toonami started airing Dragon Ball Z episodes from the Cell Games Saga.

Cartoon Network UK's promo for Dragon Ball Z's Cell Saga was nominated for a Promax UK 2001 Award in the Children's category.

Toonami's Intruder TIE (Total Immersion Event) special aired on Cartoon Network UK's Toonami block on 16th July 2001, and promoted it with an online competition and challenges on the Toonami section on the Cartoon Network UK website.

## Launch of CNX, Toonami Programming Block On Cartoon Network UK Ends

In July 2002, it was revealed that Cartoon Network UK were planning to launch a "grown-up version" of its main children's channel, this channel was named CNX (an abbreviation for Cartoon Network Extreme), the channel's target audience was the 14 to 35-year-old age demographic and was promised to feature more adult-focused animation properties, that would not fit in well with the rest of Cartoon Network's usual child friendly programming.

There was a need for a CNX channel, because as previously mentioned, episodes of Dragon Ball Z were edited by Cartoon Network to meet broadcasting guidelines for suitable viewing for younger audiences. At the time, superhero movies such as Spiderman (2002) were having a lot of success at the box-office, and there was a sudden surge of interest in the genre. Cartoon Network UK were preparing the channel for an Autumn launch, this included plans for an "adult strand" on the main channel. However, a spokesman from Cartoon Network denied that the channel was close to launch, and were looking at possible options.

Sources suggest that a channel would be set for an autumn launch but an adult strand could also appear as a block on the main channel. In June 2002, Cartoon Network screened its first adult animation, Baby Blues based on the comic strip of the same name by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, and was produced by Warner Bros. Baby Blues was made in conjunction with AOL, which at the time both Cartoon Network and AOL were part of the same company known as AOL Time Warner.

During Summer 2002, Cartoon Network UK were on the search for an operations assistant for the new channel, the new job role include producing schedules for CNX, the planning of continuity, promotions, image and timing logs, and also liaising with Ad Sales, Programming, and Transmission teams.

In September 2002, it was announced that CNX will launch on 14th October 2002, and the channel will feature three main ingredients in its programming - *Action*, *Adventure* and *Animé*. Its launch programming line-up included *Jonny Quest*, *Chris Colorado*, *Dragon Ball Z*, *X-Men*, *Batman of the Future*, *Tenchi Muyo!*, *Gundam Wing*, *Justice League* and *Samurai Jack* in the daytime. The evening schedule included martial arts, thriller and horror films and shows such as *Spawn*, *Outlaw Star*, *Space Ghost: Coast To Coast* and *Cowboy Bebop*.

CNX also featured a daily 60-minute magazine show called *Trailerpark*, which combines the areas of gaming, movies, music, DVDs and extreme sports. The programme was broadcast from a classic 30-foot chrome Airstream trailer and featured presenters Christian Stevenson (AKA 'Seth-Seth Antoine') and Ed Leigh (AKA 'Carlos Fandango').

    Programming blocks on the channel included *AAA Movies* (with AAA meaning Action, Adventure and Animé) airing every night at 10pm, there was also *Kung FU:X* airing in *AAA Movies* slot in May 2003. The American crime drama - The Shield premiered on CNX on 5th May 2003. Birds of Prey also premiered on the channel on 6th May 2003. Also during May 2003, Major UK Cable Television operator - Telewest Broadband offered CNX as a free preview for its customers.

Presentation on the CNX channel was made by the in-house creative team at Turner (which includes James Walpole, Henry Bell, and Simon Kristall), the promo for Passenger 57 won a Promax Gold award for Best Design.

The opening titles to Trailerpark were made by Yeti Motion Graphics. Yeti Motion Graphics also created promos for the channel, including one for *Femme Fu* season (a season of female Kung Fu movies), and another for *The Dirty Dozen* for *AAA Movies*. Yeti Motion Graphics has also made presentation graphics for other Turner channels such as Boing in Italy, and also for Boomerang across Europe.

## Toonami Returns As A Programming Block On CNX, CNX Becomes Toonami

During CNX's short-life of less than a year, the channel struggled to survive, Cartoon Network International’s head of program production Finn Arnesen felt it was justified to leave the teenage and young adult market, and focus on anime and western action animation for younger boys. During the final few months of CNX's existence, Toonami suddenly returned to the channel as a daytime block to appeal to younger audiences, then in July 2003, it was announced that CNX will be replaced with a 24-hour Toonami channel in September that year. Also, for the first time, TOM had a voice in the UK, he was voiced by Christian Stevenson, who hosted Trailerpark on CNX. Toonami replaced CNX on 8th September 2003, the channel also became available on cable operator NTL for the first time.

CNX had a tough battle against other channels aimed at young adults (targeting specifically the 16 to 24 age group) such as Bravo (which later on had an Adult Swim block in 2006), Challenge, and Paramount Comedy, also unlike these channels, CNX lacked an live-action programming library. Justifying his decision, Finn Arnesen said the top-rated prime-time programming on CNX consisted of action cartoons aimed at younger audiences such as *Samurai Jack*, *Justice League* and *X-Men: Evolution*.

Despite the fact CNX was not doing well in the UK, Turner were considering launching a U.S. version of CNX, according to the head of the Turner Entertainment Group, Mark Lazarus in April 2003, it was “on the list” of new opportunities for the company, but it was “not imminent”.

With the planned replacement of CNX with Toonami, Turner put in place a three-pronged channel strategy in place in the U.K., encompassing comedy (Cartoon Network), classic animation (Boomerang) and boys action-adventure (Toonami).

Just like CNX, Toonami will be available on the Sky satellite platform, which reaches 33.3% of U.K. households (8.26 million). However, unlike CNX, Toonami moved to Kids section of Sky’s EPG (Electronic Programming Guide). Arnesen predicts the change will immediately double the size of the channel’s target audience of boys eight to 12 as the channel will sit alongside other kids channels, rather than being in the General Entertainment section.

It was announced that Toonami will be airing 24 hours a day, and will run eps from 15 shows featuring a mix of anime (the Dragon Ball franchise) and superhero genre programming (Justice League, He-Man and Samurai Jack). There was also plans to launch seven new shows, including Ultimate Muscle (distributed by 4Kids Entertainment) and Star Wars: Clone Wars (Cartoon Network and LucasFilm). Initially, most of the schedule was designated to acquired programming (50%), with the remaining amount coming from Warner Bros. Animation (40%) and Cartoon Network (10%).

Cartoon Network targeted weekday mornings (7am to 9am) and afternoon to early-evening prime time (3.30pm to 8pm), as important time slots, this time was designated for the channel's most popular shows and also new episodes. The channel aimed to compete against Sky One in the afternoon to early-evening period. Sky One was targeted as it won the viewing ratings in the 2nd Quarter of 2003 with an 8.77 share of boys aged 8 to 12. For the 7am to 9am period, Toonami went up against its top-rated sister channel Cartoon Network, which drew a 10.83 share of boys 8 to 12 in that daypart in the 2nd Quarter, (the viewership statistics includes Cartoon Network's timeshift channel).

Arnesen expected some cannibalization to happen as he said at the time "because we have a clear channel proposition across all three services, it will help us enhance our overall rating for all of the channels," he also claimed that ratings for Cartoon Network UK actually increased when it moved its action-adventure shows to CNX, as each channel had a defining theme and the audience knows and expects what type of programming airs on each channel.

For 2004, Arnesen planned to add 4 or 5 new series during one of four windows – February mid-term break, Easter, summer and the 4th Quarter. Traditional 2-D animated, action-laden superhero shows (like the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and saga-led series (such as Dragon Ball Z) were at the top of Arnesen’s wishlist. However, producers or distributors pushing older-skewing anime with intricate story lines (like Yu Yu Hakusho and Gundam) that used to air on CNX fell out of favour by Turner executives, the same for CGI series, unless they have good storytelling and characters. Since action-adventure shows have less repeat value than comedies, series should ideally have 52 completed episodes (26 episodes at an absolute minimum), says Arnesen, who adds that a half hour of animated programming on Cartoon Network can fetch up to between US$15,000 and US$20,000 (for a popular series).

At the time, Arnesen was also open to co-producing shows with third parties for Toonami, and Turner was in early talks with Japanese companies and is also looking to work with Warner Bros. Animation. Producers were encouraged to pitch their co-production projects to Finn Arnesen or Cartoon Network Europe’s director of animation Daniel Lennard (later known for The Amazing World of Gumball, and The Heroic Quest of The Valiant Prince Ivandoe). Turner were also looking to acquire new shows, and were also encouraged to contact Arnesen and Turner Broadcasting System Europe's acquisitions manager Jo Sweby.

## 2004 Toonami Channel Refresh

In 2004, the Toonami channel rebranded with a completely new graphics package, this time without TOM, or the Absolution spaceship, but instead focusing on a cube that explodes into a splash of colour into various 2D or 3D shapes/objects. These idents were directed by Matt Pyke and animated by Zeitguised, with sound design by Freefarm, these idents were called "Hyperclouds", "Hyperfists", "Hypertubes", Hyperheavy", and "Hyperliquid".

The Toonami TV channel aired the *Dragon Ball Z* sequel series - *Dragon Ball GT*, and the prequel series *Dragon Ball*, all dubbed by Ocean Studios' sister budget dubbing studio - Blue Water Studios in Calgary, Canada, just like Dragon Ball Z, these dubs were distributed by Groupe AB. The Toonami TV channel also aired the Dragon Ball Z movies, but these were not dubbed by Ocean Studios or Blue Water Studios, the dub was organised by Groupe AB and is known as the "Big Green Dub", as Piccolo is referred to as "Big Green".

Other shows that premiered on the channel include The Batman, Beyblade GRevolution, Justice League Unlimited, Loonatics Unleashed,, and Static Shock.

In 2005, Toonami became available on HomeChoice (which later became part of TalkTalk), an IPTV, video-on-demand and broadband service. On the Homechoice platform, Toonami became the first television channel in the world to be encoded with MPEG-4/AVC compression technology.

Paul Cackett, channel manager for Toonami, commented, "As the first channel in the world to be broadcast live using this technology, Toonami is at the cutting edge. The superior quality of Toonami’s programming will now be matched by the high spec picture."

## 2006 Toonami Channel Refresh and Reformat

On 6th March 2006, Toonami steered away from its original concept with the channel being reformatted and rebranded. The channel shifted gears and became a channel that aired live action drama and comedy, but still aired cartoons such as The Batman, Pokémon, Justice League, Teen Titans and Static Shock. Also on 6th March 2006, Toonami moved lower down in the Sky TV Guide to channel 602 (currently on 621), which was the channel position next to Cartoon Network, which was occupied by the original one-hour timeshift version of Cartoon Network - Cartoon Network +1 which also ceased broadcasting on the same day. The channel continued to air anime even after the channel's reformatting, but aimed towards a children's audience as Toonami UK is now classified as a kids channel, for example *One Piece*, however this was the heavily edited version from 4Kids Entertainment in the U.S. The channel also premiered *Pokémon: Advanced Battle*, *Pokémon: Battle Frontier*, *Transformers: Cybertron*, *Transformers: Energon*, *Duel Masters 1.5*, *Justice League: Unlimited*, *Rave Master*, and *Code Lyoko*.

New shows in Toonami's roster included the US comedy *Life With Derek*, sun and surf based Aussie soap, *Blue Water High*, a high-school prankster comedy called *Parker Lewis Can’t Lose*, and *Hangin' With Mr Cooper* a comedy about the life of an ex-pro basketball player. There was also *Stencil*, a daily sports show concentrating on surfing, skateboarding, BMXing and breakdancing and *Backyard Science* which teaches kids simple experiments they can do at home. In addition to the new shows the channel had an entirely new look featuring cartoon monsters called "Cecils" and a brand new website to match. The new look channel was also advertised on rival children's channels such as Nickelodeon and Trouble in 30 and 60 second advertising spots. The new monster or "Cecils" Toonami idents and presentation were made by Luke Carpenter (aka "-DRAW-THE-LINE-") and by the in-house presentation team at Turner. Luke Carpenter also worked on promos for Cartoon Network between 2002-2006, and on Boomerang.

Paul Cackett, channel manager of Toonami UK, said "Unlike the young adult demo of its U.S. cousin, Toonami UK has traditionally focused on action-adventure properties for boys. But in an effort to expand beyond the toon-loving set, the net will mesh U.S. sitcoms, U.K. magazine-style shows and Australian drama programming into its prime-time 3pm to 9.30pm block this month, we want to be more of a general entertainment channel." During the same month, Boomerang Latin America, also made the shift from being a classic animation channel into a channel focusing on with live-action sitcoms and dramas for tweenaged and teenaged girls.

Paul Cackett also added “Now that Toonami is well established and moving to its new position we are broadening its appeal. It will be the natural choice for pre-teen boys and girls looking for a general mix of entertainment from a channel that they can feel is their own,”

Simon Cox, vice president of entertainment ad sales at Turner Broadcasting System Europe, also added "By broadening the mix of shows and moving to a prime location on the Sky EPG we are adding an extra dimension to our traditional core audience. This is crucial in a market characterised by increased competition. We have always been at the forefront of audience delivery for our clients and this move will further strengthen our position."

Turner also announced that will be launching a one-hour timeshift service for Boomerang on the same day (6th March) as the Toonami refresh, Boomerang +1 launched on Sky EPG channel 621, and also announced plans to launch a brand new channel - "Cartoon Network Too" later in 2006.

## The End Of Toonami, Replaced by Cartoon Network Too and Cartoonito

On 24th May 2007, Toonami closed down became a 24-hour version of Cartoon Network Too, the channel featured some of the same programming from the end of Toonami's existence, along with some shows from Cartoon Network. On the same day, The old limited hours version of Cartoon Network Too became a brand new channel - Cartoonito, a daily preschool programming block that originated on Cartoon Network Too, this was also the world's first ever Cartoonito block and then channel.

Cartoonito was referred to as the "Laugh, Learn, Make and Play" channel by Turner UK, continuing the soft learning of the French language (a concept that was later abandoned) in the channel's interstitials via six unique characters called the 'Cartoonitos', featuring Cuba (a red cube), Lolly (a purple cylinder), Ringo (a green ring), Spike (a blue pyramid), Ting (a pink star), and Bubble (a yellow sphere). New live action commissions were also promised for the new pre-school channel.

Cecilia Persson, who was the vice president of programming, acquisition and presentation of kids channels at Turner at the time said: "The decision for it to become a full channel was backed by extensive research which indicated that a preschool channel works best when it matches the typical day of its audience."

Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Boomerang +1 remained in their respective channel number positions on pay-TV providers EPGs (Electronic Programming Guide).

Dee Forbes, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Broadcasting UK and Ireland, added: "These changes are designed to give Turner a broader kids’ proposition with an earlier entry point to our brands through the provision of a wholly preschool channel. Our audience can now grow with our brands, from Cartoonito to Boomerang to Cartoon Network and Cartoon Network Too."

## Toonami's International Legacy

The UK was the first country to have a Toonami branded channel, but its legacy lives on in different forms around the world, the end of Toonami UK as a channel roughly coincided with the end of the Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network in the United States, which ended in 2008. The U.S. version made a comeback on Saturday nights on Adult Swim on 26th May 2012 and is still going strong to this day. After the end of Toonami (in it proper form in 2006), with the exception of the occasional Studio Ghibli movie on Channel 4's movie channel - Film4, anime struggled to get a foot-hold in the UK television market (outside the usual toyetic anime shows for children). The only legal option was home video releases. Most people had to result to piracy, as the shows were widely distributed online, but legal streaming services such as Crunchyroll and Funimation eventually became widely available. Around the same time of the launch of the Toonami programming block, the UK version of the Sci-Fi Channel started to air anime movies aimed at adults on Saturday nights at midnight. Rival children's channel, Fox Kids also aired a selection of anime, this included Digimon, Medabots, and Sailor Moon, the channel continue to air anime way into the Jetix era, but came to a complete end when the channel became Disney XD.

In the UK, Toonami is no longer an active brand, but its original anime shows such as Fena: Pirate Princess and Blade Runner: Black Lotus still had a UK premiere on the Adult Swim section on the All 4 (now Channel 4 VoD) streaming service.

Following the closure of the Toonami channel in the UK, there was attempt by CSC (Chart Show Channels) Media Group (later owned by Sony Pictures Television, kids channels were sold to Narrative Entertainment, Music channels were sold to Trace Group) to launch an anime channel called Anime Central in September 2007, but this channel was short lived and closed in September 2008.

In 2007, Sony were trying to get a channel slot on the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial television platform - Freeview, but due to capacity limitations at the time, it was not possible, but before launch such a channel Sony were planning to launch a Animax video-on-demand service to test the local market. The pay-TV market was out of the question, as Sky were not interested in any more pay channels joining its platform at the time, and cable TV operator Virgin Media (which was recently formed at the time by the merger of Telewest, NTL, and Virgin Mobile) were having internal issues at the company.

In 2013, after years of a rumoured launch in the UK market as a television channel, Sony's Animax finally launched in the UK market as a streaming service. Animax UK also agreed a multi-year volume deal with anime content provider VIZ Media to secure exclusive content for the service. On 15th October 2018, the Animax streaming service closed, and was merged into Sony's FunimationNow.

From 5th March 2015, CSC Media Group's (now under the ownership of Sony) rock and metal music channel Scuzz launched Animax Movie Nights, a weekly block that aired anime movies on Thursday nights, this block only lasted until April 2015.

On 17 July 2017, the Vice TV channel launched a block of late night anime in partnership with anime home video distributor Anime Ltd, the channel closed in 2021.

On 25th October 2019, Channel 4 announced that they added a selection of anime that can be streamed for free on their All 4 (now simply branded "Channel 4") streaming service, the anime remained on the service for around two years.

On 22nd July 2022, Anime Ltd (aka AllTheAnime) signed a partnership with national broadcaster ITV to stream a selection of Anime Limited's titles on the free AVOD (Advertising Supported Video On-Demand) ITVX streaming service in the United Kingdom.

Outside the UK, Toonami did have a revival internationally, Toonami launched in the Asia-Pacific region on 1st December 2012, similar to the UK version, it aired child-friendly action animation, it mostly aired western action animation shows from Cartoon Network, DC, and Marvel, and some anime.. Toonami Asia was available in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. The original version of Cartoonito Asia also launched on the same day. The channel lasted until 31st March 2018. Turner Broadcasting System also launched Toonami in India on 26th February 2015, the channel was very similar to the Asian version, however in 2017, the channel was repurposed as a classic animation channel, airing classics from Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera. On 15th April 2018, the channel became an high-definition of Cartoon Network India with an alternative schedule called Cartoon Network HD+.

A Toonami channel launched in France on 11th February 2016, the channel mostly aired animated series from the DC Comics and Cartoon Network libraries, such as the Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, ThunderCats, and Ben 10 franchises. On 1st September 2020, Toonami France was reformatted to become more like an entertainment channel for adults, from that point onwards, the channel's schedule included Adult Swim programming, AEW Wrestling, and anime for mature audiences. On 4th September 2023, Toonami France became Warner TV Next, but the channel still retained its format.

In Latin America, Toonami relaunched on 18th August 2020 (in-partnership with Crunchyroll, which was part of the same company as Cartoon Network at the time), the block lasted until 31st August 2022. With the launch of the Adult Swim channel in Latin America on 31st October 2023, Toonami made another comeback to the region.

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98. ↑ [98]
99. ↑ [99]
100. ↑ [100]
101. ↑ [101]
102. ↑ [102]
103. ↑ [103]
104. ↑ [104]
105. ↑ [105]
106. ↑ [106]
107. ↑ [107]
108. ↑ [108]
109. ↑ [109]
110. ↑ [110]
111. ↑ [111]