History of Bonzai Network

The following article compiles the history of Bonzai Network, an American cable and satellite television channel owned by BritCan Entertainment through The Bonzai Group.

## Development (1994–1996)

The concept of Bonzai grew out of BritCan Network Television's previous attempts at airing content appropriate for families. *Funhouse*, an anthology series that featured classic cartoon shorts and TV series from the Maxine Pictures library, had aired as part of the channel's lineup since its launch in 1988. Additionally, BNT invested $5 million into the production of *The Gorgeous Golden Carousel*, one of its first forays into child-friendly programming.

After entering a three-way venture with Columbia TriStar Television's Adelaide Productions and Canadian animation studio Nelvana, BritCan Media formally announced the launch of Bonzai in January 1995. Like its soon-to-be sibling networks, the new service would be digital cable-exclusive, part of BritCan's strategy to capitalize on growing viewer interest in the platform.

## Launch and early years (1996–2002)

Bonzai officially launched on May 25, 1996, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with an introductory message from then-general manager Jessica Jensen, followed by the pilot episode of its first original series, *Bunched Up.* Inaugural programming included the animated series *Bryan Goes Bananas!*, *Donut Dash*, *Superhero Academy*, and *Wackyville Newshound*, the variety show *Studio Bonzai*, and live-action series such as *Children of Vanguard*, *The Mysterious Life of John Doe*, and *St. Sawicki's Typewriter*.

Bonzai reached an initial audience of 7.3 million subscribers via national cable television providers Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast. By late 1996, BritCan Media would place a strict mandate on operators to move its suite of networks onto a basic cable tier while also reaching new carriage agreements with digital satellite services DirecTV and Dish Network. Following the move, the channel's distribution grew from 16 million households in September 1997 to 43 million by March 1999.

In July and September 1998, the first international Bonzai channels were launched in the United Kingdom and Latin America.

## Relaunch and peak (2002–2009)

Despite reaching 53 million homes by the fall of 2001, Bonzai's heavy reliance on acquired content and lack of successful original series stifled its viewership. BritCan Cable Networks president Andrew Colbert began restructuring Bonzai's management team in November, noting the channel's family-friendly approach wouldn't ensure long-term viability. Samuel Cohen (then senior vice president of programming) was promoted to President and General Manager, while other creative staff arrived to revitalize the channel.

These changes went into effect on April 22, 2002, when Bonzai introduced a new logo and branding package designed by Aszari+Cassuto. From this point forward, the network's demographic shifted towards children and young teenagers, with family-oriented programming relegated to feature films, specials, and the "Bonzai Retro" evening block (which spun off into its own digital cable channel in June of that year).

### Programming evolution

As part of the rebranding, Bonzai significantly ramped up the production of its original series. *Derick's Daring Life* (a sitcom centered on an aspiring skateboarder) and *The Geeky & The Glamorous* (a mockumentary depicting the relationships between different adolescent cliques in high school) premiered to positive reviews and strong ratings, though it would be the June 2003 debut of fantasy drama *Michelle Sparks* that garnered the network's highest viewership to that point, at 7.4 million viewers. *Sparks* later headlined the inaugural lineup for The 4-Teen Zone, a three-hour primetime block that debuted in September 2005, alongside freshman series *Grandstreet Kids* and *Miami Five*.

In addition to their live-action content, the channel's animated series started to gain traction, with shows like *Asteroidia*, *Crash Calypso*, *Fiendship*, and *NightOwls* becoming popular staples of the weekday afternoon and Saturday morning schedule. Attention was also drawn to Bonzai's new preschool programming block, Bonzai Playground, due to the breakout successes of *Bubbles & Friends*, *Iris n' Daisy*, and *Stuffyland*.

### Brand expansion

By September 2004, Bonzai was available in nearly 80 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. That October, programming from Bonzai Playground began to appear on the newly-launched cable spin-off BonBon.