Cartoon Network MEA

For more information prior to the Cartoon Network Europe demerger, see Cartoon Network (UK & Ireland).
Cartoon Network
Current logo since December 7, 2010
Launched September 17, 1993
as Cartoon Network UK/Europe

August 1999
demerged from Cartoon Network UK/Europe

July 1, 2016
as Cartoon Network MENA and Cartoon Network Africa
Owned by Turner Broadcasting System Europe (Time Warner)
Picture format 16:9 (576i, SDTV) (Africa)
16:9 (1080i, HDTV) (MENA)
Slogan Check It.
Language English (Africa and MENA)
Arabic (MENA only)
Greek (no longer available)
Broadcast area Arab world
Africa
Greece (no longer available)
Cyprus (no longer available)
Headquarters Turner House,
Great Marlborough Street,
London, United Kingdom
Sister channel(s) Boomerang
Turner Classic Movies
CNN International
Cartoon Network Arabic
Cartoon Network Hindi
Website Arab world, English or Arabic
Arab world, English website
African website (in English)
Availability
Satellite
beIN Channel 137 (HD, MENA version)
DStv Channel 301 (SD, Africa version)
IPTV
PrimeTel Channel 400 (MENA version)

Cartoon Network MEA (or Cartoon Network Africa and Cartoon Network MENA) is a formerly pan-European digital TV channel serving the Arab world, Africa, Greece and Cyprus, created by Turner Broadcasting System, a unit of Time Warner and dedicated to showing animated programming. Based on the original American version of the channel (which itself launched on October 1, 1992), it launched on September 17, 1993 and split from Cartoon Network UK/Europe in August 1999.

Cartoon Network used to broadcast in time-sharing with Turner Classic Movies. TCM would air classic movies from 9:00 PM CET to 6:00 AM CET, while Cartoon Network would run for the rest of the day.

On July 1, 2016, Cartoon Network MEA was split into two separate channels - an African feed in SD on DStv which only broadcasts in English, and a MENA feed in HD on beIN which also features an Arabic audio track. The feeds have differing schedules and programming, and differ in censorship rules as well.

History

The pan-European feed was launched on September 17, 1993 as Cartoon Network UK/Europe; the channel broadcast all over Europe in English. A Spanish-language audio track was launched on March 4, 1994, along with Swedish, Danish, French, Italian and Norwegian audio tracks.

The Dutch feed was launched on July 12, 1997. Another feed was launched in June 1998, which aired in France, Italy and Spain. The pan-European feed kept airing in the other parts of Europe. The Polish feed was launched on September 1, 1998.

The Italian feed became independent a few months after the launch of the Western Europe feed, while the Spanish and French feeds split on August 23, 1999.

On October 15, 1999, the British and Irish feed had officially split off from the pan-European version, which was when the shared transponder analog feed on Astra 1C became scrambled with VideoCrypt, and when the short-lived UK-and-Ireland-only version of TNT had been launched.

The Scandinavian feed was launched on January 1, 2000, broadcasting in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and English. The feed is also available in Iceland and Finland.

The Dutch Cartoon Network was closed down on July 31, 2001 and replaced with the pan-European feed on the following day; a Dutch audio track was also added on that day. The Polish feed added Romanian and Hungarian audio tracks on September 30, 2002. A Russian audio track was added on April 1, 2005 and Greek subtitles were added on June 20, 2005.

The German feed was launched on December 5, 2006, and the Turkish on January 28, 2008. The Romanian feed (also known as CN CEE) was launched in January 2008. On October 1, 2009, the Hungarian audio track of the Polish feed moved to the Hungarian feed. The Czech Republic and Slovakia receive Cartoon Network CEE in English.

The Bulgarian feed was launched on October 1, 2009 with Bulgarian and English audio tracks. The Russian audio track moved to this feed on the same day. Since January 1, 2014, the Russian and Southeastern European has been airing 24/7 in all available countries. Before that date, the 24/7 version was unavailable outside of Russia.

The African website was CartoonNetworkAfrica.com, which was launched on May 10, 2010.[1]

Cartoon Network Arabic launched on October 10, 2010. It is the only feed in the EMEA region which is unavailable in English. The Spanish feed closed down on July 1, 2013 along with the Spanish Cartoonito. Viewers in Spain can still watch Cartoon Network on Boing (in the form of a block called ¡Findes! Cartoon Network). The Portuguese feed launched on October 1, 2013 in Angola and Mozambique. It was later launched in Portugal on December 3, 2013.

For unknown reasons, the channel ceased broadcasting in Greece, as well as on satellite television in Cyprus; one IPTV operator in Cyprus, PrimeTel, however, continues to offer the channel.

The channel switched to widescreen October 6, 2014; it also began using the Check It 3.0 look on the same day. The rebrand coincided with that of Cartoon Network Arabic's.

Hungary was the last country where Cartoon Network and TCM were twinned together as one channel, and stopped on April 1, 2015 - the day when Cartoon Network became a 24/7 channel there.[2]

Nowadays, the formerly pan-European feed still airs in Africa. The other European countries, as well as the Arab world, all have their own local feeds.

In December 2015, Turner Broadcasting System entered into an exclusivity deal with beIN Media Group to air all Turner-owned pay TV channels in the Arab world exclusively via the latter's beIN Network subscription service, including Cartoon Network Africa, Boomerang Africa and TCM Africa, starting from January 1, 2016.[3] This consequently removed Cartoon Network MEA and other Turner-owned channels from OSN's broadcast services, albeit subscribers to Etisalat and du's respective pay TV services in the UAE were virtually unaffected.

On July 1, 2016, Cartoon Network MEA and Boomerang EMEA were split into Cartoon Network MENA and Cartoon Network Africa, and Boomerang MENA and Boomerang Africa respectively, with the MENA versions of the two channels broadcast in 1080i on beIN with an Arabic audio track available.[4] Cartoon Network MENA and Boomerang MENA have different programming and schedules, and Cartoon Network MENA censors many programs, sometimes censoring scenes which are unedited on Cartoon Network Arabic. Boomerang MENA is also available in Greece and Cyprus with a Greek audio track instead of an Arabic track.

Since September 2016, Cartoon Network MENA has been available on PrimeTel's IPTV service,[5] and is the only Cartoon Network channel available in Cyprus. The channel replaces Cartoon Network Africa, which had already ceased broadcasting on the vast majority of television operators in both Greece and Cyprus (except for PrimeTel), thus ending its role as a pan-feed.[5]

The English-language website in the Arab world is CartoonNetworkME.com, which was launched on July 1, 2016. CartoonNetworkMENA.com serves as a hub where users can choose between the English- or Arabic-language versions of the website.

Programs and blocks

Current programming

Cartoon Network MENA

Cartoon Network Africa

Current blocks

Cartoon Network MENA

Former blocks

Cartoon Network MENA

Upcoming programming

Cartoon Network Africa

Former programming

Cartoon Network MENA

Cartoon Network Africa

Many of the programs below were moved to either Boomerang or Boing Africa instead.

Sister channels

Boomerang logo since 2015

Boomerang

Main article: Boomerang (EMEA)

Boomerang is a television channel which formerly used to air classic cartoons. This is a version of the channel that is broadcast in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Africa, and the Arab world. All Boomerang programming is available in English and local languages. It was launched on June 5, 2005.

On July 1, 2016, the channel was split into Boomerang Africa and Boomerang MENA; the latter version airs in 1080i with English and Arabic audio tracks on beIN, and is also available in Greece and Cyprus, albeit with a Greek audio track.[4]

Logos

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cartoon Network launches dedicated African website". Media Update. 2010-05-19. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  2. ↑ "Cartoon Network to Become a 24-Hour Service in Hungary on Pay TV Providers From 1st April 2015". RegularCapital. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Turner and beIN Media Group Announce Strategic Partnership Exclusively for the Middle East & North Africa Region". beIN Media Group. 2015-12-29. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  4. 1 2 "Cartoon Network MENA and Boomerang MENA Launch on beIN, Also in HD". RegularCapital. July 2, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Cartoon Network News in Brief - Mid-September 2016". RegularCapital. September 19, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dragon Ball Super to Air on Toonami France, Boing Spain and Cartoon Network Africa". RegularCapital. October 10, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Cartoon Network Africa and Boomerang Africa - January 2017 Highlights". RegularCapital. November 25, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.