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The Cartoon Network, Inc. (TCN) is an American multinational entertainment company operating as a unit of
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...
. Founded by
Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...
and based out of
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia, its main properties include
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
,
Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
,
Discovery Family Discovery Family (known on-air as Discovery Family Channel and abbreviated as DFC) is an American Specialty channel, cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Di ...
, and programming blocks
Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and Block programming, programming blocks aimed at preschool children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish language, Spanish suffix " ...
,
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
and
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...
. It is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks.


History

On March 25, 1986,
Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its asse ...
acquired
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
/
United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
. On October 18, Turner forcibly sold back MGM. However, Turner kept much of the film and television library made before May 1986 (including some of the UA library) and formed Turner Entertainment Co. On October 8, 1988, its cable channel
Turner Network Television TNT (an initialism of Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. Its sister networks are TBS, TruTV, and Turner Classic ...
was launched and gained an audience with its extensive film library. In 1991, Turner also purchased the library of animation studio
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
.
Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...
selected
Betty Cohen Betty Susan Cohen (born July 27, 1956) is an American businesswoman and media executive. She is best known as the founder and original president of The Cartoon Network, Inc. from 1992 to 2001, the CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services from 2005 t ...
(then-Senior Vice President of
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
) to devise a network to house these programs. On February 18, 1992, Turner Broadcasting announced its plans to launch Cartoon Network as an outlet for an animation library. On March 12, 1992, The Cartoon Network, Inc. was founded one month after Turner's plan was announced. On October 1, 1992, its namesake TV channel officially launched as the first 24-hour single-genre
cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
with animation as its main theme. In 1994, Hanna-Barbera's new division
Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...
was founded and started production on '' What a Cartoon!''. This show debuted in 1995, offering original animated shorts, most of which became their own programs and significantly influenced the tone of the channel. In 1996, Cartoon Network aired two preschool programs: ''
Big Bag ''Big Bag'' is an American live-action/animated puppet children's television series created by Nina Elias-Bamberger for Cartoon Network and Children's Television Workshop. It was targeted at preschool viewers. The show was co-produced by Carto ...
'', a live-action/puppet television program with animated short series produced by
Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...
, and '' Small World'', which featured animated series aimed at preschoolers imported from foreign countries. Turner Broadcasting System merged with
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
, which led to Warner Bros. reacquiring the animated shorts they had sold to
Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ' ...
. The network could then continue more original productions. The company also owns the assets of
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
, a late-night programming block of Cartoon Network commonly considered to be a separate channel in itself. It launched on September 2, 2001 and remains a core property for the company.


Acquisition by AT&T

On October 22, 2016,
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
and Time Warner disclosed an offer to merge for $108.7 billion, including assumed debt held by the latter company. The merger would bring Time Warner's various media properties, including The Cartoon Network, Inc., under the same corporate umbrella as AT&T's telecommunications holdings, including satellite provider
DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
and
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
/broadband provider
AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is an internet protocol television (IPTV) service operated by DirecTV. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse was originally a triple play package that included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT& ...
. Time Warner shareholders approved the merger on February 15, 2017. On November 20, 2017, the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
filed a lawsuit against AT&T and Time Warner in an attempt to block the merger, citing
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
concerns surrounding the transaction. U.S. clearance of the proposed merger—which had already received approval from European, Mexican, Chilean and Brazilian regulatory authorities—was affirmed by court ruling on June 12, 2018, after District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, and dismissed antitrust claims asserted in the DOJ's lawsuit. The merger closed two days later on June 14, 2018, with Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, which renamed the unit
WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...
. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington unanimously upheld the lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019.


WarnerMedia-Discovery merger

On May 17, 2021, AT&T and
Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...
reached a definitive Reverse Morris Trust agreement, in which AT&T would spin out WarnerMedia into an independent company (unwinding the prior 2018 acquisition of the former Time Warner) that would concurrently acquire Discovery's assets, for $43 billion in cash, securities and stock plus WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt. Under the transaction, which was expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2022, The Cartoon Network, Inc. and all other assets of WarnerMedia would be combined with the assets of Discovery, Inc. AT&T shareholders would own 71% of the company's stock and Discovery shareholders would own the remaining 29% share, with each shareholder group appointing representative
board members A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
; David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, would head the new company, replacing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. On June 1, 2021, it was announced that the merged company would be known as
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...
; Zaslav explained that it would reflect "the combination of Warner Bros.' fabled hundred-year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration." The merger was officially completed on April 8, 2022, with The Cartoon Network, Inc. assuming oversight
Discovery Family Discovery Family (known on-air as Discovery Family Channel and abbreviated as DFC) is an American Specialty channel, cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Di ...
and its Spanish version.


Global expansion

Cartoon Network Europe, a pan-European English feed, was launched in 1993. Spanish, Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, and Norwegian audio tracks were added in 1994. The network's Dutch feed was launched in 1997. Another feed launched in 1998, which aired in France, Italy and Spain. The pan-European feed kept airing in the other parts of Europe. The network's Italian feed became independent a few months later after the launch of the French channel, while the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
and French feeds were split in 1999. A Polish feed launched a year earlier, in 1998. On September 17, 1993, some Russian cities began receiving Cartoon Network Europe through broadcasts from the Astra satellite. The channel broadcast in English. Since July 1, 1996, the channel has been available from the Panamsat 4 satellite in the territories of Southern Russia and Ukraine, in the Asian republics of the former USSR.Советы для начинающих
// Июль 1996
In 1997, the channel's new distributor,
Chello Zone AMC Networks International UK (EMEA), formerly Zone Vision, Zone Media, Chello Zone and AMC Networks International Zone (EMEA), is a British television media company founded in 1991 by Chris Wronski and owned by AMC Networks International as i ...
, took over in the CIS. In the same year, the channel was partially dubbed into Russian. In 1998, the channel began broadcasting on the territories of Belarus and Ukraine, the Baltic states and the North-West of Russia from the Astra 1G satellite. Broadcasting was 16 hours a day, from 8:00 to 0:00 MSK.,Детский мир
// Август 1998г
at night, the channel carried
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...
. In November 1999, the channel became available on the platform
NTV Plus NTV Plus () is the brand name for the Russian digital satellite television provider, transmitted from Eutelsat's W4 satellite at 36.0°E and from Bonum 1 at 56.0°E. Previously a part of Vladimir Gusinsky's MediaMost holding, now it is the ...
and other cable networks, broadcasting from the Sirius 2 satellite. In 1999, the network's British feed officially split off from the pan-European version. This followed after the shared transponder analogue feed on
Astra 1C Astra 1C was a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1993 by SES. The satellite remained in service until 2011 and is now derelict. History Astra 1C was the third communications satellite placed in orbit by SES, and was origina ...
became scrambled with
VideoCrypt VideoCrypt is a cryptographic, smartcard-based conditional access television encryption system that scrambles analogue pay-TV signals. It was introduced in 1989 by News Datacom and was used initially by Sky TV and subsequently by several other ...
and the short-lived British version of
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
was launched. A Nordic feed was launched in 2000, broadcasting in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and English. This also became available in Iceland and Finland. The Dutch Cartoon Network closed down in 2001. It was replaced with the pan-European feed in 2001. A Dutch audio track was simultaneously added. Greek subtitles became available the same year. The Polish feed branched into separate ones for Romania and Hungary in 2002. A German feed was launched in 2006. A Turkish feed was added in 2008. In April 2005, Cartoon Network Europe was completely dubbed into Russian. On October 1, 2008, a separate feed of Cartoon Network was created for Hungary and Romania, while the two additional audio tracks that were previously added to Cartoon Network Poland in 2002. Czech Republic and Slovakia both used to receive this channel feed in an English-language muted audio track.. On October 1, 2009, the channel was launched – Cartoon Network Russia, broadcasting in the countries of CIS and South-Eastern Europe. The network's
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
feed launched in 2010, which is free-to-air on satellite and exist alongside the pan-European feed in pay-TV which would later split into another MENA feed on 1 July 2016. This is the only
EMEA Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...
-marketed feed not broadcast in English. On November 17, 2010, the Dutch feed relaunched and started broadcasting 24 hours a day and with a new logo. All programs and ads air in Dutch. The Spanish feed shut down in 2013, together with the Spanish
Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and Block programming, programming blocks aimed at preschool children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish language, Spanish suffix " ...
. This market would focus completely on the free-to-air channel Boing. The Portuguese-speaking channel was launched in October 2013 in Angola and Mozambique. It launched in Portugal later in December. , the ex pan-European feed still airs in the Greek part of Cyprus; it is also one of the four feeds available in the Middle East and Africa (the other ones being the
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, French, and Portuguese feeds). This pan-European feed broadcasts in English, while Greek subtitles are available. All other European countries had their own local or regional feed. On September 1, 2017, the Central and Eastern European channel feed added a Czech-language audio track for its audience in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, replacing the English-language muted audio track.


Units


Production studios

* Cartoon Network Productions * CN LA Original Productions *
Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. ...
*
Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...
*
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe Ltd. (also known as Great Marlborough Productions or simply Hanna-Barbera), formerly Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe and Cartoon Network Studios Europe, is a British animation studio headquartered in London ...


U.S. television channels

*
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
**
Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and Block programming, programming blocks aimed at preschool children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish language, Spanish suffix " ...
(former block) **
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
(block) ***
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...
(block) *** Checkered Past (block) *
Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
*
Discovery Family Discovery Family (known on-air as Discovery Family Channel and abbreviated as DFC) is an American Specialty channel, cable television channel co-owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. and Hasbro Entertainment, which are divisions of Warner Bros. Di ...
(60% with
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
) *
Discovery Familia Discovery Familia is an American Spanish-language family-oriented specialty television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on November 1, 2007, after Discovery Communications merged its pre-existing Spanish-language channels, D ...


International channels


Cartoon Network


Adult Swim


Boomerang


Cartoonito


Toonami


Other channels

Note: In Italy and the UK, the network's "+1" timeshift channels are often temporarily rebranded and carry only one franchise for around a month, such as ''
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
'', ''
Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...
'', and ''
Ben 10 ''Ben 10'' is an American media franchise conceived by Man of Action and owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. The franchise, mainly consisting of animated series produced by Cartoon Network Studios, revolves around a young boy named Ben Tennys ...
''.


See also

* Discovery Kids * Pogo * Boing


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cartoon Network, Inc., The Cartoon Network Adult Swim Boomerang (TV network) Cartoonito Cartoon Network-related lists Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries Mass media companies established in 1992 Cable network groups in the United States Television broadcasting companies of the United States Companies based in Atlanta Companies based in New York City Companies based in Burbank, California American companies established in 1992 Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Mass media companies of the United States