Cartoon Network (Middle East and Africa)

Cartoon Network
Current logo since December 7, 2010
Launched September 17, 1993 (1993-09-17)
(launch of Cartoon Network UK/Europe)
August 1999 (August 1999)
(launch of Cartoon Network HQ as a separate feed from Cartoon Network UK/Europe)

July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)
(launch of Cartoon Network MENA)
Owned by Turner Broadcasting System Europe
Picture format 16:9 (576i, SDTV) (Africa)
16:9 (1080i, HDTV) (MENA)
Slogan Check It.
Language English (Africa and MENA versions)
Arabic (MENA only)
Greek (Cyprus; subtitles only)
Broadcast area Middle East and North Africa and Cyprus (MENA version)
Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa version)
Headquarters Turner House,
Great Marlborough Street,
London, United Kingdom

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (MENA version)
Formerly called Cartoon Network HQ (1999–2015)
Sister channel(s) Boomerang
Turner Classic Movies
CNN International
Cartoon Network Arabic
Cartoon Network Hindi
Toonami Africa
Boing Africa
Website MENA language switcher site (in English and Arabic)
MENA website (in English)
African website (in English)
Availability
Satellite
beIN (Middle East and North Africa) Channel 106 (HD, MENA version)
DStv (Sub-Saharan Africa) Channel 301 (SD, Africa version)
Kwesé TV (Sub-Saharan Africa) Unknown (SD, Africa version)
Cable
Cablenet (Cyprus) Channel 304 (HD, MENA version)
Cablevision (Lebanon) Frequency 11760 (HD, MENA version)
IPTV
PrimeTel (Cyprus) Channel 400 (HD, MENA version)
CytaVision (Cyprus) Channel 32 (HD, MENA version)

Cartoon Network refers to two digital children's TV channels broadcasting animated programs: Cartoon Network MENA, which serves the Middle East and North Africa region (excluding Israel, Iran and Turkey) along with Cyprus; and Cartoon Network Africa (formerly known as Cartoon Network HQ), which serves Sub-Saharan Africa. Cartoon Network was created by Turner Broadcasting System. Cartoon Network UK/Europe (the direct precursor to Cartoon Network feeds in the EMEA region, including Cartoon Network HQ) was launched on September 17, 1993. In October 1999, Cartoon Network UK became a separate feed from Cartoon Network HQ, but initially had a nearly identical schedule to Cartoon Network HQ until the latter became completely independent from the UK feed in 2001.

Cartoon Network HQ 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 MENA, a feed in HD on beIN, was launched to replace Cartoon Network Africa in the MENA region. It features both English and Arabic audio tracks. In addition to being offered by various Gulf IPTV providers (as well as Cablevision in Lebanon and most Cypriot TV providers except for NOVA Cyprus), Cartoon Network MENA also has a separate schedule and censorship rules from Cartoon Network Africa.

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 Benelux feed was launched on July 12, 1997. The Southern Europe feed was launched in June 1998, and 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 Southern Europe feed, while the Spanish and French feeds split on August 23, 1999.

On October 15, 1999, the UK 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 Nordic feed was launched on January 1, 2000, available in Denmark, Sweden and Norway; it is available in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and English. The feed is also available in Iceland and Finland.

The Benelux 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 pan-European feed became completely independent of the UK feed in 2001, following the shutdown of the Benelux feed.

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 RSEE feed has been airing 24/7 in all countries it is offered in. Before that date, the 24/7 version was unavailable outside of Russia.

The African website name was CartoonNetworkAfrica.com, which was launched on May 10, 2010.[1] Since the website redesign in 2014, the aforementioned website along with the pan-European CartoonNetworkHQ.net now redirects to CartoonNetworkHQ.com instead.

Cartoon Network Arabic launched on October 10, 2010. It is the only feed in the EMEA region which is completely unavailable in English. The Benelux feed was relaunched in November that year, with the Dutch audio track also removed from the pan-European feed at the same time. The Spanish feed closed down on July 1, 2013 along with the Spanish Cartoonito. Viewers in Spain can still watch Cartoon Network shows on Boing, with a block exclusively consisting of Cartoon Network shows called ¡Findes! Cartoon Network also available on the channel. The Portuguese feed launched on October 1, 2013 in Angola and Mozambique. It was later launched in Portugal on December 3, 2013.

Cartoon Network HQ switched to widescreen on October 6, 2014; it also began using the Check It 3.0 look on the same day.

In December 2015, Turner Broadcasting System Arabia entered into an exclusivity deal with beIN Media Group to supply 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.[2] This consequently removed Cartoon Network and other Turner-owned channels from OSN's broadcast services from January 16, 2016 onwards, though subscribers to Etisalat and du's respective pay TV services in the UAE were virtually unaffected.

On July 1, 2016, Cartoon Network MENA and Boomerang MENA were launched to replace Cartoon Network Africa and Boomerang Africa, broadcasting in 1080i on beIN with an Arabic audio track available.[3] Cartoon Network MENA and Boomerang MENA have different programming and schedules from Cartoon Network Africa and Boomerang Africa, and Cartoon Network MENA censors many programs, sometimes censoring scenes which are unedited on Cartoon Network Arabic. While Cartoon Network MENA is offered with Greek subtitles in Cyprus, Boomerang MENA is also available in Greece and Cyprus with a Greek audio track instead of an Arabic track.

Nowadays, Cartoon Network Africa airs in Sub-Saharan Africa. A separate feed in HD known as Cartoon Network MENA is one of three feeds available in the Arab world, as well as being the sole feed in Cyprus, with MENA viewers also having access to Cartoon Network Arabic and Cartoon Network Hindi.

Since September 2016, Cartoon Network MENA has been available on PrimeTel's IPTV service alongside Boomerang MENA,[4] and is the only Cartoon Network channel available in Cyprus; both channels are also available on Cablenet and CytaVision in Cyprus. The channel replaces Cartoon Network Africa (which had already ceased broadcasting on all TV operators in Greece as well as on the Cypriot TV operator NOVA Cyprus in 2013), thus ending its role as a pan-feed.[4] Other areas in Europe are served by separate feeds.

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

In June 2017, the Kenya Film Classification Board (KCFB), headed by CEO Ezekiel Mutua, ordered a ban on six cartoons airing on Cartoon Network Africa, Nickelodeon Africa and Nicktoons Africa for allegedly promoting LGBT themes to minors. The shows affected are the currently-running Cartoon Network shows Adventure Time, Clarence and Steven Universe, in addition to the concluded Nickelodeon shows Hey Arnold! and The Legend of Korra, and the currently-running Nickelodeon cartoon The Loud House.[5]

Logos

Sister channels

Boomerang

Boomerang is a television channel which airs cartoons. Two versions of the channel exist; one for the Arab World, as well as Greece and Cyprus, and another for Sub-Saharan Africa. Boomerang HQ/Africa was launched on June 5, 2005.

On July 1, 2016, Boomerang MENA was launched, replacing Boomerang in the Middle East and North Africa;[3] it airs in 1080i with English and Arabic audio tracks on beIN,[3] and is also available in Greece and Cyprus, albeit with a Greek audio track.

Cartoonito

Cartoonito is a preschool brand owned and distributed by Turner Broadcasting System Europe,[6] which is offered as a dedicated television channel in the United Kingdom and Italy, but was also formerly available as a block on various EMEA Boomerang feeds in addition to Cartoon Network Arabic; the block was later phased out in 2014. The brand is aimed at young children under the age of 6 years.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cartoon Network launches dedicated African website". Media Update. May 15, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Turner and beIN Media Group Announce Strategic Partnership Exclusively for the Middle East & North Africa Region". beIN Media Group. December 29, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cartoon Network MENA and Boomerang MENA Launch on beIN, Also in HD". RegularCapital. July 2, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Cartoon Network News in Brief - Mid-September 2016". RegularCapital. September 19, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dahir, Abdi Latif (June 17, 2017). "Some Nickelodeon kid cartoons have been banned in Kenya for "glorifying homosexuality"". Quartz. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  6. ↑ Whittock, Jeese (2011-04-21). "Cartoonito spreads across EMEA". C21Media. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
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