Toonami (UK & Ireland)

Toonami
Toonami logo
Launched 28 September 2003
Closed 24 May 2007
Owned by Turner Broadcasting System Europe (Time Warner)
Audience share 0.1% (January 2007, BARB)
Replaced CNX
Replaced by Cartoonito
Sister channel(s) Cartoon Network
Boomerang
Cartoon Network Too
Website www.toonami.co.uk (closed)
Availability
(at time of closure)
Satellite
Sky Digital Channel 602
Cable
Virgin Media Channel 732

Toonami was a British children's channel which aired from September 2003 to May 2007.

History

Toonami was a programming block on Cartoon Network, until October 2002 when it became a key component of CNX, a new channel launched by Cartoon Network UK, the first Cartoon Network derivative to launch outside North America. CNX also broadcast martial arts movies, adult-oriented animation like the Adult Swim originals, and dramas like The Shield and Birds of Prey at night. The network's audience was the young adult male demos that's currently catered by the UK's Bravo and the US's Spike TV. Almost a year later, CNX was relaunched as Toonami and now targeted towards a much younger audience. However, TOM was not voiced by Steven Blum, instead given a new voice actor.

In 2005, Toonami was added to the TV and video on demand kids' package for VNL's HomeChoice (now TalkTalk TV). Broadcasting for the channel involved using advanced MPEG-4 compression technology, the first TV channel in the world to do so.[1]

On 6 March 2006, Toonami changed its focus from action cartoons to entertainment in general, as the channel moved to Sky 602 and began airing four live-action shows: Backyard Science, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Stencil, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Life with Derek. Additionally, the entire design of the channel was overhauled, with the stark, simplistic black, white and red logos replaced with blue, as well as the introduction of giggling, blob-like mascots that populate the commercial bumpers and channel indents.

On May 24, 2007, Toonami shut down at 3 am. The old version of Cartoon Network Too had closed down at 7 pm the day prior. The latter was moved to Toonami's space and Cartoonito launched in Cartoon Network Too's old slot as a channel.

Idents

When the channel launched in 2003, the idents would be the Toonami logo in the Sensor Room, or TOM's Face, whispering Toonami.

Toonami rebranded in 2004 and got rid of TOM. The idents were on a pale cyan background (alike Cartoonito's) and were based on CNX's idents. They had a black rectangle filling up with white before the white part turned into the Toonami logo.

In 2006, Toonami rebranded for the final time using the logo in a azure background and colored monsters which would play with the Toonami logo. The shutdown ident was the Toonami logo, with the "Too" part pushing away the "nami" and the logo changing into the Cartoon Network Too logo on the same background from the 2004 idents.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bell, Ryan (15 April 2005). "Toonami Compressed to Impress". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHWs92sFXIU. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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