Cartoon Network is one of two digitalchildren's TV channels that air animated series: Cartoon Network MENA, which serves the Middle East and North Africa along with Cyprus; and Cartoon Network Africa, which serves Sub-Saharan Africa. The network began as part of the larger UK/pan-European service on 17 September 1993; the UK branch would separate itself in October 1999, but kept a nearly identical schedule until August 2001. Cartoon Network HQ used to share channel space with Turner Classic Movies; the latter would air from 21:00 to 06:00 CET, while the former would run for the rest of the day. On 1 July 2016, Cartoon Network MENA, an HD feed on beIN, launched and 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, Cartoon Network MENA also has a separate schedule and censorship rules from Cartoon Network Africa.
History
The pan-European feed launched on 17 September 1993 as Cartoon Network UK/Europe, broadcasting all over the continent in English. A Spanish-language audio track was added on 4 March 1994, along with those in Swedish, Danish, French, Italian and Norwegian. The Benelux feed launched on 12 July 1997. In June 1998, the Southern European feed also debuted. A Polish feed launched on 1 September 1998. The Italian feed became independent a few months after the launch of the Southern European feed, while the Spanish and French feeds split on 23 August 1999. On 15 October 1999, the UK feed officially separated from the pan-European version, during the time when the shared transponder analog feed on Astra 1C became scrambled with VideoCrypt, and when the short-lived British version of TNT launched. The Nordic feed was launched on 1 January 2000, with a respective audio track for each country. The Benelux Cartoon Network ceased broadcast on 31 July 2001, replaced by the pan-European feed and Dutch audio track the following day. Also on that day, the UK feed became completely independent of the pan-European feed. The Polish feed added Romanian and Hungarian audio tracks on 30 September 2002. A Russian audio track was added on 1 April 2005, and Greek subtitles were added on 20 June 2005. The German feed launched on 5 December 2006, followed by Turkish feed on 28 January 2008. On 1 October 2008, a feed for Hungary and Romania was split off from the Polish feed; the former later began to serve the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Russian and Bulgarian feed launched on 1 October 2009. The African website, CartoonNetworkAfrica.com, launched on 10 May 2010. Since the website redesign on 8 August 2014, it along with the pan-European CartoonNetworkHQ.net now redirect to CartoonNetworkHQ.com instead. Cartoon Network Arabic launched on 10 October 2010, as the only EMEA feed that is completely unavailable in English. The Benelux feed relaunched in November that year, with the Dutch audio track removed from the pan-European feed at the same time. The Spanish feed closed down on 1 July 2013 along with the Spanish Cartoonito; programs from both networks can still be viewed on Boing. A European Portuguese feed launched on 1 October 2013 in Angola and Mozambique, before arriving in Portugal on 3 December. Cartoon Network HQ switched to widescreen on 6 October 2014, and also rebranded with the CHECK It 3.0 graphics package on that same day. In December 2015, Turner Broadcasting System Arabia entered an exclusive deal with beIN Media Group to supply the Arab world with all of the former's pay TV channels via the latter's beIN Network subscription service starting on 1 January 2016. This consequently removed Cartoon Network and other Turner-owned channels from OSN's broadcast services from 16 January 2016 onwards, though subscribers to Etisalat and Du's respective pay TV services in the UAE were unaffected. On 1 July 2016, Cartoon Network MENA was launched to replace the African feed in the Arab world, broadcasting in 1080i HD with an Arabic audio track. The service features a different schedule, program line-up, and censorship rules. It is also is offered with Greek subtitles in Cyprus, effectively ending Cartoon Network HQ's status as a pan-feed. Cartoon Network MENA's English-language website can be found at CartoonNetworkME.com, Another site, CartoonNetworkMENA.com, launched around the same time and serves as a hub where users can choose between the English- or Arabic-language versions. In June 2017, the Kenya Film Classification Board, 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 showsAdventure 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. On 18 December 2018, Cartoon Network Africa switched to high definition.
Logos
Sister channels
Boomerang
Boomerang is a television channel which airs cartoons. Two versions of the channel exist; one for the Arab World, Greece and Cyprus, and another for Sub-Saharan Africa. It launched on 5 June 2005 as Boomerang HQ. On 1 July 2016, Boomerang MENA was launched, replacing the African feed in the Middle East and North Africa; it 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.
Cartoonito
Cartoonito is a preschool brand owned and distributed by Turner Broadcasting System Europe, 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.
