Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Cartoonito, Adult Swim, and Toonami under its purview. The channel is headquartered at 1050 Techwood Drive NW in Atlanta, Georgia.
Founded by Ted Turner (who appointed Betty Cohen as the first president of the network), the channel was launched on October 1, 1992, and primarily broadcasts animated television series, mostly children's programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. It currently runs from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET/PT daily (the sign-off time varies with holidays and special programming). Cartoon Network primarily targets children aged 6 to 12, while its early morning block Cartoonito is aimed at preschool-aged children, and evening block Adult Swim targets older teenagers and young adults aged 18 to 34.
Cartoon Network offers an alternate Spanish-language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English audio track removed as part of a package of Spanish-language television networks sold by subscription providers, or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.
As of March 2021, Cartoon Network is available to approximately 94 million paid television households in the United States.
History
On August 9, 1986, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists. 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 was launched and gained an audience with its extensive film library. In 1991, Turner also purchased the library of animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Ted Turner selected Betty Cohen (then-Senior Vice President of TNT) 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, its namesake parent company was founded. On October 1, 1992, the network officially launched as the first 24-hour single-genre cable channel with animation as its main theme.
In 1994, Hanna-Barbera's new division Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on What a Cartoon!. This show debuted in 1995, offering original animated shorts. In 1996, Cartoon Network aired two preschool programs: Big Bag, a live-action/puppet television program with animated short series produced by Children's Television Workshop, and Small World, which featured animated series aimed at preschoolers imported from foreign countries. Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner, which consolidated/reverted ownership of all the Warner Bros. cartoons. The network could then continue more original productions.
Programming
Cartoon Network's current original programming includes such shows as The Amazing World of Gumball, Craig of the Creek, and We Baby Bears. The network's original programming is produced at Cartoon Network Studios, while other shows have either been co-produced with or acquired from other studios, including the affiliated Warner Bros. Animation. In the past, Cartoon Network has also produced and aired live-action and animated hybrid programming.
Over the years, Cartoon Network has aired various Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Tom and Jerry, and Droopy shorts in constant rotation, dating back to the network's launch in 1992 until 2017. In its early days, Cartoon Network benefited from having access to a large collection of animated programming, including the libraries of Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Tom and Jerry), Hanna-Barbera (The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Snorks), and DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League and Teen Titans). Turner's ownership of Hanna-Barbera gave the network access to an established animation studio, something its rivals didn't have. Most of these series were removed by 1999 and moved to Boomerang in 2000.