Boomerang Europe (or Boomerang EMEA outside Europe) is a pan-regional children's pay television channel that was last owned by the EMEA sub-division of the international division of Warner Bros. Discovery. Based on the namesake American channel, it primarily aired animated programming from the Warner Bros. Animation library (including Warner Bros. Cartoons and Hanna-Barbera productions), along with reruns of older Cartoon Network series.
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Europe Middle East Africa |
| Headquarters | Neuilly-sur-Seine, France London, United Kingdom Munich, Germany |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA |
| History | |
| Launched | List
|
| Closed | List
|
| Replaced by | Cartoonito WE Cartoonito CEE |
Boomerang was available across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from 2004[1] to 2023, when most of its feeds were replaced by Cartoonito.
Feeds
Central and Eastern Europe
Boomerang CEE launched on 5 June 2005. On 1 August 2007, it was launched in Russia, Ukraine, the CIS and the Baltic states.[2] Arabic/MENA countries also received access by the end of 2010.[3][4]
On 12 October 2011, at 6:00 am (CEST), it was split into two different feeds: this feed focused on Central and Eastern Europe, while Boomerang HQ centred on the Benelux, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Middle East & Africa, and Portugal. The European feed at the time consisted of four audio tracks, which were in English, Romanian, Hungarian and Polish.
Between November 2014 and February 2015, Boomerang CEE replaced Boomerang HQ in the Netherlands and Belgium, and got a localized Dutch feed between 2 February 2015 and 2017.[5] Since 2017 the CEE feed is available in the Netherlands and Belgium.[6]
On 4 April 2018, Boomerang CEE switched to the 16:9 aspect ratio.[7] On 1 October 2018, Boomerang CEE replaced Boomerang Germany and took over its channel slot. It launched a subfeed intended to air German advertisements and has no Russian rating icons being displayed in its broadcast, differing from the main feed. Sometimes they were shown anyway because of mistakes.[8]
Since 10 November 2020, Boomerang has received a Czech licence (RRTV) to ensure the continuation of legal broadcasting in the European Union Directive on Audiovisual Media Services (AVMSD) and the law on the single market after the UK leaves the European Union.
On Monday, 1 November 2021, Boomerang CEE launched a new Bulgarian-language audio track, as well as a Bulgarian channel sub-feed for Bulgarian television advertisement commercials, only on Bulsatcom, for now as A1 Bulgaria.[9] On Friday, 3 December 2021, Boomerang CEE launched a new Czech-language audio track.
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 9 March 2022, WarnerMedia closed the channel in Russian territories, along with Cartoon Network.[10]
On 18 March 2023, the channel was replaced by Cartoonito.
Germany
In Germany, Boomerang was launched on 1 June 2006. In August 2013, SES Platform Services (later MX1, now part of SES Video) won an international tender by Turner Broadcasting System, to provide playout services for Boomerang, and for Cartoon Network, TNT Glitz, TNT Film and TNT Serie (in both SD and HD) for the German-speaking market, digitization of existing Turner content, and playout for Turner on-demand and catch-up services in Germany, Austria, Switzerland the Benelux region, from November 2013.[11] The logo rebranded on 16 February 2015.
On 1 October 2018, Boomerang Germany shut down and was replaced with Boomerang CEE.[12]
France
The channel was launched on 23 April 2003 in TPS and cable providers.
Italy
An Italian pay television television channel launched in 31 July 2003, which airs mostly modern cartoons aimed at preschoolers.
Boomerang +1 is a timeshift channel launched on 20 December 2008 that airs the same schedule as Boomerang, just one hour behind.
Middle East and Africa
Boomerang was launched in English for the Middle East and select African countries in March 2005.[13] On 5 June, the channel expanded to Europe, with audio tracks for Polish (though partial) and Hungarian viewers.[14] December saw the addition of a Greek audio track.
On 1 August 2007, the channel began broadcasting from the Astra 1K and Hot Bird 7A satellites in CIS and Baltic countries.[15] Select programs were also available in Russian.[2] An Arabic audio track and a complete Polish audio track became available in 2008.[14] In January 2010, Boomerang expanded to Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, bringing its total distribution to 9.5 million homes.[16] The channel's African website, BoomerangTVAfrica.com, launched in 2010.[17]
Netherlands and Flanders
Boomerang Benelux launched in the Netherlands and Flanders, this version was available in the Dutch and English languages with optional Dutch subtitles.[18] The Pan-European feed launched in the Netherlands on 10 October 2005 followed by the CEE feed in 2014.[18] A localized Dutch feed and a new logo launched on 2 February 2015 but also replaced by the CEE feed in 2017.[19]
Nordics
In late 2005, Turner Broadcasting System Europe reported that they had intended to launch Boomerang in the Nordic region. They had also applied to broadcast it in the Swedish digital terrestrial network in the fall of that year.[20] Boomerang was, however, not granted a license by the Swedish government at the time.
On 15 September 2009, Boomerang was an evening block on Cartoon Network. On 30 September 2010, it was launched as a channel on Viasat's satellite platform, with the block closing the day before.[21] The channel launched on 1 April 2011 from the Canal Digital platform.[22] Boomerang had previously been offered as a programming block on Cartoon Network. On 19 January 2015, Boomerang Nordic applied the 2014–15 rebrand.
Portugal
A Portuguese pay television channel was launched on 21 April 2015 as Boomerang,[23] in Angola, Mozambique and 26 April 2018 in Portugal.[24] A Cartoonito block launched for the morning and afternoon.[25] On 23 March 2023, Boomerang Portugal would become a 24/7 Cartoonito channel.[26][27][28]
On 11 September 2024, the channel’s feed merged with Cartoonito Nordic, forming Cartoonito Western Europe.[29]
Spain
Boomerang Spain was the first to launched on 1 December 2004. The channel had a time shift signal, which retransmitted programming an hour later, called Boomerang +1. Turner used the channel to broadcast the company's classic animation, allowing Cartoon Network to broadcast more modern content.
On September 1, 2011, the channel ceased broadcasting to make way for a new channel called Cartoonito, a new channel focused on preschool audiences between 3 and 7 years of age.[30] Subsequently, Cartoonito closed its broadcasts on June 30, 2013 together with Cartoon Network Spain, due to the strong Spanish economic crisis, transferring its programming to the DTT channel Boing.
Turkey
On 13 April 2016, Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced the launch of Boomerang in Turkey on 23 April 2016, which is Turkey's National Children's Day.[31] The HD channel was launched exclusively on the Tivibu and D-Smart operators in Turkey.[32]
On 4 September 2023, Boomerang was fully transformed into a 24/7 Cartoonito channel, along with its Nordic/Scandinavian and MENA counterpart.[33]
United Kingdom and Ireland
The British/Irish channel launched on 27 May 2000 as a spin-off of Cartoon Network and localization of the original American network. It is run by Warner Bros. Discovery under its EMEA division.
References
External links
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