Cartoonito (Middle East and Africa)

Cartoonito
Broadcast area	MENA; Sub-Saharan Africa; Greece; Cyprus
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Programming
Language(s)	English (MENA and Africa versions); Arabic (MENA version); Greek (MENA version in Greece and Cyprus)
Picture format	16:9 (576i, SDTV); (Africa version); 16:9 (1080i, HDTV); (downgraded to 16:9 576i for SDTVs; MENA version)
Ownership
Owner	Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA
Sister channels	Cartoon Network; Cartoon Network Arabic; Cartoon Network Hindi; Boing; Toonami
History
Launched	12 October 2011; 13 years ago; (as a block) ; 1 July 2016; 8 years ago; (as independent channel feeds)
Former names	Boomerang (2016–2023)
Availability
Terrestrial
DStv	Channel 302 (Cartoonito Africa)
AzamTV	Channel 227 (Cartoonito Africa)
GOtv	Channel 68 (Cartoonito Africa)
beIN	Channel 610 (Cartoonito MENA)

This article is about the children's television channel feeds of Cartoonito, a programming block and television network brand owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, targeted at/for preschoolers, broadcast in the Middle East and North Africa, Greece, Cyprus and Sub-Saharan Africa and operated by its EMEA arm.

History

As part of Boomerang

On 12 October 2011, a dedicated Central and Eastern European feed was launched, serving Poland, Hungary, and Romania and featuring audio tracks for each respective country along with English. Preschool brand Cartoonito joined both feeds as a morning and afternoon block. Despite the split, Boomerang continued to air in several European countries (such as Portugal and the Netherlands) until 2015.

Boomerang logo, 2015–2023

On 14 January 2015, the channel adopted the global rebrand and renamed itself as Boomerang Africa.^[1] On 1 July 2016, Boomerang MENA – an official feed for the Arab world, launched to replace the African feed on the region's TV providers,^[2] as well as in Greece and Cyprus. The HD channel carries a separate schedule and set of censorship rules, with three audio tracks: English, Arabic, and Greek. Boomerang Africa switched to 16:9 widescreen on 21 September 2016. On 4 March 2019, it began broadcasting in HD.

As Cartoonito

In Africa, Cartoonito was launched as a daily morning (formerly morning and afternoon) block beginning on 12 October 2011. The original block ended on 1 January 2014, but later returned on 4 April 2022, as part of the May 2021 relaunch.^[3]^[4] On 8 February 2023, it was announced that Cartoonito would expand into a full-time channel in Boomerang's place on 25 March.^[5]

On 22 June 2023, the broadcasters announced that Boomerang in the MENA would rebrand to Cartoonito on 4 September 2023, along with its Turkey and Nordic counterpart.^[6]^[7]

Programming

Current programming

Original programming

Acquired programming

The Adventures of Little Penguin
Cocomelon
Dino Ranch
Fireman Sam (MENA only)
Toad and Friends
Lu and the Bally Bunch
Grizzy & the Lemmings
Interstellar Ella
Kikoumba
Kingdom Force
Legends of Spark
Lucas the Spider
Masha and the Bear
Masha's Tales
Mecha Builders
Mighty Mike
Moley
Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
Mush Mush & the Mushables
Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go
Zig & Sharko

Sister channels

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is a television channel offering animation ranging from action to comedy for children aged 7–14.

Boing

Boing is a television channel that airs repeats of programs formerly seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It launched on 30 May 2015, as the fourth extension of Turner's larger Boing brand.

Toonami

Toonami is a television channel catered towards young adults consisting of DC animation from Batman, Superman and Young Justice. It launched in 2017 on Kwesé TV until the platform went defunct in 2019. Then it was made available on Cell C's defunct streaming service Black for that same year.

In March 2020, the channel was revived as a 2 month pop-up channel on DStv and GOtv thereafter it was made available full-time on the StarTimes platform after its closure. As of March 2021, Toonami can also be found on Canal , Intelvision, Azam TV and Zuku TV.

References

^ "Turner Broadcasting announces rebranding of Boomerang". Media Update. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
^ "Turner Offers CN, Boomerang In Hi-Definition". Arabian Market. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
^ "Hello, Cartoonito! Coming in April to Boomerang Africa!". BoomerangAfrica. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
^ "C21Media » WarnerMedia eyes preschool originals » Print". www.c21media.net. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
^ "Cartoonito | Games, Videos & Downloads". BOOMERANG. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
^ "Boomerang MENA se může změnit na Cartoonito MENA". 22 June 2023.
^ "R O Z H O D N U T Í O U D Ě L E N Í L I C E N C E" (PDF). rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání: 5. 17 August 2023.

External links

[1] "Turner Broadcasting announces rebranding of Boomerang". Media Update. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

[2] "Turner Offers CN, Boomerang In Hi-Definition". Arabian Market. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

[Hello,_Cartoonito!_Coming_in_April_to_Boomerang_Africa!-3] "Hello, Cartoonito! Coming in April to Boomerang Africa!". BoomerangAfrica. Retrieved 2022-03-20.

[4] "C21Media » WarnerMedia eyes preschool originals » Print". www.c21media.net. Retrieved 2023-01-27.

[5] "Cartoonito | Games, Videos & Downloads". BOOMERANG. Retrieved 2023-02-17.

[6] "Boomerang MENA se může změnit na Cartoonito MENA". 22 June 2023.

[7] "R O Z H O D N U T Í O U D Ě L E N Í L I C E N C E" (PDF). rada pro rozhlasové a televizní vysílání: 5. 17 August 2023.

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