March 2005; 17 years ago (March 2005) (Boomerang EMEA)[1] 1 July 2016; 6 years ago (1 July 2016) (as Boomerang; MENA and Africa) 25 March 2023; 32 days' time (25 March 2023) (as Cartoonito; MENA and Africa)
Boomerang (formerly Boomerang EMEA) is the collective title for two children's channels that air animated series; Boomerang Africa — a feed for Africa, and Boomerang MENA — a feed for the Middle East, in addition to Greece and Cyprus. Both channels are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its International division.
History
Boomerang EMEA was launched on March 2005 the Middle East and Africa. It broadcast in English.[1] 5 June 2005 the channel has expanded to Europe and also offered Polish (partly)[2] and Hungarian audio tracks for Poland and Hungary respectively.
In December 2005, a Greek audio track was added on Greek and Cypriot TV providers.
On 1 August 2007, TV channel began broadcasting from the Astra 1K and Hot Bird 7A satellites in the territories of the CIS and Baltic countries.[3] The TV channel was partially broadcast in Russian.[4]
In 2010, the channel expanded to Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.[5]
The African website, BoomerangTVAfrica.com, launched in 2010.[6] but for a brief time continue to Boomerang.
In 2008, an audio track in Arabic was added, and the channel also began to broadcast fully in Polish.[2] In October 2010, the channel started broadcasting shows in Romanian.
On 12 October 2011, a dedicated Central and Eastern European feed (serving Poland, Hungary and Romania) was launched, featuring its own schedule with Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, and English audio. Around the same time, preschool brand Cartoonito was added to both feeds as a morning block. Despite the split, Boomerang EMEA continued to air in Africa and the Arab world, as well as in the Netherlands, Flanders, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and select TV operators in the Czech Republic.
The channel ceased broadcast in Portugal on 31 December 2013, due to the launch of the Portuguese Cartoon Network. Despite this, an individual European Portuguese feed would launch in 2015 for Angola and Mozambique, and in 2018 for Portugal.
On 1 November 2014, all Benelux and Czech TV providers switched over to Boomerang CEE, leaving Greece and Cyprus as the only European countries that continued to carry Boomerang EMEA.
On 14 January 2015, the channel adopted the global rebrand and renamed itself as Boomerang Africa.[7]
On 1 July 2016, Boomerang MENA – an official feed for the Arab world–launched to replace the African feed on that region's TV providers,[8] 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.
Cartoonito (2023–present)
The Cartoonito block returned to the channel on 4 April 2022, as part of the 2021 relaunch.[9] On 8 February 2023, it was announced that Cartoonito would expand into a full-time channel in Boomerang's place on 25 March.[10]
Logos
March 2005 – January 14, 2015
January 14, 2015 – March 25, 2023 (July 1, 2016 to present on Boomerang Middle East and Boomerang Africa)
Cartoon Network is a television channel offering animation ranging from action to comedy for children aged 7–14.
Cartoonito
In Africa, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block for the pan-European feed of Boomerang, broadcasting for seven days a week beginning on 12 October 2011. The block ended on 1 January 2014. In May 2021, WarnerMedia EMEA announced plans to revive the brand within their region. The Cartoonito block returned on Boomerang on 4 April 2022.[11][9]
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.
