Defunct TV channel in the UK
Television channel
CNX (short for Cartoon Network Extreme) was a short-lived British television channel operated by Turner Broadcasting System Europe in the UK and Ireland. It was aimed at a male audience, with daytime programming aimed at older children and teenagers (predominantly 12–18 years of age), and evening programming aimed at older teenagers and young adults (the 17-34 demographic). The channel was carried in the 'Entertainment' section of the Sky programme guide and was also available on cable. Although CNX was said to stand for Cartoon Network Extreme by some viewers, the channel was advertised with a promo featuring the character Brak from The Brak Show singing "C is for comedy, N is for Japanese animation, X is for extreme", as well as a promo showing Aku from Samurai Jack morphing into silhouettes of characters of shows from the channel.
History
On 24 September 2002, Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced the launch of CNX on 14 October.[1] The channel was initially available on Sky Digital and NTL:home.[2] At the time, Turner was in negotiations with Telewest to add the channel to their Active Digital cable service, and was soon added on 15 January 2003.[3]
In April 2003, Turner Broadcasting System had considered launching a U.S version of CNX, but Mark Lazarus, former head of Turner Entertainment, said it was "not imminent", and never materialized.[4]
At the beginning of 2003, the channel introduced a Toonami programming strand that would air during the daytime hours. On 9 July 2003, Turner announced that CNX would close and rebrand as a standalone Toonami channel beginning in September 2003, with a Turner spokesperson citing that the adult market being "crowded and competitive" as the reason for its closure.[5]
On September 1, it was officially revealed that CNX would rebrand as Toonami on September 8, and on that day, CNX closed for the final time at 1am and its slot on all platforms was moved to the "Kids" sections and relabeled as Toonami, which launched at 6am on that day.
The final programming under the CNX brand was crime drama The Shield, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and action film Point of No Return.[6][7]
Contest
In December 2002, CNX hosted an event in which six individuals undertook the challenge of watching TV continuously for 47 hours. This competition aimed to surpass the existing world record set by a man who had watched TV for 46 hours, 30 minutes, and 50.91 seconds. The attempt succeeded, with three of the participants—Steven Hayes, Adam King, and Nick Tungett—reaching and surpassing the target time.[8]
Their achievement earned them a place in the 2002 edition of the Guinness World Records. Additionally, they were awarded a cash prize of £5,000, along with a curated collection of audio and visual equipment valued at £2,000. Concurrently, CNX organized a contest tied to the event, inviting viewers to text their predictions for the winners. The offered prize was an enticing Plasma TV worth £3,500. However, the identity of the contest winner remains unknown at present.[9]
The event was broadcast on CNX's linear channel and via the internet, though the associated media is currently considered lost.
Programming
The channel's programming was divided between an adult-aimed output in the evenings and younger-skewing programming under the Toonami block, which was moved to the channel in May 2003[10] after a few months of the former Toonami shows being shown under the CNX identity. The station primarily aired anime, extreme sports, and dramas (principally action/crime series such as The Shield and Birds of Prey). The channel's film telecasts predominantly consisted of martial arts films, anime films and action/drama.[citation needed]
