Canadian version of Cartoon Network
Television channel
Cartoon Network is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment subsidiary Teletoon Canada, Inc., with its branding used through a brand licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery. The CRTC classifies the network as a discretionary service.
Based on the American network of the same name, Cartoon Network broadcasts animated programming aimed at children and teens. Until 2019, Cartoon Network also carried a domestic version of Adult Swim, a late-night block targeting adults.
The network operates with separate Eastern and Pacific feeds.[1] As of September 2015, it is available in 5 million households nationwide.[2]
The network carries the majority of current-day programming aired by Cartoon Network in the United States, along with some programs from sister network Teletoon to meet their Canadian content guidelines, though Teletoon generally serves as the home of the American network's high-profile series.
History
After obtaining a license from the CRTC in November 2011 for the service Teletoon Kapow, Teletoon Canada (a joint venture of Astral Media and Corus Entertainment) announced in February 2012 the launch of Cartoon Network and the programming block Adult Swim in Canada. The channel was launched on July 4, 2012. In preparation, programming blocks were introduced to Teletoon and Teletoon Retro.[1][3][4]
On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced that it would acquire Astral Media's 50% ownership interest in Teletoon Canada, as part of Astral's pending acquisition by Bell Media (which had earlier been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012, but was restructured to allow the sale of certain Astral Media properties in order to allow the purchase to clear regulatory hurdles).[5]
Corus's purchase was cleared by the Competition Bureau two weeks later on March 18.[6] On December 20, 2013, the CRTC approved Corus's full ownership of Teletoon Canada[7][8] and it was purchased by Corus on January 1, 2014.[9] The channel continues to be owned by Teletoon Canada, now wholly owned by Corus Entertainment under its Corus Kids division.[10][11]
In August 2015, internal sources at Corus reported that Cartoon Network would be moved to the channel allotments of Teletoon Retro, which was being shut down on September 1, 2015. It was stated that this change would enable the channel to have wider distribution, as Teletoon Retro was carried by more providers than Cartoon Network,[12] specifically Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct and Rogers Cable.[13] Legally, as of September 1, 2015, Cartoon Network now operates under the auspices of the Category B license that was originally assigned for Teletoon Retro. The original Cartoon Network license was mothballed, and returned to the CRTC on October 2, 2015.[14][15]
On March 4, 2019, the primetime Adult Swim block was discontinued on the channel, due to the planned re-launch of Action as an Adult Swim-branded channel on April 1.[16]
