Defunct Spanish version of Cartoon Network
Television channel
Cartoon Network was a U.K. based Spanish specialty television channel aimed at children, operated by Time Warner through its subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System España (TBS España). Being a version of the American television channel of the same name, the channel's programmes were mostly consisted of original animated productions from Cartoon Network and fellow Time Warner company Warner Bros., but it also broadcast other American and international productions.
Besides being available in Castilian Spanish, most shows were also available in English and Catalan via a secondary audio feed.
History
Background
In 1993, Cartoon Network had a single European signal distributed via the Astra satellite, and already had five audios in different languages. On 4 March 1994 (although Turner initially said it would happen before the end of 1993)[3] the sixth language of the channel was added: Spanish. Later, the channel was also added to Spanish cable networks.
Launch
In 1997, Canal Satélite Digital signed an agreement with Time Warner in which, apart from obtaining rights from the production company, it also benefited from the entry of Cartoon Network and TNT in its offer. The channel was broadcast in the majority of pay TV companies, in some including the Cartoon Network +1 channel, with the same programming, but one hour later. In addition, a magazine called Cartoon Network Magazine was published, but it did not manage the channel, since the license belonged to another owner.
Closure
Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced on 14 June 2013 that Cartoon Network and Cartoonito would close in Spain on 30 June 2013, due to dwindling TV ratings and the pay TV crisis Spain had at that time as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis.[4]
On 20 June, it was published on the blog of the Cartoon Network website the cessation of its television broadcasts, but noting that the website would remain active,[5] with its content becoming available on demand (VOD) services for tablets, smartphones or televisions connected to the Internet in which viewers could watch the series and content of the channel.[4] This would eventually lead to the creation of Time Warner's own online VOD service in Spain, HBO España in 2016 (which would become HBO Max in 2021).
It was also explained that these contents would also be available on the channel's website, and that Turner would increase its presence on Boing, the children's channel which TBS España jointly owns with Mediaset España.[6]
Shortly before midnight on 1 July 2013, the channel ceased broadcasting in Spain after 19 years, with the last programme to be aired being an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The channel then displayed a filler, and after a few minutes, each operator that distributed the signal replaced it with an information screen informing customers that the channel stopped broadcasting in Spain.[4]
Months later, at the end of August, Boing announced that from 14 September, the channel would broadcast a programming block called "Findes Cartoon Network" every weekend, which would broadcast new episodes of Adventure Time and Regular Show from 10:30.
