Boomerang (TV channel)

History

Much of the programming that made up the core of Boomerang's lineup was originally part of TBS's Disaster Area, a block of children's programming that aired on that network from 1997 to 1999. Boomerang had originated a programming block airing on Cartoon Network that debuted on December 8, 1992. It was aimed towards the generation of baby boomers and was similar to the Vault Disney nostalgia block that would debut five years later on the Disney Channel. It originally aired for four hours every weekend, but the block's start time had changed frequently. The Saturday block moved to Saturday afternoons, then back to the early morning, and the Sunday block moved to Sunday evenings. Eventually, Boomerang was shortened by an hour, reducing it from four hours to three each weekend. Turner Broadcasting System eventually converted Boomerang into a standalone cable channel that debuted on April 1, 2000.

On February 4, 2014, as part of the company's 2014 upfronts, Turner Broadcasting announced that Boomerang would become advertising-supported, and seek additional international distribution.

On January 19, 2015, the U.S. version of Boomerang was relaunched as part of a global rebranding effort and will offer original programming for the first time; the relaunched channel will continue to emphasize its archival programming but with a greatly increased emphasis on the archive's most popular brands and an explicitly family-friendly approach, in the hopes that Boomerang can become a "second flagship" on par with the main Cartoon Network channel.

Cable and satellite availability

Boomerang is carried on most cable and telco providers, along with both satellite services; tiering of the channel varies by service, with some services offering it as a basic service or as a higher-tier offering. A few providers do not carry the linear channel, instead only offering the network's video on demand service bundled with Cartoon Network. The network is offered exclusively in standard definition, with no current plans for a high definition simulcast.

Programming

Historically, Boomerang avoided overt channel drift and, despite adding newer content to its library, continued to air programming from the breadth of its archives. As of spring 2014, however, most of its archival programming has been relegated to graveyard slots while the daytime schedule has increasingly been dominated by programming from the 1990s and later. Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, and The Garfield Show have permanent places on the schedule as of August 2015; a few shows, such as The Flintstones, Pokémon, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Chowder, and The Smurfs are usually on the schedule but are periodically taken off the schedule for brief periods, or have their slots on the schedule shuffled around. Most other programs aired by Boomerang stay on the schedule for several weeks, then are rotated out and replaced by other programs.

Not all of the Time Warner animation library is currently available to Boomerang. A portion of the library that includes the WB/Amblin Entertainment-produced animated series from the 1990s that were produced in collaboration with Steven Spielberg (including Tiny Toon Adventures and most of Animaniacs), and most properties involving Batman and Superman (including the DC Animated Universe), is put out for license to other networks; those properties most recently aired on the Hub Network from late 2012 until that network's demise in October 2014. Boomerang also occasionally licenses programming from other distributors, such as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, which rejoined the lineup for a short run in August and September 2013. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon shorts, which were dropped by Boomerang since 2007, returned to the schedule on October 5, 2013.

Although Boomerang's programming philosophy was originally intended to showcase classic cartoons, it started to add some newer shows in recent years. On January 1, 2012, the channel began airing episodes of Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville, which ended in February 2013. On November 17 and 24, 2012, Boomerang aired new episodes of Ben 10: Omniverse, before their telecast on sister channel Cartoon Network. Boomerang reintroduced the "Wedgies" series of animated shorts (which air in-between shows) in 2013. Boomerang also began airing Teen Titans Go! and The Amazing World of Gumball on December 1, 2014, alongside their airings on Cartoon Network. Numb Chucks was picked up by Boomerang for first-run broadcast in the United States on January 10, 2015, after initially having been announced for Cartoon Network. On June 28, 2015, it was announced that Boomerang would receive original programs such as Wabbit, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, and an animated adaptation of Bunnicula.

Programming blocks

Because of Boomerang's fluid schedule, programming blocks will air for a few months, then be removed from the schedule, only to be added again a few months later.

Current

Seasonal programming blocks

Former blocks

Boomerang On Demand

Boomerang On Demand is the channel's video-on-demand service, offering select episodes of the channel's archived programming, along with select archived Cartoon Network original programs. Launched in 2005, it is available on select digital cable, satellite and IPTV providers. In April 2013, Boomerang On Demand began to separate program content by "theme" (for example, in observance of Mother's Day, the service featured episodes of The Flintstones and Dexter's Laboratory featuring the characters of Dexter's mom and Wilma Flintstone).

International

Boomerang, originally established as a cable channel in the United States, has expanded worldwide. Each of these networks will be aligned globally in 2015 under one unified branding to reflect a family co-viewing network.

Australia

An Australian version of Boomerang was launched in March 2004 as part of the launch of Foxtel's digital service, with a lineup very similar to that of the U.K. version. It began as a four-hour block of programs in 2001, when the Australian version of Cartoon Network began broadcasting on a 24-hour schedule. It previously used the logo and break format of the flagship American service. However, in November 2007, the channel revamped both its logo and promotions as well as its website, boomerangtvshow.com. However, it uses the same bumpers for as the U.S. channel. On December 1, 2012, the channel introduced a new on-air look with the same logo and appearance as the European channels. On November 3, 2014, the channel changed its logo to the logo seen in Latin America.

Europe, Middle East and Africa and Central and Eastern Europe

Boomerang Europe, Middle East, and Africa launched on June 5, 2005, originally broadcasting in Eastern Europe (in English), Poland (in Polish) and Hungary (only selected shows in Hungarian); it features mainly former Cartoon Network and Hanna-Barbera programmes.

In October 2010, the channel started to broadcast select shows in Romanian. On October 12, 2011, the Central and Eastern Europe feed was separated from Europe, Middle East, and Africa; as a result, the former maintains its own schedule and promos in Hungarian and Romanian language as well as the preschool-targeted block Cartoonito, which was added to both feeds at the same time.

In February 2012, the channel began accepting commercial advertising outside of Poland, whose feed also accepts traditional advertising. From March 2012, Boomerang got a new look. In July 2013, the channel started to air select shows in Russian, in preparation for a possible launch of a separate feed for Russia.

In October 2013, a Russian feed was also added to the channel, thus making it to be broadcast now in four languages. In January 2014, the Cartoonito brand name was gone from the both CEE and EMEA channels, thus making those shows identifiable as Boomerang shows and the Boomerang next bumpers were rebranded. Starting from July 2014, Russia banned the ads from the network making the channel broadcasting no ads.

The channel adopted a new global look on February 2, 2015.

France

The network rebranded on January 3, 2015.

Germany

Boomerang launched in Germany in June 2006; it is available on Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW, and Unity Media. The network adopted the new branding on February 16, 2015.

Italy

The channel adopted a new look on February 2, 2015.

Latin America and Brazil

Boomerang was launched in July 2, 2001, with a schedule comprising classic animated series. This lasted from 2001 until 2006, when it changed its target for a general audience started to air and mixed cartoons with live-action series and movies on its library. In 2008 all the remaining cartoons were removed from the schedule, changing the main focus of the channel to a teen-oriented programming, which consisted in live-action shows, movies and music video clips. Nevertheless, on April 1, 2014, Boomerang suddenly changed again its teen-oriented programming to a cartoon-oriented one with new animated series and former cartoons from Cartoon Network, with live-action series airing after midnight. On September 28, 2014, it got rebranded, becoming the first Boomerang network in the world to adopt the new look.

Netherlands & Flanders

It launched in the Netherlands on October 10, 2005. At first in English with Dutch subtitles. Since 2014 the channel is bilingual with optional Dutch or English audio. A Dutch feed and a new logo launched on February 2, 2015.

Others

Since 2005, Boomerang is also available via digital cable and satellite in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Middle East, North Africa and the Levant territories, it broadcasts via satellite on the OSN. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Boomerang is available on MultiChoice's DStv. The channel rebranded on January 14, 2015.

Portugal

Boomerang is a Portuguese digital cable and satellite television channel launched on April 21, 2015 and owned by Turner Broadcasting System Europe (a semi-autonomous unit of Time Warner). Currently, is only available in Angola and Mozambique and is expected to launch in Portugal soon.

Scandinavia

In late 2005, Turner Broadcasting announced its intention to launch several new channels in the Nordic region (to join its then-current channels Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network and CNN International). One of the planned new channels was Boomerang, for which Turner applied for a broadcast license to operate on Swedish digital terrestrial television in the fall of 2005.

Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asian version of Boomerang was launched on September 1, 2005. It began as a 90-minute block of programs in 2001, when the Asian version of Cartoon Network began broadcasting on a 24-hour schedule. It previously used the American logo and style of commercial breaks. It previously used the logo and break format of the flagship American service. However, in November 2007, the channel revamped both its logo and promotions. In December 2012, the channel was replaced by Toonami. Boomerang, however, returned to Asia on January 1, 2015, replacing Cartoonito.

This channel is available in Hong Kong, the selected ASEAN member neighbor countries and Sri Lanka. The 24-hour channel in India was only available on Dish TV exclusively along with Turner Classic Movies until March 2, 2009. It is currently only available on IN Digital Cable from the Hinduja Group in Mumbai and the National Capital Region. In Pakistan, it ran as a two-hour block but was replaced with Pogo due to poor ratings. In Indonesia, it is available on Indovision, Aora TV, and TelkomVision.

Spain

Boomerang launched a Spanish version of the channel in 2004. It was available on the Digital+ digital platform and on the Auna cable platform. It was introduced as a part of Cartoon Network's schedule on weekend afternoons.

The channel's programming strongly resembled that of the UK version. It relied heavily in older Warner Bros., MGM, and Hanna-Barbera cartoons, but it also included fairly recent programmes featuring older characters, like Baby Looney Tunes and Duck Dodgers. It also featured other classic cartoons, like the Japanese Heidi and the Spanish La vuelta al mundo de Willy Fog (Around the World with Willy Fog).

On September 1, 2011, it was replaced by Cartoonito, which itself ceased operations on June 30, 2013, along with the Spanish version of Cartoon Network.

Thailand

The Thailand version of Boomerang was launched on August 14, 2013.

Turkey

The Turkey version of Boomerang was launching on April 23, 2016, at D-Smart and Tivibu

United Kingdom & Ireland

Boomerang launched in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom on May 27, 2000. It broadcasts 24 hours a day on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and Chorus Digital. This version of the channel also features other animated series such as Mr. Bean and Gadget Boy. In late July 2007, Boomerang UK started carrying live-action programs, including those exclusive to the channel such as My Spy Family. The network rebranded on February 16, 2015.