Cartoon Network (India)

Launch

Cartoon Network started broadcast in India in 1995 as a dual-channel with Cartoon Network initially operating from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Turner Classic Movies (formerly TNT) taking up the remainder of the daily schedule. Later the time slice of Cartoon Network was increased up to 9 p.m. On 1 July 2001, Cartoon Network India became a separate 24-hour channel which broadcasts in India, Nepal, Bhutan.

In 2004, a separate feed of the channel dedicated to Pakistani and Bangladeshi viewers was started. Programmes broadcast on this feed are different from the Indian feed. It has a translation in some areas. The channel was basically a relay version of Cartoon Network India in the start which is not the case now. Cartoon Network India is the only channel which aired the English dubbed version of Heidi in 2001. This show has not premiered on any other Cartoon Network channel worldwide.

1990s

The channel first broadcast on 1 May 1995 as a dual-channel with Cartoon Network operating from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (later 9:00 p.m.) and Turner Classic Movies (formerly TNT) taking up the remainder of the daily schedule. On 1 July 2001, Cartoon Network India became a separate 24-hour channel, with exclusive local feeds for India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

It originally aired only Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo. The channel quickly started to develop though, airing for the first time MGM cartoons (Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and Spike and Tyke) in 1996, and (after Time Warner's purchase of Turner in 1996) Warner Bros shows (Looney Tunes, and several other Looney Tunes related cartoons) in 1997. In 1998, Cartoon Network started to air its first original shows (Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Moxy Show), however The Moxy Show was soon cancelled.

On January 4, 1999, the channel started to offer Hindi-dubbed versions of its shows, such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, The Mask: The Animated Series, The Addams Family, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Captain Planet and certain other select programs.

On 22 August 1999, the channel received a rebrand, introducing new bumpers, new shows and a new 'powerhouse' theme. The new shows for 1999 were its original shows Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, Ed, Edd n' Eddy and Johnny Bravo. The following year, 2000, saw even more Cartoon Network originals being introduced, including The Powerpuff Girls, Mike, Lu & Og and Courage the Cowardly Dog. Some of these shows (Mike, Lu & Og, Ed, Edd n' Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog) were not produced by Cartoon Network Studios, however.

2000s

In February 2000, the channel has then decided to offer Tamil dubbed versions of their content.

In 2001, the rate of new Cartoon Network originals kept going, with Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad and Samurai Jack being brought in. Due to the large number of Cartoon Network originals that were on Cartoon Network, they decided to name these shows Cartoon Cartoons, which led to the Friday night block Cartoon Cartoon Fridays being introduced to India later in 2001. In 2000, Cartoon Network India aired the English-dubbed version of Heidi, Girl of the Alps. This show has neither aired on any other channels dubbed in English, nor has appeared on other international Cartoon Network channels. Also in 2001, Cartoon Network introduced other programming blocks including Toonami, Acme Hour, Prime Time, Boomerang (now a channel as well) and Cartoon Network After Dark. Cartoon Network's Toonami Block aired the American version of the cult Japanese anime Dragon Ball Z for the first time in India in the same year.

2002 saw more Cartoon Cartoons introduced including Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? and Codename: Kids Next Door. Grim & Evil eventually spun off into two separate series: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne. Justice League and ¡Mucha Lucha! also debuted on Cartoon Network in 2002. In 2003, there were no new Cartoon Network original shows added to the schedule, but there were several new programming blocks and non-Cartoon Cartoons added. The programming blocks include Boomeraction (currently a block on Boomerang), and Tiny TV (currently a block on Pogo & Boomerang). Shows added to the line-up in 2003 include The Mask: The Animated Series, Pokémon, Digimon, and X-Men: Evolution. In 2004, the channel introduced Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, a completely new programme at the time which debuted that year. Programming blocks introduced in 2004 include Fridays and Eyeballs A Go-Go. Also, 2005 was the year that the Boomerang programming block was made into a TV channel, which is largely unavailable in India.

In 2005, the bumpers were replaced with 3D animations of the 'CN (Cartoon Network) City' that all the Cartoon Network toons lived in. Show-specific bumpers were replaced with 3D animations of a well-known scene from the particular show (e.g., a Dexter's Laboratory bumper would feature Dexter's house, a Powerpuff Girls bumper would feature most likely the PPG household, and so forth). The retro checkerboard logo was replaced with the new 'CN' city-style logo, which was replaced in 2011 with the current logo.

In 2006, several new Cartoon Network originals premiered, including Robotboy, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Gym Partner's a Monkey and Squirrel Boy. The "Cartoon Cartoons" moniker previously used for Cartoon Network originals was also dropped in 2006.

It also started the anime series Beyblade on 3 June 2005, which enjoyed a No.1 or No.2 position in the kids genre, along with Pokémon.

The channel continued to air new episodes and seasons from Beyblade and Pokémon, and their movies, which continued to rank No.1 and No.2 in the kids' genre.

On 10 October 2007, Cartoon Network started the new series Ben 10, which became an instant hit in India. As of 2014, it was one of the largest licensed characters in India.

On 31 August 2008, the format of Cartoon Network's commercials changed. They also changed the name of Cartoon Network Theatre (the movie block of the channel) to Cartoon Network Popcorn with the major visual theme being recurring 'dynamic lines'. Later in 2009, Cartoon Network began to air Dragon Ball, the predecessor to Dragon Ball Z, for the first time in India.

On 11 December 2009, Cartoon Network began to air the next series in the Ben 10 franchise, Ben 10: Alien Force. It also aired new Ben 10 movies.

2010s

Cartoon Network started the third series in the hit Ben 10 franchise, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien on 10 October 2010. The new Beyblade series, Beyblade: Metal Fusion began to air in 2010-2011, on Fridays and Saturdays, from 4-5 pm.

On 1 October 2011, at 9am (Indian Standard Time) during The Amazing World of Gumball premiere, Cartoon Network introduced its new branding and logo. Designed by Brand New School, it makes heavy use of the black and white checkerboard motif, as well as CMYK color variations and patterns. The slogan "It's a Fun Thing!" was also introduced.

As the slogan suggests, comedy programs began to occupy most of the timeslots. While initially Tom and Jerry made up most of the timeslots, later when Oggy and the Cockroaches was started in India in July 2012, CN began to air it hours together each day, which even continued till 2014. In January 2015, Cartoon Network India lost the rights to Oggy and the Cockroaches Seasons 1 to 3, but continued to air Season 4.

Though CN mostly aired comedy shows, action shows like Beyblade: Metal Fusion (and its following seasons), aired initially in the evening timeslot, and later at night (9 pm). It also aired Dragonball Z at a late night timeslot (10pm).

CN started the fourth series in the hit Ben 10 franchise, Ben 10: Omniverse on 26 November 2012.

Starting from the new era,"It's a Fun Thing", CN began to air shows without providing any information through airings on the channel, like on-air promos and bumpers. ThunderCats, Beyblade Metal Masters, and Beyblade Metal Fury, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated were started with no information about air date and timings on the channel, and information present only on TV schedules.

Animated shows like Green Lantern: The Animated Series, DreamWorks Dragons, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, The Looney Tunes Show, and ThunderCats aired, but for some reason all of these shows aired only the first seasons, and the second seasons haven't been aired yet.

CN shifted the hit series Pokémon to its sister channel, in 2011, having aired till the eleventh season, but later brought it back on CN in 2014, starting from the fourteenth-season episode "Pokémon: Black and White".

In 2015 Summer and Monsoon, new shows like Uncle Grandpa, Beyblade: Shogun Steel, Clarence, Uncle Grandpa and new episodes of Ben 10 Omniverse started to air. In May 2015, Cartoon Network India celebrated its 20th birthday with specials of various shows including specials from the classic The Flintstones. Starting June 2015, it started to air new promos for each new episode of weekly-once shows like Steven Universe, Ben 10 Omniverse, and Uncle Grandpa.

Cartoon Network Hindi

On 1 April 2016, Qatar-based beIN Media Group, in association with Turner Broadcasting System, launched Cartoon Network Hindi exclusively via beIN Network. Cartoon Network Hindi is aimed to provide programming to most Indian expatriates in Middle Eastern countries outside of India, and is a completely separate feed from India's local Cartoon Network channel. As the name implies, the channel is only available in Hindi, which is akin to the Arab World's own pan-aired Cartoon Network Arabic.

On January 12, 2017, the channel converted to full HD (1080i), in addition to rebranding to the Dimensional package.

CN+

In 2014, Cartoon Network partnered with Tata Sky to launch an active service called CN+. The service is available every day for about one to two hours. It airs select episodes from hit programmes such as Ben 10 (and related series), Beyblade: Metal Fusion (and related series), Cartoon Network Original Shows like The Amazing World of Gumball, League of Super Evil, Tom and Jerry (and related series), Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy, and movies from Ben 10, Pokémon among others.

Toonami channel launch

On February 26, 2015, Turner India launched a new channel based on its former block, Toonami. It features shows such as Batman, Superman, Justice League, Transformers, and Dragon Ball Z.

Programming

To date, the channel aired a number of popular animated shows primarily from the WB vault and the Cartoon Network Studios. Classic Hanna-Barbera shows like The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Centurions, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, The Yogi Bear Show, Josie and the Pussycats, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Jonny Quest, The Jetsons, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Addams Family, What a Cartoon Show, Wacky Races, Atom Ant and Space Ghost Coast to Coast are no longer available on Cartoon Network since the launch of the separate TV channel Boomerang. Interestingly, Boomerang is not available in India on most platforms, making these shows along with many other classics hard to get.