The high ratings of Cartoon Network over the following couple of years led to more cable systems including it. New subscribers to sister channels TNT and TBS could also get access to Cartoon Network through such deals. However, it benefited from package deals. When launched on October 1, 1992, the channel was only carried by 233 cable systems. The majority of the classic animation that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer air on a regular basis, with the exception of Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes.Ī challenge for Cartoon Network was to overcome its low penetration of existing cable systems. There was also an afternoon cartoon block called High Noon Toons, which was hosted by cowboy hand puppets (an example of the simplicity and imagination the network had in its early years). Late Night Black and White showed early black-and-white cartoons (mostly from the Fleischer Studios and Walter Lantz cartoons from the 1930s, as well as black-and-white Merrie Melodies and MGM cartoons), and ToonHeads would show three shorts with a similar theme and provide trivia about the cartoons. Most of the short cartoons were aired in half-hour or hour-long packages, usually separated by character or studio – Down Wit' Droopy D aired old Droopy Dog shorts, The Tom and Jerry Show presented the classic cat-and-mouse team, and Bugs and Daffy Tonight provided classic Looney Tunes shorts. Initially, the channel would broadcast cartoons 24 hours a day. The concept was previously thought unlikely to attract a sufficient audience to be particularly profitable, however the CNN experiment had been successful and Turner hoped that Cartoon Network would also find success. Turner Broadcasting System had defied conventional wisdom before by launching CNN, a channel providing 24-hour news coverage. By the time that the network debuted, Cartoon Network also operated a programming block (containing its cartoons) that aired on TNT, entitled "Cartoon Network on TNT".Ĭartoon Network was not the first cable channel to have relied on cartoons to attract an audience however, it was the first 24-hour single-genre channel with animation as its main theme. From its launch until 1995, the network's announcers said the network's name with the word "The" added before "Cartoon Network", thus calling the network "The Cartoon Network". By the time the network launched, Cartoon Network had an 8,500-hour cartoon library. At first, cable providers in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Detroit carried the channel. cartoons (the pre-1950 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), the 1933–1957 Popeye cartoons, MGM cartoons, and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of reruns of classic Warner Bros. On October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network played "The Star Spangled Banner" (which was a tradition whenever a new Turner-owned network launched) and a video of a person placing a dynamite in an field and then blowing the dynamite up, the channel's launch then occurred on that day and was hosted by the MGM cartoon character Droopy in a special event called Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network, during which the first cartoon on the network, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, was shown. On February 18, 1992, Turner Broadcasting System announced its plans to launch the Cartoon Network as an outlet for Turner's considerable library of animation. In 1991, Turner Entertainment purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions for US$320 million. At this time, Turner's animation library included the MGM cartoon library, the pre-1948 color Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, the Harman-Ising Merrie Melodies shorts (except Lady, Play Your Mandolin!), and the Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios Popeye cartoons. On October 3, 1988, its cable channel TNT was launched and had gained an audience with its extensive film library. However, Turner kept much of MGM's film and television library made prior to May 1986 (as well as some of the United Artists library) and formed Turner Entertainment. On August 4, 1986, Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists from Kirk Kerkorian due to concerns over the debt load of his companies, on October 17, 1986, Turner was forced to sell MGM back to Kerkorian after approximately only 74 days of ownership. 6.6 High definition channels and service.
#JUNIPER LEE SEXY SERIES#
5.4 Former original live-action and live-action/animation series.