Cartoon Network free essay sample

The channel was launched on October 1, 1992, after Turner purchased the animation studio  Hanna-Barbara Productions in 1991. It was originally a 24-hour outlet for classic animation properties from the Turner Broadcasting libraries and was all-ages-oriented, but now the channel targets kids and teens (about ages 8-15) with mature content during its  late night  daypart  Adult Swim, which is treated as a separate entity for promotional and  ratings  purposes. The network broadcasts shows ranging from action to animated comedy . Original series started in 1994 with  Space Ghost Coast to Coast, along with  Cartoon Cartoons  original programs like  Dexters Laboratory,  Cow and Chicken,  I Am Weasel,  The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy,  Johnny Bravo, and  Courage the Cowardly Dog . In 2009, it started airing live-action programming, including movies New Line Cinema . The network celebrated its 20th birthday; this celebration started on October 1, 2012, and ended on November 4, 2012 . At 12 p. m. ET on October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network was launched as an outlet for Turners considerable library of animation, and the initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of reruns of classic Warner Bros cartoons (the pre-1950  Looney Tunes  and  Merrie Melodies), the 1933–1957  Popeye  cartoons,  MGM  cartoons, and  Hanna-Barbera  cartoons. We will write a custom essay sample on Cartoon Network or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At first, cable providers in  New York City,  Philadelphia,  Washington D. C. , and  Detroit  carried the channel. The channel opened with an introduction by  Droopy, and the very first program that Cartoon Network ever broadcast was a Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1946 titled Rhapsody Rabbit. [4][5]  By the time the network launched, Cartoon Network had an 8,500-hour cartoon library. From its launch until 1995, the networks announcers said the networks name with the word The added before Cartoon Network, thus calling the network The Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network was not the first  cable channel  to have relied on cartoons to attract an audience. Nickelodeon  had paved the way in the 1980s. On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon had launched three  high-profile animated series:  Doug,  The Ren Stimpy Show, and  Rugrats, further signifying the importance of cartoons in its programming. The  Disney Channel  and  the Family Channel  had also included animated shows in their programming, as did  USA Network, whose  Cartoon Expresswas widely popular. In each of these cases, until October 1, 1992, cartoons were only broadcast during the morning or the early afternoon. Prime time  and  late night television  hours were reserved for live-action programs, following the assumption that television animation could only attract child audiences, while Cartoon Network was a 24-hour single-genre channel with animation as its main theme. Turner Broadcasting System  had defied conventional wisdom before by launching  CNN, a channel providing 24-hours news coverage. The concept was previously thought unlikely to attract a sufficient audience to be particularly profitable, however the CNN experiment had been successful and Turner could hope that the Network would also find success. Initially, the channel would broadcast cartoons 24/7. 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. Late Night Black and White  showed early  black-and-white  cartoons (mostly from the  Fleischer Studios  and  Walter Lantz  cartoons from 1930s), and  ToonHeads  would show three shorts with a similar theme and provide trivia about the cartoons. 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 the early years). The majority of the classic animation that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer airs on a regular basis, with the exception of  Tom and Jerry  and  Looney Tunes. The first challenge for Cartoon Network was to overcome its low penetration of existing cable systems. When launched on October 1, 1992, the channel was only carried by 233 cable systems. However, it benefited from  package deals. New subscribers to sister stations  TNT  and  WTBS  could also get access to Cartoon Network through such deals. The high ratings of Cartoon Network over the following couple of years led to more cable systems including it. By the end of 1994, Cartoon Network had become the fifth most popular cable channel in the United States.