Boomerang (Middle Eastern and African TV channel)

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For the original American version, see Boomerang (TV network).
Boomerang
Boomerang tv logo.png
CountryAfrica
Middle East
Greece
Cyprus
Broadcast areaMENA (MENA feed)
Sub-Saharan Africa (African feed)
Greece (MENA feed)
Cyprus (MENA feed)
HeadquartersTurner House, Great Marlborough Street, London, United Kingdom
Programming
Language(s)English (MENA and Africa versions)
Arabic (MENA version)
Greek (MENA version in Greece and Cyprus)
Picture format16:9 (576i, SDTV)
(Africa version)
16:9 (1080i, HDTV)
(downgraded to 16:9 576i for SDTVs; MENA version)
Ownership
OwnerWarnerMedia International
Sister channelsCartoon Network
CNN International
TNT Africa
Cartoon Network Arabic
Cartoon Network Hindi
HLN
Boing
Toonami
History
Launched5 June 2005; 16 years ago (5 June 2005) (Boomerang Africa)
1 July 2016; 5 years ago (1 July 2016) (Boomerang Middle East)
Former namesBoomerang HQ (2005–2015)
Links
WebsiteBoomerang Middle East website
Availability
Cable
Cablenet (Cyprus)Channel 305
(HD, MENA version)
Satellite
beIN (Middle East and North Africa)Channel 105
(HD, MENA version)
DStv (Sub-Saharan Africa)Channel 302
(SD/HD, Africa version)
Nova (Cyprus)Channel 403/503
(HD, MENA version)
Nova (Greece)Channel 52
(HD, MENA version)
Kwesé TV (Sub-Saharan Africa)Channel 131
(SD, MENA version)
IPTV
PrimeTelChannel 401
(HD, MENA version)
CytaVisionChannel 31
(HD, MENA version)

Boomerang EMEA (formerly Boomerang HQ) is the collective title for two children's channels that air animated series; Boomerang Africa — a feed for Africa, and Boomerang MENA — a feed for the Middle East, in addition to Greece and Cyprus. Both services are owned by AT&T's WarnerMedia under its International division.

Boomerang is currently the second most watched kids channel in South Africa.

History[]

Boomerang EMEA was launched on 5 June 2005 as a channel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It broadcast in English, and also offered Polish and Hungarian audio tracks for Poland and Hungary respectively.

In December 2005, a Greek audio track was added on Greek and Cypriot TV providers.

The African website, BoomerangTVAfrica.com, launched in 2010.[1] but for a brief time redirected to BoomerangHQ.net.

In 2008, the network added an Arabic audio track. In October 2010, the channel started broadcasting shows in Romanian.

On 12 October 2011, a dedicated Central and Eastern European feed (serving Poland, Hungary and Romania) was launched, featuring its own schedule with Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, and English audio. Around the same time, preschool brand Cartoonito was added to both feeds as a morning block. Despite the split, Boomerang EMEA continued to air in Africa and the Arab world, as well as in the Netherlands, Flanders, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and select TV operators in the Czech Republic.

In Africa, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block for the pan-European feed of Boomerang, broadcasting for seven days a week beginning on 12 October 2011. The block ended on 1 January 2014. In May 2021, WarnerMedia EMEA announced plans to revive the brand within their region. It's currently unknown whether it will return as a block on Boomerang or any of WarnerMedia's other brands or if they plan to launch it as a standalone channel.[2]

The channel ceased broadcast in Portugal on 31 December 2013, due to the launch of the Portuguese Cartoon Network. Despite this, an individual European Portuguese feed would launch in 2015 for Angola and Mozambique, and in 2018 for Portugal.

On 1 November 2014, all Benelux and Czech TV providers switched over to Boomerang CEE, leaving Greece and Cyprus as the only European countries that continued to carry Boomerang EMEA.

On 14 January 2015, the channel adopted the global rebrand and renamed itself as Boomerang Africa.

On 1 July 2016, Boomerang MENA – an official feed for the Arab world –launched to replace the African feed on that region's TV providers, as well as in Greece and Cyprus. The HD channel carries a separate schedule and set of censorship rules, with three audio tracks: English, Arabic, and Greek.

Boomerang Africa switched to 16:9 widescreen on 21 September 2016. On 4 March 2019, it began broadcasting in HD.

Logos[]

  • 5 June 2005 to 14 January 2015

  • 14 January 2015 to present (1 July 2016 to present on Boomerang MENA)

Sister channels[]

TNT Africa[]

Unlike other counterparts, TNT Africa is a movie channel that launched in TCM's place and inherited some of its offering. As of January 2021, AEW Dynamite airs on the channel.

Cartoon Network[]

Cartoon Network is a television channel offering animation ranging from action to comedy for children aged 6-12.

Boing[]

Main article: Boing (African TV channel)

Boing is a television channel that airs repeats of programs formerly seen on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It launched on 30 May 2015, as the fourth extension of Turner's larger Boing brand.

Toonami[]

Toonami is a television channel catered towards young adults consisting of DC animation from Batman, Superman and Young Justice. It launched in 2017 on Kwesé TV until the platform went defunct in 2019. Then it was made available on Cell C's defunct streaming service Black for that same year.

In March 2020, the channel was revived as a 2 month pop-up channel on DStv thereafter it was made available full-time on the StarTimes platform after its closure. As of March 2021, Toonami can also be found on Canal+, Intelvision and Azam TV.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Turner takes wraps off new Boomerang website". Licensing.biz. 2010-06-23. Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  2. ^ WarnerMedia eyes preschool originals

External links[]

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