Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Cartoonito, Adult Swim, and Toonami under its purview. The channel is headquartered at 1050 Techwood Drive NW in Atlanta, Georgia.
Founded by Ted Turner (who appointed Betty Cohen as the first president of the network), the channel was launched on October 1, 1992, and primarily broadcasts animated television series, mostly children's programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. It currently runs from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET/PT on Mondays through Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays (the sign-off time varies with holidays and special programming). Cartoon Network primarily targets children aged 6 to 12, while its early morning block Cartoonito is aimed at preschool-aged children, and evening block Adult Swim targets older teenagers and young adults aged 18 to 34.
Cartoon Network offers an alternate Spanish-language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English audio track removed as part of a package of Spanish-language television networks sold by subscription providers, or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.
As of March 2021, Cartoon Network is available to approximately 94 million paid television households in the United States.
History of Cartoon Network
On August 9, 1986, Turner Broadcasting System acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists. On October 18, Turner forcibly sold back MGM. However, Turner kept much of the film and television library made before May 1986 (including some of the UA library) and formed Turner Entertainment Co. On October 8, 1988, its cable channel Turner Network Television was launched and gained an audience with its extensive film library. In 1991, Turner also purchased the library of animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Ted Turner selected Betty Cohen (then-Senior Vice President of TNT) to devise a network to house these programs.