 | |
| Country | United Arab Emirates United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Arab world |
| Headquarters |
|
| Programming | |
| Language | Arabic |
| Picture format | 16:9 (1080i,HDTV) (downscaled to16:9576i for theSDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | Cartoon Network Arabic +2 (defunct as of 2016) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | 10 October 2010; 15 years ago (2010-10-10) |
| Former names | Cartoon Network |
| Links | |
| Website | Official website MENA language website (English and Arabic) |
Cartoon Network Arabia (Arabic:كرتون نتورك بالعربية) is a pan-Arabfree-to-air children's television channel that is broadcast to Arab audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. It is one of two Arabic-language versions ofthe original Cartoon Network, the other being apay television channel onbeIN,OSN and additional providers known asCartoon Network MENA, which is available in both English and Arabic.
The channel launched on 10 October 2010, coinciding with the opening ofTurner Broadcasting System Europe's offices inDubai Media City. As of 2025, it is managed byWarner Bros. Discovery under its international division.
The standard channel broadcasts viaArabsatBadr 6 andNilesat. Cartoon Network Arabic is considered a free-to-air alternative toCartoon Network MENA andCartoonito MENA, two pay TV channels offered in the Arab world in HD and in both English and Arabic onbeIN Network and additional providers since 1 July 2016, despite the varying differences in programming, schedules, and available languages.
Cartoon Network Arabic was launched on 10 October 2010 at 10:10 amGST.[1][2] The channel's launch coincided with the opening ofTurner Broadcasting System's offices inDubai Media City,UAE, which is where the channel's local owner is located.[3]
On the 4th April 2014 at 4 pm KSA time the channel aired a controversial scene from Television series show Young Justice where characters Superboy and Miss Martian had shared a kiss on the lips with another character Icicle Jr saying " Man that"s your sister" then stuttering and saying "oh dads going to kill me". This scene angered and alarmed families in the MENA region as their strong Islamic beliefs forbid scenes such as this as well as advertising to young boy viewers to kiss their sister"s on the lips.(even though the two characters on the show were not actually siblings but were using that as an alibi to get through a prison full criminals)This lead to many Islamic scholars warning parents and families to not allow children to watch the channel which took a negative toll towards the channel that we still see today.
The channel subsequently apologised about the scene a few days after it was aired calling it a "mistake" however it was too late and the damage was already done which subsequently lead to the president of the channel losing his job and being replaced by Tarek Mounir. It was also revealed that channel were not even guilty of this types of scenes for the first time as since its launch in October 2010 it was revealed there had been several scenes including kissing, awkward angles on women and scenes that don"t align with Islam which spread all over social media platforms. Prior to this scene the Channel were in control of kids Television in the MENA region since its launch in 2010 and is said that it played a huge part in eliminating competitor Nickelodeon Arabia and causing its closure in 2011, as well as dominating other competitors that Include MBC 3 and Spacetoon who were controlling the kids Television scene in MENA prior to the channels launch.
The channel was also praised for its organised timetable of airing shows, order of episodes airing and continuous airing of series that were almost instantly adored its audience. However this controversy lead to the channel implemnting a censorship strategy that had ended up killing the channel as many episodes of series such as "The Amazing World of Gumball" and "Adventure Time" were censored and many episodes were not even dubbed and the plot had become confusing for viewers. On top of that Television Series such as Powerpuff girls (1998) were cancelled due to violent scenes.
All this led to a drastic decrease in views for the channel which ended up with the Channel becoming the Second Cartoon Network channel in the MENA region as Cartoon Network MENA was launched on July 2016 which airs in both English and Arabic and is up to date to the parent channel in regards of new series and episodes whilst if Cartoon Network Arabia were to even air those new series or episodes it would be 3-6 months later than its sister channel"s.
The channel changed its aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 on 5 October 2014; it also began using the Check it 3.0 branding on that day.
Cartoon Network Arabic has changed its website. The new website was changed in May 2015.
On 4 October 2017, the channel has fully rebranded to the Dimensional branding.
In December 2015,Turner Broadcasting System entered an exclusivity deal with the Qatar-basedbeIN Media Group.[4] This deal led toCartoon Network Africa,Boomerang Africa, andTCM moving fromOSN to the latter'sbeIN Network service, and also caused the HD feed on YahLive to shut down; the actual channel, however, is unaffected due to being a free-to-air channel on Nilesat and Arabsat/Badr. Cartoon Network Arabic was added to beIN as channel 138 as an HD channel, although the HD version was later replaced with the SD version on Arabsat/Badr. CNN International HD was removed from My-HD's channel list and moved to beIN as an encrypted HD channel along with the pay-onlyHLN, which is in letterboxed SD, but CNN continues to remain available as a free-to-air channel on Nilesat and Arabsat/Badr in SD. However, subscribers to Etisalat and du's IPTV services in theUAE were virtually unaffected at the time. However, due to their direct relations with Turner,UAE Telecoms,Etisalat and Du continue to offer these channels to IPTV subscribers.[4] Additionally, inVision inSaudi Arabia,Ooredoo in Qatar and Cablevision in Lebanon offer Cartoon Network and Boomerang as well.
On 17 March 2023, a Facebook user named (Chahine Arfaoui) posted a video of the channel getting hijacked and playing an unofficial animation of Roddy Ricch's Ballin. The video went viral on YouTube, before it was revealed to be a hoax.
The channel mainly airs animated cartoons from Cartoon Network Studios. Original productions, films, shorts, live-action series, and shows from various studios are produced and aired.
Animated programs aired include original Cartoon Network Studios productions like theBen 10 reboot,Regular Show,Powerpuff Girls reboot,Uncle Grandpa,Clarence,Adventure Time, andWe Bare Bears, as well as programs produced by other studios (such asHasbro Studios'[5]Transformers: Robots in Disguise,Warner Bros. Animation'sTeen Titans Go!,Justice League Action,Rainbow's44 Cats andMattelWildBrain'sPolly Pocket,My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic etc.). The channel mainly airs animated cartoons from Cartoon Network Studios. Local productions likeMansour are produced and aired along with films, shorts, live-action series, and shows from various other studios.
The channel is one of the only available in Arabic (the other beingSpacetoon), with no choice but to switch to English or any other language. This is due to the fact that the channel is afree-to-air TV channel aimed solely at an Arabic-speaking audience.
The channel broadcasts a line of Cartoon Network's own shows dubbed in English. Cartoon Network Arabic has also offered numerous localized shows, such asMansour and the Arabic version ofBen 10: Ultimate Challenge, which are the result of various partnerships deals with local production companies, including the Dubai-based Lammtara Pictures (Freej) or the Jordan-based Rubicon Group Holding (Ben & Izzy,Tareq wa Shireen). The channel often edits certain programs for content, cutting out certain scenes due to potentially inappropriate content for Arabs. In October 2012, Cartoon Network Arabic started airingKral Şakir as -ليث the king-.
In 2011, Turner Broadcasting System Europe had announced that it would roll out its UK-based preschoolers' channelCartoonito across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, increasing the brand's distribution to 125 million homes in 112 territories.[6] On Cartoon Network Arabic, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block broadcast every day starting from 4 September 2011. However, the block was phased out on 1 April 2014, with some of its shows no longer available (althoughBaby Looney Tunes broadcasts onBoomerang HD andLazyTown airs on CN Arabic early in the morning).
Later on, the Cartoonito block returned on 24 March 2019 with 4 shows, 1 returning isBaby Looney Tunes with 3 new additions to Cartoonito which areGrizzy and the Lemmings,Pat the Dog andFireman Sam.
On 17 May 2020, the Cartoonito block has been expanded from being broadcast at 6:30 KSA, and runs until 10:30 KSA. But last month, the block logo has been changed and made a new logo mixed between CARTOON (fromCartoon Network) and OO & ito (fromCartoonito).
On 6 February 2022, Cartoonito rebranded with the new 2021 logo and bumpers alongside its Turkish counterpart as part of the brand's Global re-introduction.[7]
In March 2012, Cartoon Network Arabic became available in truehigh-definition via theYahLive service.[8] The channel was eventually moved under beIN Network's service after the exclusivity deal was in effect in January 2016. In May 2016, the channel was suspended in favor ofCartoon Network MENA andBoomerang MENA that were later launched in July that year, as they both feature an Arabic audio track. until Cartoon Network Arabic HD return this time in Badr 26
A two-hour timeshift channel variant launched on 30 June 2014 via the My-HD pay TV network. It was terminated on 1 January 2016 as a consequence of Turner Broadcasting System Arabia's deal with beIN Media Group.
On 1 April 2016, Qatar-basedbeIN Media Group, in association with Turner Broadcasting System Arabia, launched Cartoon Network Hindi exclusively via beIN. Cartoon Network Hindi provides children's animated programming to most South Asian expatriates in Arab World countries outside of India. As the name implies, the channel is only available in Hindi, which is akin to the Arab World's own pan-aired channel.
Division ofWarner Bros. Discovery | |
| Channels & blocks (U.S.) | |
| International |
|
| Cartoonito | |
| Studios & Streaming | |
| Albums | |
| Defunct | |
| See also |
|
