Boomerang (Middle East and Africa TV channel)
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.
 | |
| Country | Africa Middle East Greece Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Middle East Africa Greece Cyprus |
| Headquarters | Turner House, Great Marlborough Street, London, United Kingdom Turner Broadcasting System Arabia FZ-LLC, Dubai Media City Dubai, United Arab Emirates (MENA version) |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English (MENA and Africa versions) Arabic (MENA version) Greek (MENA version in Greece and Cyprus) |
| Picture format | 16:9 (576i, SDTV) (Africa version) 16:9 (1080i, HDTV) (downgraded to 16:9 576i for SDTVs; MENA version) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | WarnerMedia International |
| Sister channels | Cartoon Network CNN International Turner Classic Movies Cartoon Network Arabic Cartoon Network Hindi HLN Boing Toonami |
| History | |
| Launched | 5 June 2005 (Boomerang Africa) 1 July 2016 (Boomerang Middle East) |
| Former names | Boomerang HQ (2005–2015) |
| Links | |
| Website | Boomerang Africa website Boomerang 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) |
| Forthnet (Cyprus) | Channel 503 (HD, MENA version) |
| NOVA Cyprus (Cyprus) | Channel 403 (HD, MENA version) |
| NOVA Greece (Greece) | Channel 52 (HD, MENA version) |
| Kwesé TV (Sub-Saharan Africa) | Unknown (SD, Africa version) |
| Channel 131 (SD, MENA verison) | |
| IPTV | |
| PrimeTel | Channel 401 (HD, MENA version) |
| CytaVision | Channel 31 (HD, MENA version) |
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.
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)
See also
References
- "Turner takes wraps off new Boomerang website". Licensing.biz. 2010-06-23. Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-06-29.