Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System (a division of Time Warner) that airs MGM pre-1986, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. programs and currently airing Top Cat. The channel debuted on April 1, 2000.
History
Boomerang was originally a programming block on Cartoon Network started in December 1992. It was aimed towards the generation of baby boomers, and was similar to the Vault Disney block on the Disney Channel. It originally aired for four hours every weekend, but the block's start time jumped frequently. The Saturday block moved to Saturday afternoons, then back to the early morning, and the Sunday block moved to Sunday evenings. Eventually, Boomerang was shortened by an hour, making the total airing time 3 hours each weekend instead of the original four hours. In 2000, Boomerang received both a new look and the cable spin-off channel that launched on April 1, 2000.[1] By then, the block followed a unique programming format—every week, cartoons produced during a certain year (and cartoons produced during years prior to that year) would be showcased. For example, if Boomerang was showcasing the year 1969, the viewer would more than likely see an episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! or Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.
Once the Boomerang channel was launched in 2000, promos for the channel aired at the end of every broadcast show during the block in attempt to gain popularity for Boomerang. Also, all of the older programming on Cartoon Network, including Looney Tunes and shows from Hanna-Barbera migrated to Boomerang. On October 2 and October 3, 2004 nearly four months after the re-launch of Cartoon Network, the Boomerang block was replaced by Adult Swim everyday with older reruns of classic anthologies like The Popeye Show, Tom and Jerry, The Bob Clampett Show, ToonHeads, former Boomerang fare like The Gary Coleman Show, Super Globetrotters. October 2 and 3rd were the last times Looney Tunes officially aired on Cartoon Network. Duck Dodgers, Cow & Chicken, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, What a Cartoon, Snorks, The Smurfs and Baby Looney Tunes are now featured on the channel. The channel initially carried a weekly looping programming format. Notably, Boomerang does not carry product commercials, with the only exception being advertisements for DVD products by Warner Home Video, co-owner of most of Boomerang's programs. The only other advertising on the channel is for Boomerang or Cartoon Network programming. These commercials would happen between shows, while bumpers would go right back to the show after they're played. As of October 2010, commercials are played regularly during shows.
During its looping format, which lasted through December 26, 2004, program days began at 8 a.m. Eastern time (5 a.m. Pacific time). The looping format had 8 hours of programming repeated three times a day. Monday through Thursdays had been just normal programming days, with a variety of half-hour and hour-long cartoon programs shown. On Fridays, "monthly feature" cartoons were shown for the entire day; one cartoon was featured for each Friday of a given month for 24 hours straight. As of January 1, 2005, this banner became known as "monthly character of the month", and is now shown on weekends from 2 to 4 p.m. eastern and as of March 2007 it's known as Boomeroyalty. On Saturdays, a calendar year was featured with the cartoons of that year (ranging from approximately 1960 to 1996, one year per week in sequence). Late nights carry the "Boomeraction" theme, with animation featuring action and adventure such as Valley of the Dinosaurs, SuperFriends, Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Battle of the Planets.
Boomerang's promotional slogan, Boomerang: It's All Coming Back To You, used until late 2005 on Boomerang itself, was one of nostalgia that accurately reflected its programming of the time. However, this slogan is still used on promos airing on sister channel Cartoon Network. Boomerang got a new slogan in 2006 that airs during its programming breaks. The slogan is Boomerang: We'll Be Right Back A'tcha!. The announcer for most promos for the channel is John O'Hurley. In September 2008, Cartoon Network began to run more commercials for Boomerang, including two that were seen on January 1, 2009. Recently, between intermission, Boomerang would air a bumper, then two ads; one would be a Dish or DirecTV ad, depending on the provider, and the other ad would be a commercial. Then, it would air a classic short and a Wedgie. Boomerang generally does not show live action shows, with the exception of The Banana Splits, which has had a semi-regular place on the channel's schedule; daily reruns of the game show Hole in the Wall were added in early 2011.
Cable and satellite availability
Several Comcast systems carry Boomerang, including systems in Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas, while in New England it is available via On Demand . Other companies, such as Suddenlink Communications, offer Boomerang as a regular station in select areas. Time Warner Cable and Cox offers both services in select areas. AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS, and CableOne offer the channel in all markets. Several smaller cable providers as well as Comcast do not provide the channel at all. Boomerang also has on demand on all providers that carry the channel. Charter Communications carries the channel as part of its Digital View Plus package.
DirecTV offers Boomerang in all but their most basic of programming packages. Dish Network offers the channel in its American top 250 programming package.
As of May 15, 2009, Boomerang became available on Cablevision.