Coming Soon: Cartoon Network Canada

Cartoon Network is officially heading up north. Associates of Turner Broadcasting have announced a media partnership that will clone Cartoon Network and its late night brethren Adult Swim for Canadian viewers. The new venture is expected to drive audiences in the direction of CN and [adult swim] original programming that will no longer need to find surrogate homes away from home. The partnership is aided by TELETOON Canada, which is quickly approaching a fifteen-year anniversary.

Turner Broadcasting's official move into Canada may feel a bit overdue for local viewers who are accustomed to hunting for U.S. animation across other carriers. Regardless, the new ad-supported channel will be managed by TELETOON Canada and take advantage of Cartoon Network/Adult Swim's 2,000+ half-hour library. As with the U.S. version of the network, Cartoon Network Canada's daypart will be dedicated to children and teen programming, while the late night hours (9:00pm ET onward) bear the guise of Adult Swim.

"We are honored that Cartoon Network has entrusted TELETOON to manage these two great brands in Canada," Len Cochrane, President, TELETOON Canada, Inc., commented on the agreement. "This marriage between TELETOON and Cartoon Network will grant us the opportunity to offer more cartoons, more stories and more excitement to everyone, everywhere."

Attentive readers may recall that Nickelodeon Canada is about two years old [related A.I. news: "Nick Canada Ready for Launch" (09/2009), and is now actively buttressed by a fully localized consumer products division [recent A.I. news: "NCP Canada on the Move" (08/2011)]. Cartoon Network, approaching its twentieth anniversary, plans to not only bring fully-branded programming of its newer titles to Canadian viewers (such as Adventure Time with Finn & Jake and The Amazing World of Gumball), the children's media group is also working to make the most of several first-run content decisions that will further expose animation fans to Turner's immense, if rarely explored, library.

Adult Swim content of all varieties will accompany the migration north as well. Furthermore, according to press notes, the agreement will give TELETOON the rights to manage both standard and hi-def, linear television, Video on Demand, broadband, and mobile networks/platforms. The launch of Cartoon Network in Canada is scheduled for sometime 2012.