Boomerang HQ: A Look Before the Big Switch (part 1)

Well then, two other blogs have been talking about BM HQ/CEE prior to the rebrand. I now felt inspired to do this: a look at BM HQ's history since the channel's start in 2005.

Boomerang Europe started on May 2nd, 2005. The channel launched as a result of the removal of classic shows from CN HQ. The channel's first look, used until 2012, with minor changes, had the Boomerang line drawing the head of a cartoon character. This was part of the European branding introduced in 2004 in the UK, and was also rolled out to other feeds: Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and, when it launched in 2008, Scandinavia.

Boomerang HQ was initially available only in English. It quickly added Polish, Romanian, Hungarian and Arabic audio tracks. The shows that were part of the initial schedule included The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (whose theme song was incorrectly reffered to as "Catch the Pigeon" by Stuart Ashen on his review of a fake Chinese iPhone 5), the Tex Avery MGM shorts, Merrie Melodies, Yogi's Treasure Hunt (which was outsorced to Polish animation studio Studio Filmów Rysunkowych in Bielsko-Biała), Josie and the Pussycats, Snagglepuss and Pixie and Dixie. For a long time, Boomerang Cinema's movies were all movies that CN HQ used to show.

In 2006, the channel premiered some third-party content, some of which already aired on CN HQ: The Mask, Heathcliff, The Raccoons, Count Duckula, and my favorite (ask Michael Bailes): Danger Mouse.

The channel arrived to Portugal in 2007 through AR Telecom and Cabovisão. On May 5th, 2008, the channel launched on ZON (now NOS), thus expanding the channel's availability. This is where I enter the scene: I was so happy and excited about the channel. For months and months, it became my favorite channel and watched it for hours and hours.

Not too long after I got this channel, the NEXT bumpers changed. This remained on the channel for nearly four years.

I'll forever remember the "NEXT" (or was it "LATER") bumper of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo that had a glitched up video. Speaking of that, that show had the Kino Bez Rodziców intro (it was a block that aired in the late 90s/early 2000s on TVP 2 in Poland). I question to myself: did Turner secretly negotiate with TVP? Plus the intro was in Polish once.

Anyway, in 2009 the channel started airing modern shows that CN HQ stopped airing, like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, King Arthur's Disasters (why couldn't Turner buy better crap?) and also Duck Dodgers and The Garfield Show. Pink Panther and Pals and the 1989 Paddington show from Central premiered (I've seen the 1997 version on RTP 2 before then).

On April 1st, 2011, Cabovisão replaced Boomerang with KidsCo (which I never got and will never get it because the channel shut down). It was now available on ZON and Vodafone (which got the channel upon launching their TV offer in 2009). Also that year, an abomination called Puppy in my Pocket premiered, made in Italy (another crap show about a girl saving anthropomorphic dogs from something I can't make heads or tails of - ps... If you got annoyed by my vocabulary as posted today on this text, it's OK - you can turn off the page and do something else, like: sleeping, reading, counting to 10, etc...).

The big event arrived on October 12th: BM HQ was split in two feeds: BM HQ lost the Eastern European coverage to a new feed: BM CEE. A Cartoonito block premiered at the same time.

This is where the channel started to go downhill.

A further step happened on April 2nd, 2012. The channel was now starting to become a mere shadow of it's former self.

The classic cartoons were slowly being replaced by more modern shows and the channel started to cater kids in general. The new look finally gave Boomerang the gift of bumpers during shows, officially ending the reign of LATER bumpers the channel had for a long time.

The only downside of the new look was the repetitive theme it had on all bumpers.

2013 was a grim year for the channel. One one side, they premiered Animaniacs. On another, in the middle of the downhill phase, it was announced in November of 2013 that ZON/NOS would remove the channel. Later on, it was announced that Vodafone would remove the channel as well. The reason was finally known: a localized CN meant the end of the chanticleer hegemony of CN HQ.

2014 started out almost the same, but all of a sudden, the channel felt like bringing back classic shows like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Top Cat. This was a sign that the channel was improving. 

The rebrand came on January 14th, 2015. Fortunately, it did keep the classic shows it had. The Dutch regions are currently getting BM CEE in readiness for the launch of the new BM NL.

Unfortunately, on the 2nd of February, almost all of the classic shows will be removed, in favor of a clone of BM CEE. We still don't know if the channel went full 16:9, all I know is that BM HQ has rebranded, for the worse.

Coming later this weekend: part 2, which focuses on the shows it had.

BM HQ has split up?

Yesterday I came up with the fact that BM HQ will rebrand in the Arab World on February 14th, yet the OSN website is still displaying the same schedule. Could this mean the launch of FTA channel Boomerang Arabia?

The changes at Toonzone

The Retro: Classic Cartoons forum has officially ended it's run and all Boomerang threads have moved to the CN forum, while the aforementioned forum was split into two retro forums: one from the 20s to the 50s and one focusing on Saturday morning cartoons.

Around the World - Episode 7

Hello and welcome to

Also:

I posted a lot of CN HQ-related stuff on #SaveCNHQ's Facebook page and also joined Twitter.

Around the World 6 tomorrow

It will talk about Boomerang, like I said before.

Despite BM HQ's rebrand,

it still has the same schedule with Inspector Gadget being the only addition.
On the morning of February 2nd, most classic cartoons will be removed from the schedule.

Also

#SaveCNHQ needs more followers. A second Facebook like came from the Philippines, so it's nice to see international popularity... for now.

What about Around the World?

It will return this week. It will be an ediiton talking predominantly about Boomerang.

Ninjago premiered this month

It did premiere this week, but I'm not sure.

BM HQ's Facebook page doesn't know about the rebrand

but has posted a TTA promo with the new look.

Your Shout: CN SEA in Tamil

With Tamil being an official language in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia, is there a possibility to add Tamil to the CN SEA language roster? By my knowledge Chutti TV is the only kids channel in Tamil available outside Indian territory.

HISTORIC: Boomerang USA rebranded today

For the first time in nearly 15 years, Boomerang USA has made a stealth rebrand. Today. Without any announcements.

No time to finish my rant now

I must finish the rant later.

What I'm proud of

-A Clarence theme song
-An AT theme song

CN India and the "new" episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog

Next Monday, CN IN will premiere "new" episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog. How come? At first I thought that those were the new episodes made after The Fog of Courage, when, in reality, it's just untransmitted episodes!

OFCOM and cuts

The OFCOM is the organization that is responsible to transmit European CN feeds.
The OFCOM doesn't like seeing objectionable content on kids shows.
Recently Adventure Time premiered in the Czech Republic and they have to air it with cuts.
(rant in progress)

Exorcism

We apologize for what happened in the previous post. The Silver Skull needed to make something about CN PT.

666th post

I AM THE SILVER SKULL. I TOOK OVER THE 666TH POST JUST TO TELL THE WORLD THAT A PORTUGUESE BLOKE'S THEORY THAT NOBODY LIKED CN HQ IS TRUE, AND THAT THE DEVILISH CN PT IS THE CLOSEST THING PORTUGAL GETS TO HELL. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I AM A GENIUS! A GENIUS OF TELLING THAT CRAP CHANNELS ARE LITERALLY THE CLOSEST THING TO HELL ON A COUNTRY'S AUDIOVISUAL INDUSTRY.

Czech AT dub

Preamble
The dub in question

Chris Morris

This is the six-year old hamster of Elmore Junior High.

This is the creator of The Day Today.

Coincidence?

After all, BM HQ rebranded today

So technically that February 2nd rebrand date was just a fraud. On February 2nd, the channel will have a major schedule change but considering that BM HQ now has the new EMEA website design introduced last week by BM FR and that Inspector Gadget premiered today, then BM HQ rebranded today and not in February.

Chinese bootleg CN shows

This is episode one of the Chinese bootleg version of AT, called Legend of Lucky Pie (幸運派伝説). Notice the similarities:

The same studio (?) also has a pastiche of The Amazing World of Gumball called Miracle Star (奇奇妙乐星). This show is a co-production with Sanyuan Foods. Again: notice the similarities:

In other words, this must be a giant commercial for a brand of milk that exists in China. Is this the reason why 91kt shut down?

Toonami Thailand launched today

Today marked the launch of Toonami Thailand. I've seen a promo for it while watching Boomerang Thailand last Wednesday.
The promo said that it will be avialable on PSI's free-to-air satellite service on channel 90.

New CN store in Asia

The following is a large picture of a new CN store that opened on the IOI Mall in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
When will we get one?

No more EEnE on CN HQ

Bad news, the last remaining showings of Ed, Edd n Eddy on CN HQ (for now) have been replaced by the Incredible Crew (and dsepite not getting this abomination, I still pretend that I still have CN HQ over here)!

Summer near the Equator

Click here and watch it at your own risk

ABC

Adult Swim
Boomerang
Cartoon Network
or

or:
Cartoon Network
Adult Swim
Boomerang
That means:

ELLO GOV'NOR!!!

The first BM HQ rebrand promo is not a rebrand promo

The promo above is a sign that the rebrand is coming: widescreen (it appears as being 4:3 apart from the OSN end board), which means that rebrand = 16:9 BM HQ, also KSA instead of CET.
The endboard added by OSN uses CartoonNetRulzz's remake of the logo instead of the official logo.

CN UK is now offered on Expat Vision

It's the first time in a year (at the very least) that an Anglophone feed of Cartoon Network has been broadcast by a TV provider.
In this case, it's a first on Expat providers which generally rely on Freeview channels: Expat Vision. They have a package which comprises of almost 200 channels. They already had Cartoonito in the past.
They have CN UK now but not CN HQ as the channel doesn't broadcast to the UK.

Inspector Gadget on Super RTL

Super RTL is now showing Inspector Gadget. This new CGI remake premiered last week on BM FR and will make it's Portuguese debut on Canal Panda soon. My EPG reaads it as INSPECTOR GADGET (DE), is that a sign of things to come?

Big Centre TV

What happens when you mix this:

with this:

and put it in a blender? This is the result:

Once again, Toonzone is down

This is the first time such a thing happens this year.
I just don't like it, they always want us to check their Twitter account for more details.
Like I said before, that is not true.
EDIT: Now it works! That was quick.

UTV Ireland

First came CN HQ being replaced by CN PT.
Then came KBS World being replaced in Latin American homes by KBS World Latino, but this time due to requests from all those Korean Wave fans in the region, the success of it led to the creation of a stream offered by KBS World Asia and Europe.
And now, the most anticipated of them all: UTV Ireland.

UTV Ireland has been on the plans since November 6th, 2013, around the same time as the announcement that ZON/NOS was going to remove Boomerang, but before grim news on the replacement of CN HQ by CN PT.
And much like we've been missing on shows like Regular Show for a few months, they are now missing out on Benidorm, to which the seventh season premiered right after the launch of the channel, and also the British morning chat shows like Good Morning Britain, Lorraine or This Morning.
This is so mediatic that it went past the news.
Also, the last known announcer who seems to appear on screen in the UK, Julien Simmons, the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipowered bloke will no longer be seen in the Republic of Ireland.
Also, people want the "old" UTV back to Irish screens and complement it, much like my dare to see CN HQ and CN PT complement each other on TV providers. It's a dare and a wish.
But this is due to legal issues - UTV NI will never return to Ireland. Many people are complaining about the fact that they can't see UTV NI on their screens anymore and that UTV IE is very badly-treated because it's far worse than UTV NI, according to people on Twitter.

The tragedies in France continue

Still with the recurring theme of the Charlie Hebdo, this time with vandalism of a mosque near a kebab restaurant.
We're still fighting for freedom of speech. This blog's Facebook page now has the "Je Suis Charlie" image.

Water Sons

Last Tuesday, someone on the computer room was playing the TAWOGB game Water Sons on Friv. Friv is popular in my school, by the look of things.

More on the Charlie Hebdo massacre

I know this doesn't have to do with the blog's main focus but I've heard the news.
Some information on the three men has been confirmed.
Two of the shooters are of Algerian descent and have been trained by an extremist organization that killed journalists in recent months.
Eleven cartoonists were killed last morning. We must avoid a future terrorist attack in Portugal.
Most Portuguese newspapers are Charlie Hebdos today in mourning of the recent attack of freedom of speech in France.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Je suis Charlie.

I Am Charlie

"Seeing humor with the answer of violence and death - is, sadly, the end of the world."
-Nuno Markl
First came the Danish newspaper's depiction of Muhammad.
Then came the controversial South Park episode.
Then came the trailer for the alleged Innocence of Muslims movie, with protests around the world.
Then came the controversy with CN Arabic and a kiss scene on Young Justice.
And now this: three men kill cartoonists working for the satirical newspaper because they put the publication on the target of Muslim extremism: Charlie Hebdo published caricatures of Muhammad, much like Jyllands-Posten back in 2005, thus stopping the operations.
Like I said before, this is not the first time this happens. There have been controversies with various schools around the world to forbid Christmas celebrations because of Muslim issues and with the growing Islamization of Turkey through school textbooks.
Something similar happened in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan by prohibiting the Russian version of Christmas introduced via Soviet rule decades earlier.
This is the first international tragedy of 2015. Let's try avoiding any future attack in Portugal. Let's have a minute of silence thinking about this tragic situation.
---ARABIC VERSION---
"رؤية النكتة مع الجواب من العنف والموت - هو، للأسف، ونهاية العالم."
-Nuno Markl
جاء اولا تصوير الصحيفة الدنمركية محمد.
ثم جاء ساوث بارك المثيرة للجدل الحلقة.
ثم جاء مقطورة لالبراءة المزعومة للمسلمين الفيلم، مع الاحتجاجات في جميع أنحاء العالم.
ثم جاء الخلاف مع كرتون نتورك بالعربية ومشهد قبلة على العدالة الصغيرة.
والآن هذا: ثلاثة رجال يقتل رسامي الكاريكاتير يعملون لحساب صحيفة ساخرة لأنها وضعت نشر على الهدف من التطرف الإسلامي: مجلة شارلي ابدو نشرت الرسوم الكاريكاتورية للنبي محمد، مثل الكثير من صحيفة يولاندس بوستن مرة في عام 2005، وبالتالي وقف العمليات.
كما قلت من قبل، ليست هذه هي المرة الأولى التي يحدث هذا. وكانت هناك خلافات مع مختلف المدارس في جميع أنحاء العالم لتمنع احتفالات عيد الميلاد بسبب قضايا المسلمين ومع أسلمة متزايدة من تركيا من خلال الكتب المدرسية.
شيء مماثل حدث في أوزبكستان وطاجيكستان تحظر النسخة الروسية من عيد الميلاد قدم عبر العقود الحكم السوفيتي السابق.
وهذا هو أول مأساة الدولية للعام 2015. دعونا نحاول تجنب أي هجوم مستقبلي في البرتغال. دعونا دقيقة صمت التفكير في هذا الوضع المأساوي.

Again, CN+

Turns out that it has been available since mid-2012 at the very least.

Twitter issues solved

twitter.com/RegularTweetsUK has reinstated this blog's live feed, after a month which started qith the quick RegularGate.

The Prophecy of Luke Bevan

「無意味な死であった
 と…言わせない
最後のひとりになるまで……
Once again, TZ user RegularCapital has seen another episode of TAWOGB where the Merry Hill/Elmore Mall appears, the episode being The Pizza.

On January 15th, CN USA will premiere a new episode: The Oracle, where Gumball will run naked in the mall.
Now Luke had dreams where he was running naked at Merry Hill. Something that happens very often, but I don't have that kind of dream.
Have the script-makers been reading the forums? Ben Bocquelet himself was on the Toonzone forums but only posted twice during the show's development.
Congratulations Luke Bevan, you now have a prophecy with your name.

Nuno Markl is now a fan of Gumball

And Darwin, and Anais, and Nicole, and Richard, and all those voices which are awful to me in Portuguese.
Now I think about how I really wanted to do Richard before the official dubs came.

Oggy's Triumph

It seems that CN SEA and the two subfeeds it has (PH and TW) have lost the rights to air Oggy and the Cockroaches. CN JP airs it to a low amount of fans, CN KR aired it with only a few fans of it.
The new rights holder for the region will be Nickelodeon. This decision will also affect India, where Nickelodeon has regained the rights to air it.

Man Cartman

There's a Toonzone user whose main intuition is to post fake information: BM UK to rebrand on January 5th (which I assume that it won't happen), TT GO!'s cancellation and why the delay on the production of Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.
I relied on his Boomerang rebrand info for only a few hours before he continued on posting all those lies.

Still no news of Dr. Dimensionpants

And it will come to CN PT later this month! CN HQ is safe for now! La la la la, la la la, la la la la...

Now what?

It seems that with no Cartoon Cartoons during most of the day the schedule reeks of 2013 and Dark Ages all over it. Plus Boomerang has a schedule similar to BM CEE, which is a shame.

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu coming to CN HQ in February

A late arrival, but suddenly it's 2013 all over again. CN HQ will premiere Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu next month with only one daily showing.

#SaveCNHQ now on Facebook

Click here, it's still in test phase.

IT'S OFFICIAL - BM HQ to rebrand on February 2nd, 2015

You're reading it here first.
I've been checking OSN's website and I have sad news - BM HQ will rebrand on the same date as BM CEE.
BM HQ will premiere Inspector Gadger on January 14th - 19 days before the rebrand date.
The schedule displayed on the OSN website isn't promising - it will be almost the same schedule as BM CEE.
All classics will be removed with the exception of Tom and Jerry shorts which will air overnight.
This marks the end of almost an entire decade of BM HQ's devotion to classic cartoons. A channel which started to go downhill in 2011 and started to remove classic shows as the months were on.
The last time BM HQ had a full-on rebrand (according to my old blog) was on April 2nd 2012 while BM CEE rebranded the previous month.
And with that, I conclude saying:
Thanks for the hours of fun I had while watching your channel since 2008. I liked your channel so much I sparsely had any other favorite channel back then. I still watched CN HQ but that was during the Dark Ages, but fortunately things improved for CN but not for Boomerang.

First post of 2015

Ten minutes later, I return.
Welcome to 2015.
2015 with hopes that CN HQ, BM HQ and TCM HQ will return (this all counts as a single wish).