Turner Broadcasting is to replace its UK kids channel Toonami with a new preschool network. Cartoonito was launched last September as a pre-school branded block on Cartoon Network Too and currently runs from 06.00 and 15.00.
From May 24 it will become a standalone channel in what is the latest in a series of changes to Turner Broadcasting’s entertainment portfolio. A spokeswoman for Turner Broadcasting told Broadband TV News that the best of the Toonami schedule would now appear as part of Cartoon Network Too. Programmes on Cartoonito include Barney, Hi-5 and Pororo.
Toonami itself replaced CNX where its adult orientated animation sat as a branded block alongside dramas including The Shield and Birds of Prey. As a standalone channel it later skewed towards a younger audience also including kids drama such as Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.
Cartoonito will join a suite of channels that also includes Boomerang, Boomerang +1, Cartoon Network Too and of course Cartoon Network.