Background and early years
Turner Broadcasting had built up an extensive catalogue of classic animation throughout the 1980s and beyond, most notably from Ted Turner's short-lived acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1986 and its acquisition of Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991. This library – consisting of Hanna-Barbera cartoons originally produced for Saturday mornings, theatrical Warner Bros. (pre-1948) and MGM cartoons, and the Paramount-produced Popeye the Sailor shorts – was first showcased in dedicated children's programming blocks on TBS and TNT, before migrating to Cartoon Network upon its launch in October 1992.
Two months later, on December 8, Cartoon Network introduced a programming block known as Boomerang. The name carried a double meaning, referring to its purpose as a showcase for older, lesser-known Hanna-Barbera series, as well as the block's target audience of baby boomers, who grew up watching said series during the 1960s and 1970s. Each week, the Boomerang block devoted its lineup to cartoons produced during and prior to a certain year (e.g., 1969 featuring series such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines).
Eventually, following shifts in scheduling for the block and Cartoon Network's increased investments in original programming, Turner launched a standalone Boomerang channel on April 1, 2000.[2] The Cartoon Network block continued to air until October 3, 2004, by which point all remaining classic cartoons (save for Tom and Jerry and various Scooby-Doo series) migrated to the Boomerang channel.
From Boomerang's launch until January 17, 2005, the channel ran its programming in eight-hour blocks that repeated three times a day starting at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Mondays through Thursdays featured regular half-hour and hour-long series, Fridays were dedicated to 24-hour "monthly marathons" of a particular character (a format later reused for the Boomeroyalty block introduced in 2007, by which point it shifted to airing weekends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time), Saturdays continued to air cartoons from a certain calendar year, and Sundays were devoted to action-adventure cartoons under the Boomeraction banner.
Relaunch
On February 4, 2014, during Turner's upfront presentations, it was announced that Boomerang would become an advertising-supported network, and that there were plans to realign the brand globally across its international feeds.[3][4] A new branding style was introduced in late September for Latin America, before arriving in the United States on January 19, 2015. As part of the relaunch, Boomerang would introduce original programming for the first time, particularly focusing on the most well-known franchises from the Warner archives, while reformatting its schedule with family co-viewing in mind. Turner executives described the changes as an effort to grow Boomerang into a "second flagship" on par with the Cartoon Network.[5][6][7]
