History of Cartoon Network (in universe)

= History of Cartoon Network (but in an alternate reality) = Cartoon Network is an American basic cable and satellite television network that is part of the Turner Broadcasting System division of WarnerMedia, which focuses on animated programs aimed at children and teenagers.

Early history (1979–1984)
Cartoon Network launched on April 1, 1979 as Nickelodeon on Warner Cable franchises across the country. Nickelodeon's original name was proposed by New York based creative director/designer Joseph Iozzi, who also created the channel's first logo and original advertising campaign. Iozzi saw the word "nickelodeon" as a natural fit for the proposed children's channel: "The Nickelodeon was a turn of the century device for dispensing entertainment. The sound of the word was nice and rolled off the tongue easily". Hauser ultimately selected Iozzi's proposal out of a list out of 150 names. The other proposed names for the channel included The Savoy Channel and The Rainbow Network.

The first model ever used in a Nickelodeon advertisement was the designer's son, Joseph Iozzi II, while the logo's font was designed by Lubalin, Smith, Carnase, Inc. The intent of Iozzi was to replace the graphic of the line illustration of the man peering into the Nickelodeon with a period illustration of a boy in nickers, British flat cap, big suspenders, tip toed on a stylish iron train step looking into the Nickelodeon font. Available time and new management never permitted the planned re-design.

The young network quickly expanded its audience reach, first to other Warner Cable systems across the country, and eventually to other cable providers. It was distributed via satellite on RCA Satcom-1, which went into orbit one week earlier on March 26 – originally transmitted on transponder space purchased from televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Despite its prior history on the QUBE system under the Pinwheel name, Nickelodeon has designated 1979 as the year of the channel's official launch.Initial programming on Nickelodeon included Video Comics, Pinwheel (which was transferred from the QUBE service), America Goes Bananaz, Nickel Flicks, and By the Way, all of which originated at the QUBE studios in Columbus. The network's original logo incorporated a man looking into a Nickelodeon machine that was placed in the "N" in the wordmark; this was replaced the following year by another wordmark with the "Nickelodeon" text in Pinwheel's logo typeface. As Nickelodeon originally operated as a commercial-free service, the network ran interstitials between programs, consisting of a male mime doing tricks in front of a black background. At the time of its launch, Nickelodeon's programming aired for thirteen hours each weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and for fourteen hours on weekends from 8:00 a.m. to midnight Eastern and Pacific Time. Premium cable network Star Channel (which later relaunched as The Movie Channel in November 1979) would take over the channel space after Nickelodeon's broadcast day ended. On September 14 of that year, American Express reached an agreement with Warner Communications to buy 50% of Warner Cable Corporation for $175 million in cash and short-term notes. Through the formation of the joint venture, which was incorporated in December 1979, Star Channel and Nickelodeon were folded into Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (later Warner-Amex Cable Communications), a company which handled the operations of the group's cable channels (Warner Cable was folded into a separate jointly owned unit, the Warner Cable Corporation).New shows were added to the lineup in 1980, including Dusty's Treehouse, First Row Features, Special Delivery, What Will They Think Of Next? and Livewire. In 1981, the network introduced a new logo, consisting of a disco ball overlaid by multicolored "Nickelodeon" text. Late that year, the Canadian sketch comedy series You Can't Do That on Television made its American debut on Nickelodeon, becoming its first hit series. The green slime originally featured on that program was later adopted by Nickelodeon as a primary feature of many of its shows, including the game show Double Dare. Other shows that were part of Nickelodeon's regular schedule during its early years included The Third Eye, Standby...Lights! Camera! Action! and Mr. Wizard's World.

1984–1989
Nickelodeon struggled at first, operating at a loss of $10 million by 1984. The network had lacked successful programs (shows on the network that failed to gain traction during its first few years included Against the Odds and Going Great), which stagnated viewership, at one point finishing dead last among all U.S. cable channels. After firing its management staff, Warner-Amex president Bob Pittman turned to Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman, who created MTV's iconic IDs a few years earlier, to reinvigorate Nickelodeon, leading to what many believe to be the channel's "golden age". Seibert and Goodman's company, Fred/Alan Inc., teamed up with Tom Corey and Scott Nash of the advertising firm Corey McPherson Nash to rebrand the network. The "pinball" logo was replaced with a new one featuring varied orange backgrounds (most notably a "splat" design) with the "Nickelodeon" name overlaid in the Balloon typeface, which would be used in hundreds of different variations over the next 25 years. Fred/Alan also enlisted the help of animators, writers, producers and doo-wop group The Jive Five (best known for their 1961 hit "My True Story") to create new channel IDs. Within six months of the rebranding, Nickelodeon would become the dominant channel in children's programming and remained so for 26 years, even in the midst of increasing competition in more recent years from other kids-oriented cable channels such as Disney Channel and MTV Kids. It also began promoting itself as "The First Kids' Network", due to its status as the first American television network aimed at children. Along with the rebrand, Nickelodeon began accepting traditional advertising.

In the summer of 1984, A&E announced that it would become a separate 24-hour channel as of January 1985. After A&E stopped sharing its channel space, Nickelodeon simply went to a test pattern screen after it signed off for the night. Pittman tasked general manager Geraldine Laybourne to develop programming for the vacated timeslot; to help with ideas, Laybourne enlisted Seibert and Goodman, who conceived the idea of a classic television block modeled after the "Greatest Hits of All Time" oldies radio format after being presented with over 200 episodes of The Donna Reed Show. On July 1, 1985, Nickelodeon officially became a 24-hour service with the launch of the new nighttime block, Nick at Nite, in the 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific time period. That same year, American Express sold its stake in Warner-Amex to Turner Broadcasting System for $685 million, renaming it to Turner-Warner. In 1988, the network aired the inaugural Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (previously known as The Big Ballot), a telecast in the vein of the People's Choice Awards in which viewers select their favorites in television, movies and sports. It also introduced an educational program block for preschool-age children called Nick Jr., which replaced the former Pinwheel block.

1990s
On June 7, 1990, Nickelodeon opened Nickelodeon Studios, a hybrid television production facility/attraction at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida, where many of its sitcoms and game shows were filmed. It also entered into a multimillion-dollar joint marketing agreement with Pizza Hut, which provided a new kid-targeted publication Nickelodeon Magazine for free at the chain's participating restaurants.

On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon debuted its first original animated series – Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren & Stimpy Show – under the Nicktoons banner. The development of these programs was a reversal of the network's previous concerns, as Nickelodeon had previously refused to produce weekly animated series due to the high production costs. The three series found success by 1993, resulting in the creation of the network's fourth Nicktoon, Rocko's Modern Life, which also became a success. Later, Nickelodeon partnered with Sony Wonder (currently of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) to release episode compilations of the network's programs on VHS, which became top sellers, until 1996, after which Nickelodeon switched its distribution to Paramount Home Entertainment, with Paramount re-releasing episode compilations of the network's Nicktoons on VHS. Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show would both end production around that time; however, Doug would be revived in 1996 as part of ABC's Saturday morning lineup. Rugrats, on the other hand, returned from hiatus on May 9, 1997 (reruns continued to air up until that point).

In 1992, Nickelodeon established Games Animation for it's animated programming. On August 15, 1992, the network extended its Saturday schedule by two hours, with the launch of a primetime block called SNICK from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time; over the years, SNICK became home to shows such as Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Clarissa Explains It All, All That, The Amanda Show, and Kenan & Kel. In 2004, the block was reformatted as the Saturday edition of TEENick, which originally debuted on Sunday evenings in 2000. The Saturday night block continues today and was not officially branded from 2009 to 2012, when the "Gotta See Saturdays" brand was adopted for the Saturday morning and primetime blocks; the TEENick branding, with its spelling altered to TeenNick, has since been used on the Nickelodeon sister channel previously known as The N. After a three-year absence following suspension of the publication in 1990, Nickelodeon resumed Nickelodeon Magazine under a pay/subscription model in June 1993. In March 1993, the channel enlisted the help of viewers to come up with new shapes in which to display its iconic orange logo in the network's promotions. The designs chosen – a cap, a balloon, a gear, a rocket and a top, among other shapes – were mainly 3D renderings, and debuted alongside a new promotional graphics package in June 1993. The success of the Saturday primetime block led Nickelodeon to expand its programming into primetime on other nights in 1996, with the extension of its broadcast day to 8:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (and later extended to 9:00 p.m. from 1998 to 2009) on Sunday through Friday nights. In 1993, the Nicktoons banner was retooled into a programming block and was renamed Cartoon Network, though the Nicktoons name would still be used to refer to individual shows until 1995 with the introduction of the block-in-a-block Cartoon Cartoons. The block was also made available to TBS and TNT to promote the network. The first program produced after the rename would be The Moxy Show, an anthology series.

In 1994, Nickelodeon launched The Big Help, which spawned a spin-off program The Big Green Help in 2007; the program is intended to encourage activity and environmental preservation by children. That same year, Nickelodeon removed You Can't Do That on Television from its schedule after a 13-year run and subsequently debuted a new sketch comedy show, All That. For many years, until its cancellation in 2005, All That would launch the careers of several actors and actresses including Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, and Jamie Lynn Spears. Dan Schneider, one of the show's executive producers, would go on to create and produce numerous hit series for Nickelodeon including The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and iCarly, and would later produce shows for MTV Kids including, Zoey 101, Victorious, Sam & Cat, Henry Danger, and Game Shakers. Also in 1994, Nickelodeon debuted the Nicktoon Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, which would also become a hit series. In October and December 1994, Nickelodeon sold a syndication package of Halloween and Christmas-themed episodes of its Nicktoons to television stations across the United States, in conjunction with then-new corporate relative, Paramount Domestic Television. Also in 1994, Nick at Nite launched its first original animated program, Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Later in 1994, Cartoon Network Studios was established as a joint venture between Games Animation and Hanna-Barbera. The company's first production was What a Cartoon!, which offered shorts and was an attempt to increase production quality and budgeting.

In 1996, Time Warner and Turner merged, which resulted in Turner-Warner effectively being dissolved and a new company named The Nickelodeon Company was established for managing the channel, meaning Nickelodeon was now wholly operated by Turner. On February 13, 1996, Herb Scannell was named president of Nickelodeon for ten years, succeeding Geraldine Laybourne. Around that time, Nick at Nite and the latter's recently launched the spinoff channel TV Land. In 1997, Albie Hecht became president of film and television entertainment for Nickelodeon before leaving to be president of the Viacom network TNN (now called Spike) by 2003.

In 1997, Nickelodeon launched a new action block-in-a-block (for Cartoon Network) entitled Toonami. Its lineup initially consisted of 1980s reruns of Robotech and Thundercats. However, new shows were introduced and they consisted of action cartoons and anime, such as Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo!, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and Dragon Ball Z. Toonami was hosted by Moltar from the Space Ghost franchise until 1999, where Toonami was later hosted by its own original character, a muscular teenage robot named TOM.

1997 was a watershed year for Nickelodeon. Up through the 1990s, Saturday morning cartoons had been the most popular children's programs on television. In part because of the imposition of educational television mandates on all broadcast stations in 1996, Nickelodeon and other children's-oriented cable networks (never subject to those mandates as they did not broadcast over the air) now had an advantage in not having to have its programs comply with the mandate. By 1997, Nickelodeon's Saturday morning lineup had shot ahead of all of its broadcast competition, where it would remain for the next several years.

Nickelodeon released its first feature-length film in theaters in 1996, an adaptation of the Louise Fitzhugh novel Harriet the Spy starring Michelle Trachtenberg and Rosie O'Donnell. The film went on to earn twice its $13 million budget. Two years after Harriet's success, Nickelodeon developed its popular Rugrats cartoon onto the big screen with The Rugrats Movie, which grossed more than $100 million in the United States and became the first non-Disney animated movie to surpass that amount. Then in 1999, the channel debuted the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, which became the most popular Nicktoon in the channel's history, and has remained very popular to this day, consistently ranking as the channel's highest-rated series since 2000.

2000s
One new original series premiered in 2000: Sheep in the Big City. On April 1, Nick launched a digital cable and satellite channel known as Boomerang, featuring retro animated series and shorts.

Three new original series premiered in 2001: Time Squad, Samurai Jack, Invader Zim, and Grim & Evil. On June 18, Betty Cohen, who had served as Nick's president since its founding, left due to creative disagreements with Jamie Kellner, then-head of Turner Broadcasting. On August 22, Jim Samples was appointed general manager and Executive Vice President of the network, replacing Cohen. Nick at Nite was rebranded as Adult Swim on September 2 with an emphasis on original programming, with an episode of Home Movies. The initial lineup consisted of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, The Brak Show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

In 2002, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? and Codename: Kids Next Door premiered; the former was short-lived, but the latter became a juggernaut for the network in the mid-2000s. The first theatrical film based on an original Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, was released on July 3, 2002. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $16.4 million globally on a budget of $11 million. On October 1 of that year, Cartoon Network celebrated their tenth anniversary, with a montage showcasing the network's various phases over the years.

2003 saw the debuts of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne, both spinoffs of Grim & Evil. On October 3, the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block was rebooted in a live-action format as "Fridays", hosted by Tommy Snider and Nzinga Blake (2003–2004), the latter of which was later replaced by Tara Sands (2005–2007). It aired several new Cartoon Network series, most of which did not bear the "Cartoon Cartoon" sub-brand. Acquired shows started picking up again with Totally Spies! the following year in the fall.

In March 2004, Nickelodeon and Adult Swim were separated in the Nielsen primetime and total day ratings, due to the different programming, advertisers and target audiences between the two services. This caused controversy by cable executives believing this manipulated the ratings, given that Adult Swim's broadcast day took up only a fraction of Nickelodeon's programming schedule at the time. Nickelodeon and Adult Swim's respective ratings periods encompass only the hours they each operate under the total day rankings, though Nickelodeon only is rated for the daytime ratings; this is due to a ruling by Nielsen in July 2004 that networks must program for 51% or more of a daypart to qualify for ratings for a particular daypart. In 2004, Cartoon Network premiered four new original series: Megas XLR, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and Code Lyoko (which was also an acquired series). On June 14, Nickelodeon rebranded itself as Cartoon Network and discontinued live-action and preschool programming (selling all live-action programmes as well as the Noggin. channel and its programmes to Viacom for their MTV Kids channel). The rebrand included an updated version of the blocks logo (with the checkerboard motif retained and the "C" and "N" being the centerpiece) and a new slogan, "This is Cartoon Network!" This also resulted in Games Animation and Hannah-Barbara being merged into Cartoon Network Studios and The Nickelodeon Company being renamed The Cartoon Network, Inc. (However, the Nickelodeon trademark is still being used to refer to Cartoon Network's original television and theatrical films.) The bumpers introduced as part of the rebrand featured 2D cartoon characters from its shows interacting in a CGI city composed of sets from their shows. These bumpers lasted from 2004 to 2007. By now, nearly all of Cartoon Network's classic programming had been relocated to its sister network Boomerang to make way for new programming. The city era returned in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode and Cartoon Network special "Crossover Nexus".

Nickelodeon Studios closed in 2005 and was converted into the Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre in 2007. In 2005, Cartoon Network premiered the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which became a hit series for the network.

2005 saw the debuts of four more original series: The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Ben 10. From 2005 to 2008, most of the network's older Cartoon Cartoons (such as Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls) could be viewed in segments on a half-hour block known as The Cartoon Cartoon Show.

After its predecessor, What a Cartoon!, Cartoon Network created an all-new animated short series consisting of overseas shorts, pilots, college shorts, or even shorts created for the show itself. That show was called Sunday Pants; it first aired on the day of October 2, 2005. Sunday Pants varies on different types of animation, from traditional hand-drawn animation to Flash, or even CGI, possibly making it similar to other shows such as Liquid Television on MTV or KaBlam! on MTV Kids. The show was created by Craig "Sven" Gordon and Stuart Hill, and was produced at Spitfire Studios. The show has a similar concept to What a Cartoon!, except that the shorts are 1–3 minutes long and the show is squeezed to be 23 minutes (without commercials). There are animated and live-action intervals in-between shorts. The live-action ones are performed by American band The Slacks, while the animated ones are animated by WeFail. The show lasted for less than a month, with its final airing taking place on October 23, 2005. In January 2006, the show was announced to be returning the month after but said return never came to fruition and the series was ultimately cancelled.

Two new Cartoon Network original series premiered in 2006: Squirrel Boy and Class of 3000. Two made-for-TV movies debuted this year: Codename: Kids Next Door – Operation Z.E.R.O. and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Good Wilt Hunting.

Samples resigned from his post on February 9, 2007, following a bomb scare in Boston caused by packages left around the city that were part of an outdoor marketing campaign promoting the Adult Swim series Aqua Teen Hunger Force. On May 2, Stuart Snyder was named Samples' successor. On September 1, the network's look was revamped, with bumpers and station IDs themed to The Hives song "Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented." 2007 saw the debut of the series Chowder. In late 2007, The network began broadcasting programs from Canadian channels such as YTV and Teletoon, including George of the Jungle, 6teen, Storm Hawks, League of Super Evil, Chaotic, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Stoked, and the Total Drama series.

Cartoon Network announced at its 2008 upfront that it was working on a new project called The Cartoonstitute, which was headed by animators Craig McCracken as executive producer and Rob Renzetti as supervising producer. Both reported to Rob Sorcher, who created the idea. It would have worked similar to What a Cartoon!, by creating at least 150 pieces of animation within 20 months. Cartoonstitute was eventually cancelled, and out of all the shorts, two or three, Regular Show, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome and Uncle Grandpa, were selected, after animator Craig McCracken (creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) left the network after 15 years in 2009. On September 20, 2008, Cartoon Network ended Toonami after its 11-year run. From 2008 to 2010, Cartoon Network aired animated shorts that served as interstitials between programs, called Wedgies, which included The Talented Mr. Bixby, Nacho Bear, Big Baby and The Bremen Avenue Experience. On July 14, 2008, the network took on a refreshed look created by Tristan Eaton and animated by Crew972. The bumpers of that era had white, faceless characters called Noods, based on the DIY toy, Munny. These characters had many variations that made them look like characters from different CN shows. The standard network logo was changed to be white, adopting different colors based on the occasion in the same style.

2010–present
A new identity for the channel was introduced on May 29, 2010, along with a new theme and new bumpers, and a new tagline, "CHECK it". The branding, designed by Brand New School, makes heavy use of the black and white checkerboard which made up the network's first logo (and was carried over in a minimized form to the second logo), as well as various CMYK color variations and various patterns. On December 27, 2010, Adult Swim expanded by one hour, moving its start time from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. In February 2011, Cartoon Network aired its first sports award show Hall of Game Awards, hosted that year by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

At its 2011 upfront, Cartoon Network announced 12 new series, including The Problem Solverz (originally planned for Adult Swim, but switched to CN for being “too cute”), The Amazing World of Gumball, The Looney Tunes Show, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, Green Lantern, DreamWorks Dragons (a series based on the DreamWorks film, How to Train Your Dragon), Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, the 4th season of Total Drama; ThunderCats, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and Ben 10: Omniverse. The network announced it planned to debut a new programming block called DC Nation which would focus on the DC superheroes, the first being the series Green Lantern.

On February 2, 2012, Corus Entertainment and Astral Media, owners of Teletoon, announced they would launch a Canadian version of Cartoon Network that also includes a version of the U.S. network's Adult Swim nighttime block. The channel launched on July 4, 2012.

On March 18, 2012, Cartoon Network aired its first documentary, Speak Up, an anti-bullying campaign featuring a special appearance by President Barack Obama. On April 28, 2013, the network aired the CNN half-hour documentary The Bully Effect, which details the story of teenager Alex Libby and his struggle with bullying in high school. The special is based on the 2011 film Bully directed by Lee Hirsch.

In 2012, Cartoon Network announced new programming for the upcoming year, including Teen Titans Go!, Uncle Grandpa, Steven Universe, I Heart Tuesdays (which never went through production), Clarence, Total Drama: All-Stars, Grojband, Beware the Batman, The Tom and Jerry Show, and Legends of Chima; and a new Powerpuff Girls special, the latter of which aired on January 20, 2014.

On May 20, 2013, Cartoon Network gave a refresh to its look by adding new bumpers, graphics, and sounds. A short animation was created for each show, and these animations were used when featuring the show in Next bumpers. The background used in its promos and bumpers was also changed from black to white.

On March 6, 2014, Stuart Snyder was confirmed to have been removed as president and COO of The Cartoon Network Inc. after company changes. On July 16, 2014, Christina Miller was named his successor as president and general manager of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Boomerang.

On March 31, 2014, Cartoon Network's 8 pm ET/PT primetime hour was given to its night time block Adult Swim, causing new episodes of the network's programming to change timeslots.

On October 21, 2014, Cartoon Network, along with CNN and Boomerang, were taken off the Dish Network in the United States after Turner Broadcasting declined to renew its contract with the Dish Network. The channels were restored on November 21, 2014.

On May 30, 2016, Cartoon Network USA refreshed the channel with a new graphics package based on previous rebrands in the Check It family called "Dimensional". The new graphics were developed by Bent Design Lab and feature various characters in 3D CGI, stop-motion, and 2D graphic techniques. Branding and marketing agency Troika developed the "Dimensional" style guide, a list of rules on how the graphics should be implemented on the channel. In September 2016, the network took back an extra hour from its Adult Swim block, ending its broadcasting daily at 9 pm in order to air new episodes of Regular Show later. This was later reversed on December 5, 2016.

On January 26, 2018, the network announced that it will launch a brand new cruise ship, the Cartoon Network Wave, in late 2018, in a partnership between Turner Broadcasting and Oceanic Group.

On May 1st, Cartoon Network premiered a three-hour programming block entitled CNsplat. The block would air older animated shows that premiered when the network was still called Nickelodeon. It's initial lineup included Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Invader Zim, and Ed Edd & Eddy.

On October 29, 2018, Cartoon Network announced it was going to establish its first amusement hotel since the network's era as Nickelodeon in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, expected to open in Summer 2019. The company is working with Palace Entertainment to "offer fun and unexpected ways to experience the animated worlds of Cartoon Network from the moment of arrival," according to current president Christina Miller.

Since 2016, the network has begun to produce TV movies based on its older properties, including those of Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, and Invader Zim. The former has aired on Cartoon Network so far, while the latter two are in the works and are set to air in the near future.