Boomerang

About Boomerang

Overview

Boomerang is an American cable television network owned by the Global Linear Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery, devoted primarily to animated programming from the Warner Bros. Animation library — including Warner Bros. Cartoons and Hanna-Barbera productions. The network began on December 8, 1992, as a programming block on Cartoon Network dedicated to classic animation, and spun off into its own standalone channel on April 1, 2000. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Boomerang has served for more than two decades as the television home for generations of classic cartoons, from the theatrical shorts of the golden age of animation to the Hanna-Barbera television cartoons of the 1960s through the 1980s. In 2015 the network was relaunched as a "second flagship" brand alongside Cartoon Network, adding contemporary reboots and original programming to its classic foundation. A standalone Boomerang streaming service operated from April 11, 2017, until September 30, 2024, when it closed and its content was merged into HBO Max. As of November 2023, the linear channel was available to approximately 26 million pay television households in the United States, down from its peak of 47 million households in 2019.

Origins as a Cartoon Network Block

Boomerang debuted on December 8, 1992 — less than two months after Cartoon Network itself launched — as a programming block devoted to classic animation from the Warner Bros. library. The block gave Cartoon Network a dedicated home for the older cartoons in its holdings, including the theatrical shorts and Hanna-Barbera series that had been staples of television syndication for decades. As Cartoon Network increasingly shifted toward original contemporary programming through the 1990s — a phenomenon sometimes called "channel drift" — the classic cartoons needed a new home. The block continued on Cartoon Network until October 3, 2004, by which point the standalone channel had been operating for more than four years.

Launch as a Standalone Channel

Boomerang launched as its own cable channel on April 1, 2000, originally branded "Boomerang from Cartoon Network." The new network inherited the classic-animation mission of the block, airing Hanna-Barbera series such as "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Yogi Bear," and "Top Cat," along with more obscure titles like "Where's Huddles?" and "The Roman Holidays." As Cartoon Network progressively abandoned its theatrical cartoon shorts, Boomerang added them to its schedule, becoming one of the only American channels where classic Looney Tunes shorts continued to air regularly. The channel's early years were defined by this archival role: a museum of American television animation, commercial television's memory bank for the cartoons of the mid-20th century.

The Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. Libraries

The foundation of Boomerang's schedule has always been the vast animation libraries controlled by Warner Bros. The Hanna-Barbera catalog — built by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of Tom and Jerry, and encompassing hundreds of series from "The Huckleberry Hound Show" through "Scooby-Doo" — provides the channel with its most recognizable television animation. The Warner Bros. Cartoons theatrical library supplies the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. Together, these libraries represent the single largest collection of classic American animation under one corporate roof, and Boomerang has been their principal television showcase. The channel's rerun rotation has at times been narrowed — as of late 2019, its Looney Tunes rotation focused on post-1948 shorts — but it has remained the most consistent American television outlet for these cartoons.

The 2015 Relaunch

On January 19, 2015, Boomerang was relaunched with new branding aimed at promoting it as a "second flagship" brand alongside Cartoon Network. The relaunch marked a strategic shift: rather than serving purely as an archive for classic cartoons, Boomerang would also carry contemporary programming, including reruns of current and recent Cartoon Network series and original productions focused on reboots of legacy franchises such as Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo. Series associated with this era include "The Tom and Jerry Show," "Wabbit" (later "New Looney Tunes"), "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?," and "The Looney Tunes Show," alongside "Baby Looney Tunes," "Duck Dodgers," "Taz-Mania," and "The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries." The network also premiered new episodes of series such as "Sonic Boom" ahead of their Cartoon Network encores. The relaunch gave Boomerang a dual identity: part classic-cartoon archive, part contemporary animation channel.

The Boomerang Streaming Service

On April 11, 2017, Warner Bros. launched a standalone Boomerang subscription streaming service, an over-the-top offering focused on classic cartoons from the Warner Bros. Animation library. The service was conceived as a direct-to-consumer home for the classic animation that had less room on the linear schedules, offering thousands of episodes of Hanna-Barbera series, Looney Tunes shorts, and other library content. The streaming service operated for more than seven years before closing on September 30, 2024, when its subscribers and content were migrated into HBO Max, Warner Bros. Discovery's flagship streaming platform. The closure consolidated the company's classic-animation streaming offering within Max rather than maintaining a separate niche service.

Ownership and Corporate Structure

Boomerang is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and operates within the company's Global Linear Networks division. The network is part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., with Michael Ouweleen serving as president. Its sister channels include Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Cartoonito on the animation side, along with the broader Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio: TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Food Network, HGTV, TLC, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies, OWN, HLN, American Heroes Channel, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, Cooking Channel, and Magnolia Network. Originally part of Turner Broadcasting System, the channel's assets were redistributed within Warner Bros. Discovery following corporate reorganizations, placing Boomerang under the Warner Bros. umbrella.

Headquarters in Atlanta

Boomerang is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the historic home of Turner Broadcasting and Cartoon Network. Atlanta's role as the operational center for the company's animation networks dates to Ted Turner's cable empire, and the city's animation and production community has grown around these institutions. The channel broadcasts nationwide in English — with a Spanish-language simulcast also available — in 720p high definition, downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the standard-definition feed.

Distribution and Availability

Boomerang's linear distribution has declined significantly in recent years, from a peak of approximately 47 million pay television households in 2019 to about 26 million households as of November 2023. The channel is carried by major cable, satellite, and telco providers, as well as by virtual multichannel distributors including DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, and Sling TV. Its classic-animation library is also extensively represented on HBO Max, which absorbed the Boomerang streaming service's content in 2024. The migration of classic cartoons to streaming has been central to the brand's strategy as linear carriage has contracted: the cartoons remain widely available, even as the linear channel reaches fewer homes.

Cultural Role

For more than three decades — first as a block, then as a channel — Boomerang has been American television's principal custodian of classic animation. It introduced multiple generations of children to the theatrical cartoons and Hanna-Barbera series that defined mid-20th-century American popular culture, and it remains one of the only places on American television where classic Looney Tunes shorts air regularly. The 2015 relaunch's "second flagship" positioning acknowledged that the brand had outgrown its purely archival origins, while the streaming service era demonstrated the enduring commercial value of the classic-animation library. Even as the linear channel's footprint has shrunk, the Boomerang brand continues to signify the Warner Bros. animation heritage.

How to Watch

Boomerang is available to pay television subscribers nationwide through cable, satellite, and telco providers, as well as through live-TV streaming services including DirecTV Stream, Hulu with Live TV, and Sling TV. The channel's classic-animation library is also extensively available on demand through HBO Max. Program schedules and show information are published on the channel's official website at www.boomerang.com.

In summary: Boomerang began on December 8, 1992, as a classic-animation block on Cartoon Network and became a standalone channel on April 1, 2000, originally branded "Boomerang from Cartoon Network." Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Networks and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, it airs animated programming from the Warner Bros. Animation library — Warner Bros. Cartoons and Hanna-Barbera productions including Looney Tunes, "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Scooby-Doo," and "Yogi Bear." A January 2015 relaunch repositioned it as a "second flagship" alongside Cartoon Network with contemporary reboots and originals; a standalone streaming service ran from April 2017 to September 2024 before merging into HBO Max. Available to roughly 26 million pay-TV households as of November 2023, Boomerang remains American television's home for classic animation.