Warner Bros. Discovery And Weigel Broadcasting To Rollout New Children's Channel, MeTV Toons

Classic TV network MeTV is turning its cartoon block into a new network. Owner Weigel Broadcasting Co. announced Wednesday that it will launch MeTV Toons as a new national TV network focused on classic animation, “from Hollywood-era shorts to made-for-television favorites.”

MeTV Toons, which launches June 25, is a collab between Weigel and Warner Bros. Discovery, which has licensed content featuring its animated characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, George Jetson, Top Cat, Yogi Bear, Popeye, Johnny Quest and Fred Flintstone. (MeTV already airs a daily program, “Toon In With Me,” which features a heavy emphasis on Warner bros. animated fare.)

Weigel touts MeTV Toons as “the only TV network destination dedicated exclusively to classic animation” — as Warner Bros. Discovery’s Cartoon Network companion Boomerang, which also runs old Looney Tunes, “The Jetsons,” “The Flintstones,” “Scooby-Doo” and Popeye shorts, also runs some more recent, post-2000 cartoon episodes.

Beyond Warner Bros. titles, MeTV Toons will also feature animated content from other studios and distributors, with properties including Rocky and Bullwinkle, Woody Woodpecker, Casper, Betty Boop and Speed Racer.

“We are honored to work with the amazing team at Warner Bros. Discovery and others on this network and bring together a truly incredible collection of the world’s best known and most loved classic cartoons, creating a new destination for everyone to discover or rediscover the sheer joy of watching cartoons on TV,” said Weigel vice chairman Neal Sabin. “MeTV Toons will be dedicated 24/7 to showcasing the biggest names and most beloved classic cartoons and animated characters. Everyone has a favorite cartoon; it is a universally loved art form. We are thrilled to bring those smiles and memories back to TV with MeTV Toons.”

Sabin added in an executive briefing on Wednesday: “The cartoons offered are going to help make this be the greatest animation network ever. Everybody has a favorite cartoon — just just think about the cartoons that you watched when you were younger and the nice warm, fuzzy feelings that they bring back. We’re going to bring those back to people every day in the MeTV way of doing things and this network is going to appeal to all ages and advertisers. It’s going to be multi-studio, multi-platform and multi-generational. It’s MeTV Toons, and it’s going to be really special.”

As part of the channel launch, animation historian Jerry Beck (whose books include “The 50 Greatest Cartoons,” “The Hanna-Barbera Treasury” and “Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Warner Bros. Cartoons”) will help produce original content related to the MeTV Toons library. Also, character actor Bob Bergen — who has voiced Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian and more, will serve as the signature voice announcer for MeTV Toons.

MeTV Toons will be available for distribution on over-the-air broadcast television, traditional and virtual operators, along with a complimentary offering for ad-supported streaming services. Besides MeTV and MeTV Toons, other Weigel networks include Heroes & Icons, Start TV, Catchy Comedy, Movies!, Story Television, Dabl and MeTV+.

“Neal and the team at Weigel have been long-standing and innovative licensing partners of Warner Bros. content for decades,”, said David Decker, president of content sales for Warner Bros. Discovery, in a statement. “Having some of the Studio’s most iconic animated characters all available in one place is not only great for fans of classic animation, but also just super fun.”

Disney And Warner Bros. Discovery To Rollout Bundled Disney+ And Max Streamer

The companies are aiming to launch the bundle this summer. The exact launch date and the price point have not yet been announced, but plans call for both ad-free and ad-supported versions to be available.

The move creates the first cross-company partnership for any of the top-tier services to come to market as the race to catch up with Netflix began in earnest about five years ago. It follows years of speculation and public musings by top executives about when bundling across the industry might reduce friction and begin to make streaming more cost-efficient for programmers and consumers alike. Pay-TV operators long served as third-party bundlers in the cable age, but while distribution deals with the likes of Roku and Amazon are key to any streaming service gaining traction, it’s mostly every-app-for-itself in the streaming era.

Churn, the industry term for the number of canceled subscriptions in a given period, has been a nagging problem for media companies. For decades, they had grown accustomed to the far more stable patterns of pay-TV, which was built on a foundation of long-term contracts and physical equipment. In the realm of direct-to-consumer internet businesses, a tap of an app can vaporize revenue, one of the many reasons why companies have been looking more closely at bundling, especially with cord-cutting ravaging their pay-TV network holdings.

Viewers, meanwhile, complain of a dizzying landscape of apps and titles filling their screens, making the simple act of finding something to watch a grueling process. The “endless scroll” of Netflix and later imitators has amplified Bruce Springsteen’s fabled lament about “57 channels and nothin’ on.”

Within companies, synergistic bundling has been commonplace for several years, with Disney in the vanguard with its successful troika of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Many players are taking the next step and more fully consolidating services. Max last year rebranded from HBO Max and added Discovery+ programming. Disney has been steadily bringing its flanker services into closer alignment with flagship Disney+, adding a Hulu tile to Disney+ earlier this year and planning an ESPN one later this year.

In yet another sign of the times, Paramount+ and Showtime’s streaming service fully merged in 2023. Paramount Global’s recent travails and efforts to finalize a potential merger have also been accompanied by speculation that Paramount+ would be ripe for the kind of bundle announced by Disney and WBD. Comcast and Paramount had held talks about a Peacock-P+ combo, but those discussions reportedly faltered due to disputes over control.

Disney, despite rolling up all of Hulu in a buyout of Comcast’s one-third stake in recent months, has shown increased interest in joint ventures. It recently teamed with Fox Corp. and WBD on a sports-focused streaming bundle. That still-unnamed service, nicknamed “Spulu,” is due to launch this fall.

Brands to be showcased in the new Disney-WBD bundle include ABC, CNN, DC, Discovery, Disney, Food Network, FX, HBO, HGTV, Hulu, Marvel, Pixar, Searchlight and Warner Bros. The new offering will be available for purchase on any of the three streaming platforms’ websites.

“On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, President, Direct to Consumer, Disney Entertainment. “This incredible new partnership puts subscribers first, giving them access to blockbuster films, originals, and three massive libraries featuring the very best brands and entertainment in streaming today.”

“This new offering delivers for consumers the greatest collection of entertainment for the best value in streaming, and will help drive incremental subscribers and much stronger retention,” said JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Offering this unprecedented entertainment value for fans across all the complimentary genres these three services offer, presents a powerful new roadmap for the future of the industry.”

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BabyTV Is Adding Four New Original Shows To Its 2024 Lineup

Disney-owned BabyTV, which runs 24/7 commercial-free programming for babies and toddlers, is adding four new original series to its 2024 lineup.

First up on June 3 is Bug ‘N’ Play (30 x five minutes), a 2D-animated series about three bug friends (pictured) who learn to problem-solve while playing with forgotten toys in their yard.

Launching on August 5 is a 30 x five-minute show called Travelers, featuring a mix of live action and animation. In each episode, human hosts Perry and Harley demonstrate how life’s challenges can be overcome with humor and determination.

This will be followed on October 7 by My Robot & I (20 x five minutes), a CG-animated series showcasing the positive relationship between a curious girl and her new robotic companion.

And finally, Olly (30 x five minutes) is due out on November 4, with CG-animated episodes about a playful monkey who learns valuable lessons and problem-solving skills through fun role-play situations with his friends.

All four shows will launch globally on BabyTV’s linear channel first, and then roll out a month later on the BabyTV app. Streaming dates on Disney+ are TBD for now.

The BabyTV linear channel is available in more than 80 countries worldwide, and content on the app is dubbed into 18 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese Brazil, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch and Norwegian.