Cartoon Network International News Thread 27.0

[Zzman]

The SD continuity bugs me... I honestly wish we merged into another feed atp

not likely for obvious reasons the SD continuity is strange though probably something with the playout

 

[zQwmy]

Not quite, it's just that until late 2022 they rendered EVERYTHING in SD only for some reason

And we don't see this happen on any other channels besides the UK ones

@CricketDoodle the one used for fallback is this one:

 

[Francisque]

OT: even Sky owned and played out HD channels (like NAT Geo HD, which was played by Sky) had an SD upscaled continuity for long, in the UK.

Unlike in Italy and Germany, where continuity has long been played in HD! Since 2006, including the fantastic HD-intended idents of Nat Geo HD that British viewers would watch upscaled.

My guess is that the Sky British HD playouts couldn't handle HD continuity with live and non-live audio announcements added onto the idents, and announcements are inexistent in Italy.

But Sky eventually sorted this out in the mid-2010s, unlike WBD in 2026!

 

[RegularMan]

OT: even Sky owned and played out HD channels (like NAT Geo HD, which was played by Sky) had an SD upscaled continuity for long, in the UK.

Unlike in Italy and Germany, where continuity has long been played in HD! Since 2006, including the fantastic HD-intended idents of Nat Geo HD that British viewers would watch upscaled.

My guess is that the Sky British HD playouts couldn't handle HD continuity with live and non-live audio announcements added onto the idents, and announcements are inexistent in Italy.

But Sky eventually sorted this out in the mid-2010s, unlike WBD in 2026!

Also OT: I thought Italy had a relatively slow HD uptake, seeing as the main 7 wouldn’t permanently begin to adopt it until 2012.

 

[Francisque]

Also OT: I thought Italy had a relatively slow HD uptake, seeing as the main 7 wouldn’t permanently begin to adopt it until 2012.

That's correct, it took time to push it.

Overall, it got there, but chaotically, as that's the case for Italy .

But Sky Italy pushed it quite well since 2009.
But Sky UK did it more organically and organized , with a wider array of HD channels already since 2006

 

[zakawer2]

Cartoon Network Western Europe and Cartoon Network Eastern Europe for some inexplicable reason only mention timeslots on non-English audio tracks (excluding the Serbian, Croatian and Slovene audio tracks where the promos and bumpers are left in English), unlike the similarly textless Cartoon Network RSEE which actually used to specify timeslots (in CET) on the English audio track.

Imagine having to switch to a non-English audio track just to figure out exactly when a given program airs on the channel (HBO Max releases notwithstanding).

Cartoon Network UK is arguably even worse in that regard since that feed is English-only.

 

[The Bloo Lagoon]

30 years ago today, Cartoon Network officially launched in Hungary, initially as a block on M1.
(What I mean under it is the Hungarian-dubbed history. The English-language EMEA feed from 3 years prior would rather count as a soft-launch.)

 

[Zzman]

when was the last time any CN emea feed aired movies? CN africa airs movies all the time that (from the point of view of an african) its kind of jarring seeing the rest air zero movies

 

[The Bloo Lagoon]

when was the last time any CN emea feed aired movies? CN africa airs movies all the time that (from the point of view of an african) its kind of jarring seeing the rest air zero movies

For CEE, maybe 2018 with the 16:9 switch?
If Popcorn Time doesn't count.

 

[flaboyblast]

Why don't we have this special in CEE?

 

[Markus]

Cartoon Network Western Europe and Cartoon Network Eastern Europe for some inexplicable reason only mention timeslots on non-English audio tracks (excluding the Serbian, Croatian and Slovene audio tracks where the promos and bumpers are left in English), unlike the similarly textless Cartoon Network RSEE which actually used to specify timeslots (in CET) on the English audio track.

Imagine having to switch to a non-English audio track just to figure out exactly when a given program airs on the channel (HBO Max releases notwithstanding).

That's not a problem anymore as there's timeslot text in the end of the promos for new episodes. Definitely a good compromise. Plus there are barely people who watch the channel in English. Over here the ratings are lower than most kids networks. We are only talking about some thousands of people watching the feed in English.

 

[zakawer2]

That's not a problem anymore as there's timeslot text in the end of the promos for new episodes. Definitely a good compromise. Plus there are barely people who watch the channel in English. Over here the ratings are lower than most kids networks. We are only talking about some thousands of people watching the feed in English.

Yeah, but it doesn't include visual day-of-the-week indicators. The Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, French, German and Portuguese audio tracks might mention the timeslots, but the English audio track (which, believe it or not, is actually needed in Iceland for the general population and in Finland for the Finnish-speaking population) simply does not, which can actually adversely impact the Finnish- and Icelandic-speaking people who need Cartoon Network in English simply because there isn't a Cartoon Network in their language (although people in Finland who specifically want to watch Cartoon Network programming in Finnish can use HBO Max instead).

Also, the English audio track of Cartoon Network Eastern Europe, unlike the Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Russian audio tracks, makes no spoken mention of timeslots either. This can adversely affect non-Russian-speaking viewers in Estonia and Latvia who need to be able to watch the channel in English (as opposed to Russian), viewers in Lithuania, as well as viewers in Balkan countries besides Bulgaria and Romania who have to watch the channel in English, Serbian, Croatian or Slovene; furthermore the Serbian, Croatian and Slovene audio tracks of Cartoon Network leave promos and bumpers in English, unlike Nickelodeon which actually has those dubbed too. People in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who specifically want to watch some Cartoon Network programming in their own national language (even if it's lectored and not properly dubbed) can use HBO Max instead.

And besides, Cartoon Network MENA doesn't even need to mention timeslots in the audio, because it literally displays three timeslots in its promos (CET, KSA time and UAE time) all at once and uses English text pretty much like this:
MONDAY–FRIDAY
5:30 PM KSA
6:30 PM UAE
4:30 PM CET

For Cartoon Network Western Europe, it could've looked like this:
[×] [×] [×] [×] [×] [_] [_]
16:30 GMT
17:30 CET
18:30 EET

And for Cartoon Network Eastern Europe, we could do it like this:
[×] [×] [×] [×] [×] [_] [_]
17:30 CET
18:30 EET

If there are time-shifted feeds for certain countries and territories, we might need to make some adjustments in that regard.

Also, if you're really that serious about watching Cartoon Network programming in English, HBO Max is always an option too.

 

[RandomMe]

when was the last time any CN emea feed aired movies? CN africa airs movies all the time that (from the point of view of an african) its kind of jarring seeing the rest air zero movies

PT stopped airing movies at the end of August 2024, in the transitional phase to CN WE

 

[Markus]

I think you take this thing seriously like it affects you irl. You don't even watch CN because you prefer streaming. It is what it is but what they currently have with timeslot numbers on the promos is better than it used to be when I basically had to check EPG just to see when new episodes air.

In the Baltics and Finland people are used to calculate. We know we aren't part of the CET timezone and know that only y a very few kids channels are localized.

It also has to do with budget cuts. Likely the announcer has one take during each promo unless a mistake happens.

 

[JulianRO]

And besides, Cartoon Network MENA doesn't even need to mention timeslots in the audio, because it literally displays three timeslots in its promos (CET, KSA time and UAE time) all at once and uses English text pretty much like this:
MONDAY–FRIDAY
5:30 PM KSA
6:30 PM UAE
4:30 PM CET

For Cartoon Network Western Europe, it could've looked like this:
[×] [×] [×] [×] [×] [_] [_]
16:30 GMT
17:30 CET
18:30 EET

And for Cartoon Network Eastern Europe, we could do it like this:
[×] [×] [×] [×] [×] [_] [_]
17:30 CET
18:30 EET

We aren't in the 90s-2000s anymore. Also, CN isn't a documentary channel, like ID, Animal Planet, etc.

 

[Zzman]

i have the the opposite opinion I think what zakawer2 sayed could work

PT stopped airing movies at the end of August 2024, in the transitional phase to CN WE

yeah i remember CN Portugal airing many movies nowadays in Portugal Disney has movies rights (at least on linear) good thing CN Africa still airs movies, gives the channel more flavor than other feeds

 

[RandomMe]

I think the last movie was Polar Express? That was at the very end of August 2024

 

[Francisque]

i have the the opposite opinion I think what zakawer2 sayed could work

yeah i remember CN Portugal airing many movies nowadays in Portugal Disney has movies rights (at least on linear) good thing CN Africa still airs movies, gives the channel more flavor than other feeds

Mmmm I don't think so, about what zakawer mentioned

Plus, there are time shifted feeds now, which make CET-EET and so on mentions, already confusing for older people on "normal" channels, useless for the WBD kids channels.

I think it is better to stick with simplicity, regardless, and the use of English is more controversial on kids channels in Europe.
It is a case of it is what it is

That's not a problem anymore as there's timeslot text in the end of the promos for new episodes. Definitely a good compromise. Plus there are barely people who watch the channel in English. Over here the ratings are lower than most kids networks. We are only talking about some thousands of people watching the feed in English.

Well, saying at least time on the English audio track is not far fetched, and not something impossible to do

Especially as it's a very small thing to change.

My comment referred more to adding CET/EET/whatever, which is, quite "heavy" and messy to do

 

[zakawer2]

Mmmm I don't think so, about what zakawer mentioned

Plus, there are time shifted feeds now, which make CET-EET and so on mentions, already confusing for older people on "normal" channels, useless for the WBD kids channels.

I think it is better to stick with simplicity, regardless, and the use of English is more controversial on kids channels in Europe.
It is a case of it is what it is

Well, saying at least time on the English audio track is not far fetched, and not something impossible to do

Especially as it's a very small thing to change.

My comment referred more to adding CET/EET/whatever, which is, quite "heavy" and messy to do

If every single market that gets Cartoon Network has a time-shifted feed such that a program airs at 6:30 PM or 18:30 in Portugal, Denmark and Finland all at the same time, then listing multiple time zones isn't necessary.

But if that's not truly the case, then any markets that use different time zones must be marked in promos. For instance, 18:30 EUR/19:30 FIN.

 

[Markus]

Well, saying at least time on the English audio track is not far fetched, and not something impossible to do

Especially as it's a very small thing to change.

It's not impossible but still a good enough situation that they at least got the times written. I can at least appreciate them that much that I no longer need to check the EPG. Things could be worse like they are in the UK.

Hopefully they will improve and say the times but it's one of those things I'm not concerned about. Numbers aren't as controversial as English text.

Zakawer, We don't need Finnish times written as the ratings aren't good enough compared to Discovery Channel and such. CN is not close to being a documentary channel.