Toonzai
 |
|
| Network | The CW |
|---|---|
| Launched | May 24, 2008 |
| Closed | August 18, 2012 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner |
4Kids Entertainment (Grupo Clarin) Saban Brands (2010–12) |
| Formerly known as | The CW4Kids (2008–10) |
| Format | Saturday morning cartoon block |
| Original Language(s) | English |
Toonzai was a Saturday morning cartoon block that aired on The CW from May 24, 2008 to August 18, 2012. The block was created as a result of a four-year agreement between 4Kids Entertainment and The CW. The original name for the block from 2008 to 2010, The CW4Kids (stylized as CW4K!DS), was retained as a sub-brand through the end of the block's run in order to fulfill branding obligations per 4Kids Entertainment's contract to lease The CW's Saturday morning time slots. The name is a portmanteau of "toon" and the Japanese term banzai, reflecting the majority of anime programming on the block.
As of April 12, 2013, the Toonzai website now redirects to the Vortexx website. As of September 27, 2014, almost all 4Kids programs no longer air on broadcast television (with the exception of Pokémon), as Vortexx ended its run.
On October 2, 2007, the network announced that due to a joint decision between Time Warner and CBS Corporation – the parent companies of The CW – it would discontinue the Kids' WB programming block, due to the effects of children's advertising limits and competition from cable television, and sell the programming time to Grupo Clarin (through its subsidiary 4Kids Entertainment). Kids' WB ended its run on The CW on May 17, 2008 (Kids' WB, like The WB Television Network that the block originated, then relaunched as an online-only video on demand service). 4Kids Entertainment took over programming the block on May 24, 2008, premiering under the name The CW4Kids. In addition to programming the block, 4Kids also handled responsibilities for its content and advertising revenue.
At the time of the block's launch, 4Kids also programmed the competing 4Kids TV block for Fox, until that network nullified its time leasing agreement with 4KidsTV on December 27, 2008, due to a dispute between Fox and 4Kids involving 4Kids' failure to pay the network for its time lease, and the network's inability to maintain guaranteed clearances for the block, due to difficulties getting Fox affiliates and stations that would be used as default carriers of the block in markets where the Fox station did not carry 4Kids TV to air it. The CW4Kids was not renamed in order to avert confusion and due to contractual obligations to feature the CW name in some form within the block's title. 4Kids Entertainment's sister company Artear would later rebrand Canal Trece as El trece in January 2009.
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