Spacetoon

Spacetoon
Channel's "Stoon" logo
CountryUnited Arab Emirates,[1] Indonesia, Ukraine, Syria
Broadcast areaArab world
Ukraine[2]
Indonesia
HeadquartersDamascus, Syria (formerly)[3]
Dubai, UAE
Programming
Language(s)Arabic (Arab world)
Indonesian (Indonesia)
Picture format576i (4:3 - 16:9 SDTV)
Timeshift serviceMalyatko TV (2009–2010) (Formerly Spacetoon Малятко)
Ownership
OwnerSpacetoon International[4]
Sister channelsSpacetoon 2
Spacetoon Radio
Space Power (SPTV)
History
Launched15 March 2000; 24 years ago (2000-03-15) (Arabic channel)
24 March 2005; 19 years ago (2005-03-24) (Indonesia, terrestrial)
1 April 2005; 19 years ago (2005-04-01) (English and Korean)
31 December 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12-31) (Ukrainian channel)
18 May 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-18) (Indonesia, Telkom-1 satellite)
Closed25 March 2010; 14 years ago (2010-03-25) (Ukrainian channel)
1 January 2011; 13 years ago (2011-01-01) (English channel)
15 November 2011; 12 years ago (2011-11-15) (Korean channel)
17 May 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-17) (Indonesia, terrestrial)
Replaced byMalyatko TV (Ukraine)
NET. (Indonesia, on terrestrial)
Spacetoon Indonesia (launch as a channel on Telkom-1 satellite, it was listed as Spacetoon 1)
Links
Websitespacetoon.com
Availability (channel space shared with Space Power in Arabic world only)
Streaming media
Live StreamSpacetoon Arabic

Spacetoon (Arabic: سبيستون or سبيس تون) is a pan-Arab free-to-air television channel that specializes in animation and children programs. It began broadcasting on 15 March 2000 in Damascus,[5] and it is currently headquartered in Dubai.[6] The channel targets children from 4 and up. Its late night block Space Power is targeted at teenagers and young adults. The Spacetoon company also maintains a video-on-demand app called Spacetoon Go. It is informally referred to as Stoon.

The Spacetoon company has had two now-defunct channels in the Arab world, Space Power TV and Spacetoon English.

The main Indonesian channel began airing on 24 March 2005 in Jakarta.[7] It later became NET., and its broadcast remains on satellite television. Currently, there are three Spacetoon channels in Indonesia: Spacetoon, Space Shopping and Spacetoon Plus. In India, Spacetoon India exists as licensing company, but not as a separate TV channel. In South Korea, Spacetoon launched in 2005 but has since closed down.[8] A Turkish feed is scheduled to release soon.[9]

Spacetoon is currently broadcast in 22 countries, and has an audience of over 130 million viewers.[10]

History

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Arab world

[edit]

In 1999, Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation officially signed an agreement to broadcast a children's cartoon channel. On 15 March 2000, Spacetoon began trial broadcasting as a seven-hour block on Bahrain TV.[6] It continued to air this way until the contract ended on 12 January 2002, according to a statement issued by the Ministry. Later, in 2004, Spacetoon moved its headquarters to Dubai and was established as an independent television channel on Nilesat.[6][11]

In the Arab world, the majority of programs are dubbed in modern standard Arabic. Spacetoon is very closely affiliated with Venus Center, a Syrian dubbing company which has historically provided the Arabic dubbed versions of the programming, and whose voice actors usually were the announcers for the shows between the years 2001-2015. Using modern standard Arabic in dubbing played a crucial role in maintaining the use of the dialect in childhood, which was especially significant given the context of emerging spoken Arabic dialects.[11]

Indonesia

[edit]
Spacetoon
  • Indonesia Stock Exchange Tower 2nd Floor (Jakarta)
    Banten (until 2013)
  • Indonesia
BrandingSpacetoon Indonesia
Programming
NetworkKTV (2018–present)
Ownership
OwnerH. Sukoyo
Spacetoon Plus (2014–present)

Previously:

  • TV-M (2013)
  • Alam TV (2008–2013)
History
Founded8 November 2003; 21 years ago (2003-11-08)
First air date
1 February 2005; 19 years ago (2005-02-01) (test broadcast)
24 March 2005; 19 years ago (2005-03-24) (official broadcast)
18 May 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-18) (satellite)
Last air date
17 May 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-17) (terrestrial)
(8 years, 55 days)
Various

In Indonesia, Spacetoon officially launched on 24 March 2005. The network was founded by H. Sukoyo, co-founder of TV7. When it was launched, Spacetoon broadcast from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. WIB. Later, broadcast timings were extended from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. When programming ended, a 10-minute section filled with animation, songs, or messages for children was shown. During mid-2011, due to financial problems, Spacetoon began broadcasting some home-shopping programs and alternative medicine programs.

In March 2013, 95% of Spacetoon ownership stakes were acquired by Net Visi Media. On 18 May 2013, Spacetoon officially moved to satellite television, due to NET. having a trial broadcast on terrestrial network before it was officially launched a week later.[12]

SpaceShopping
CountryIndonesia
Broadcast areaNationwide (via satellite)
Programming
Language(s)Indonesian
History
Launched6 September 2014; 10 years ago (2014-09-06)
Closed25 August 2017; 7 years ago (2017-08-25)
Replaced bySpacetoon Indonesia (on Palapa-D satellite)
Former namesSpacetoon 2 (2014–2016)

In September 2014, Spacetoon split into two channels: Spacetoon and Spacetoon 2. Spacetoon 2 broadcast more cartoon and animation than Spacetoon, although it still broadcast some home-shopping programs. In May 2016, Spacetoon added another channel, Spacetoon 3. It had clearer audio than Spacetoon and Spacetoon 2, but was closed down on October of the same year. In November 2016, Spacetoon 2 was renamed as Space Shopping due to the home shopping programmes contributing the most revenue to the channel, which overall had little income.

On 25 August 2017, the channel closed down on Telkom-1 satellite.

Currently, Spacetoon only operates two children's television satellite channels, including Spacetoon and Spacetoon Plus.

Ukraine

[edit]

On 31 December 2009, the Ukrainian kids channel, Malyatko TV (Ukrainian: Малятко TV), has changed its logo and its name to Spacetoon Malyatko (Ukrainian: Spacetoon Малятко) at midnight. The differences is that there are Christmas variants of the 10 planets and their theme songs. The shows also were dubbed in Ukrainian.

On 25 March 2010, Spacetoon Malyatko changed its name to Malyatko TV. The reason for the termination of cooperation was failure of partners to fulfill their obligations.

Programming

[edit]

Programming is categorized into sections marketed as planets, one for each genre:[11]

  • Action Planet (أکشن) (planet of excitement and mystery) for action series, such as Dragon Ball and Iron Kid.
  • Sport Planet (رياضة) (planet of challenge and strength) for sports series and programs, such as Inazuma Eleven.
  • Adventures Planet (مغامرات) (planet of imagination and thrill) for adventure series, such as Future Boy Conan.
  • Comedy Planet (كوميديا) (planet of laughter) for comedy series, such as Woody Woodpecker, Tom & Jerry Kids, The Pink Panther.
  • Movies Planet (أفلام) (planet of all colors) for animated movies.
  • Abjad Planet (أبجد) (planet of numbers and letters) for educational programs, such as Pappyland.
  • Bon Bon Planet (بون بون) (planet of big heroes) for preschool programs, such as Thomas & Friends.
  • History Planet (تاريخ) (planet of time immemorial) (former, 2000–2013) for series focused on history, such as Liberty's Kids.
  • Science Planet (علوم) (planet of discovery and knowledge) for educational science programs, such as Inspector Gadget's Field Trip.
  • Zomoroda Planet (زمردة) (means "emerald" in Arabic, planet just for girls) for programs oriented for female audiences, such as Magical Princess Minky Momo.

Censorship

[edit]

Programs aired on Spacetoon sometimes have aspects that are censored from their source material. In particular, scenes can be cropped or truncated in order to avoid showing excessive violence to viewers. This has been seen in programs such as Detective Conan, Romeo's Blue Skies, and Hunter × Hunter. Hunter × Hunter was also subject to the censorship of the depiction of Zen Buddhism and Taoism as related to the characters' powers, with the censored version opting to present their powers as a science and martial art. Selective cropping and editing are also used to hide cleavages and remove innuendo.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Banks, Miranda; Conor, Bridget; Mayer, Vicki (3 July 2015). Production Studies, The Sequel!: Cultural Studies of Global Media Industries. Routledge. ISBN 9781317567103 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Spacetoon Ukraine joins the family of Spacetoon Kids Channels".
  3. ^ "Spacetoon International - Middle East & Dubai Global Headquarter". 16 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Spacetoon Store | Toys in Saudi Arabia | Copyright Compliance Policy". store.spacetoon.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. ^ Joe Khalil; Marwan M. Kraidy (12 November 2009). Arab Television Industries. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-84457-576-3.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b c "An appetite for animation in the UAE". BroadcastPro ME. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  7. ^ Sunarto (2009). Televisi, kekerasan, dan perempuan (in Indonesian). Penerbit Buku Kompas. p. 96. ISBN 978-979-709-415-7.
  8. ^ "Spacetoon International - Korea Area of Operation". 6 September 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Spacetoon Group celebrates 40 years of bringing anime to the MENA region". Arab News Japan. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Spacetoon, ALC Announce New Broadcast and Licensing Deals for MENA". Animation World Network. 29 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "Spacetoon: Reliving Childhood Through Every Theme Song | Egyptian Streets". 29 August 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  12. ^ Fathoni, Achmad Robbi (20 February 2023). Bagus Z, Erizky (ed.). "Masih Ingat dengan Siaran TV Spacetoon? Ternyata Ini Alasannya Kenapa Hilang dari Indonesia". Harian Haluan (in Indonesian).
  13. ^ "The wholesome social engineering behind Arabic-dubbed anime". TRT World. Retrieved 30 April 2022.

Sources

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