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[5] and it is headquartered in Dubai with offices in Riyadh.[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.
 Channel's "Stoon" logo | |
| Country | United Arab Emirates,[1] Indonesia, Ukraine, Syria |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Arab world Ukraine[2] Indonesia |
| Headquarters | Dubai, UAE[3] |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Arabic (Arab world) Indonesian (Indonesia) |
| Picture format | 576i (4:3 - 16:9 SDTV) |
| Timeshift service | Malyatko TV (2009–2010) (Formerly Spacetoon Малятко) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Spacetoon International[4] |
| Sister channels | Spacetoon 2 Spacetoon Radio Space Power (SPTV) |
| History | |
| Launched | 15 March 2000 (Arabic channel) 2005 (Korean channel) 1 April 2005 (English channel) 24 March 2005 (Indonesia, terrestrial) 31 December 2009 (Ukrainian channel) 18 May 2013 (Indonesia, Telkom-1 satellite) |
| Closed | 2011 (Korean channel) 2010 (Ukrainian channel) 1 January 2011 (English channel) 17 May 2013 (Indonesia, terrestrial) |
| Replaced by | Malyatko TV (Ukraine) NET. (Indonesia, on terrestrial) Spacetoon Indonesia (launch as a channel on Telkom-1 satellite, it was listed as Spacetoon 1) |
| Links | |
| Website | spacetoon |
| Availability (channel space shared with Space Power in Arabic world only) | |
| Streaming media | |
| Live Stream | Spacetoon Arabic |
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]Spacetoon is currently broadcast in 22 countries, and has an audience of over 130 million viewers.[9]
History
Arab world
In 1999, Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation officially signed an agreement to broadcast a children's cartoon channel. On 15 March 2000, Spacetoon officially launched, but as a seven-hour block.[6] Spacetoon 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 channel on Nilesat running 24/7.[6][10]
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.[10]
| |
|---|---|
| Branding | Spacetoon Indonesia |
| Programming | |
| Network | KTV (2018–present) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | H. Sukoyo |
| Spacetoon Plus (2014–present) Previously:
| |
| History | |
| Founded | 8 November 2003 |
First air date | 1 February 2005 (test broadcast) 24 March 2005 (official broadcast) 18 May 2013 (satellite) |
Last air date | 17 May 2013 (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.[11]
| Country | Indonesia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Indonesian |
| History | |
| Launched | 6 September 2014 |
| Closed | 25 August 2017 |
| Replaced by | Spacetoon Indonesia (on Palapa-D satellite) |
| Former names | Spacetoon 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 has now closed down in Telkom-1 satellite.
Currently, Spacetoon have only 2 operated children's television satellite channels, including Spacetoon and Spacetoon Plus.
Programming
Planets
Each of the programs aired were divided in blocks, called "planets", one for each genre:
- 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 the historical series, 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 series and programs for girls, such as Magical Princess Minky Momo.
Censorship
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.[12]
See also
- Animation International
- Game Power 7, game publisher owned by Spacetoon
References
Sources
- "بدأت بثها التجريبي مطلع الشهر الجاري . مستثمرون سعوديون ويابانيون يدشنون قناة مفتوحة للأطفال في البحرين". daharchives.alhayat.com. Al-Hayat. 6 March 2000. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
External links
- Spacetoon Arabic website
- Spacetoon on X
- Spacetoon's channel on YouTube
- Spacetoon's channel on YouTube
- Spacetoon at Anime News Network's encyclopedia (Spacetoon Arabic page)
- Spacetoon at Anime News Network's encyclopedia (Spacetoon Indonesia page)
- Spacetoon Indonesia website
