MeTV Toons - One Year Later

 On June 25, 2024, MeTV Toons launched nationwide as an over-the-air classic animation channel aimed towards older adult audiences, In partnership with Warner Bros Entertainment (who is a creative consultant and programming partner), Weigel Broadcasting gave viewers who wanted classic cartoons a channel that celebrated the medium with showcased dedicated to Looney Tunes, MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Fleischer, Harveytoons, Screen Gems, UPA, Jay Ward, Total Television, Gerry Anderson, and Walter Lantz. Rarities not seen on broadcast television in decades, including a few that haven't aired since they first aired, were found on MeTV Toons. 

In short, it was a cartoon channel we haven't seen since, well, the original Cartoon Network launched in 1992.

A bud of mine, The Real Don East, made this homage video to Cartoon Network's original pre-launch promo for MeTV Toons. It fits quite well with what the new channel had to offer because it had all of the same shows CN had at launch.

There was a LOT of hype before MeTV Toons launched. It was exactly what a lot of classic cartoon fans wanted to see in an animation channel. Way too many people were whining about what's NOT on it than what's on it. 

Heaven knows there are still far too many folks who want Cartoon Network Studios originals on MeTV Toons, even though historically, those shows were the reasons CN and Boomerang dramatically decreased the older programs that are the core of what MeTV Toons is about. Heaven knows we don't need to give a mouse a cookie here, folks. 

By the way, in case you were wondering, no, MeTV Toons will NOT be affected by the impending Warner Bros Discovery split because, as I have reminded you time and time again, WB doesn't own the channel - Weigel does - and the studio's only there as a consultant and program partner since a bulk of the network's lineup comes from WBA. NOT Cartoon Network.

I wanted to give a report about the first year of MeTV Toons. Truth be told, not much has changed since I gave my mid-year report back in January. Mind you, a few things have developed since then. 

Rocky & Bullwinkle left the lineup rather abruptly in February due to some internal problems between Wildbrain (the series' distributor) and Jay Ward Productions (the series' owner). Shows like Silverhawks, Superfriends, Plastic Man, and Go-Bots aired on the late-night lineup. The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest joined the Saturday morning lineup airing for the first time on broadcast television and for the first time anywhere in about 25 years. A bunch of surprising Scooby-Doo spinoffs, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue and Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated joined the network's rotation. The original 1987 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was announced as an acquisition that will premiere later in 2025. The biggest expansion of programming happened when the House of Hanna-Barbera made its mark on MeTV Toons. Not only did it bring classic HB shorts to the lineup, but it also brought in The Yogi Bear Show, The Magilla Gorilla Show, and surprisingly, The Huckleberry Hound Show (sorry, no Quick Draw McGraw Show... yet). Other classic shows are still primed to premiere on the channel in the coming months. 

For classic animation fans, MeTV Toons is a virtual nirvana and a fan favorite, especially to those who have access to it.

And that's an issue I and many others are still dealing with.

MeTV Toons is available in much of the country on free OTA television. At the time of this writing (June 2025), it's in 75% of the nation's households and in most of the top 50 markets over-the-air. That said, MeTV Toons is also on paid streaming services like Frndly TV and Philo and coming soon to DirecTV. While those paid services are nice, it would be even nicer to get MeTV Toons over-the-air in your local market. 

I live in such a market, Hampton Roads, Virginia. MeTV Toons is currently on WSKY-TV 4 in my market. Unfortunately, it's not easily accessible over-the-air in the metro area. What's even more frustrating is that the channels aren't even accessible on the local cable system, Cox Communications, even though WSKY's main programming as well as a pair of its diginets, Start TV and MOVIES!, are. I tried to contact Cox, and they gave me a form letter of sorts saying they're trying to get those channels on their lineup. That was months ago, so I sent a letter directly to the general manager of WSKY-TV 4 to see what else could be done.

Here's what I sent:

Greetings and salutations.

I didn't know who else to contact about this subject matter, but I'd figured I'd start at the top with you, the general manager of SKY 4 Hampton Roads. 

I've been waiting for a local affiliate of MeTV Toons and Catchy Comedy for a long time. As a fan of animation and comedy, it's nice to have a pair of OTA channels dedicated to them. The creation of MeTV Toons has been a long time coming and shows that there is an audience for classic animation for the older adult demographics (and kids dig them too). 

When I heard that WSKY 4 was going to be the affiliate carrying MeTV Toons, I had mixed feelings about it. While I'm glad the region has an affiliate, I kind of wished it would be on an affiliate with a wider OTA reach across the general metro area (and living in an apartment building won't allow me to put a larger antenna on my roof). I do appreciate and watch your channel and two of your subchannels (Start TV and MOVIES!) on my COX lineup. 

I've been hoping that COX would add BUZZR, Catchy Comedy, and MeTV Toons to the linear channel lineup, but they haven't budged. I've contacted them a few times, but I think they're not getting pushed enough.

What I'm asking from you is can you try to help push the addition of those local channels to the COX lineup as well, or are you getting the same kind of pushback from them as well? I would hate for this to be a lost cause. We need more variety on local TV, and your channel is bringing something other than another reality or shopping channel over-the-air.

Thank you for your time, and I wish you luck.

Jeff Harris

A few days later, I actually got a response. Not a form letter, an actual reply from the general manager of SKY 4:

Good afternoon, Jeff,

Thank you very much for taking the time to write to me about your concern and desire to watch our subchannels, MeTV Toons and Catchy Comedy. We also appreciate your viewership on SKY4 TV and Start TV & Movies!  We love providing “entertainment all the time!” to viewers in our market.

We understand your concern about our OTA signal.  As a VHF station, our signal has wider coverage areas, but may be harder to receive in urban areas – especially when an OTA antenna may be pointed toward Suffolk, VA where the majority of broadcast TV station towers are located.  For reliable WSKY-TV reception, an antenna that supports high-VHF is recommended.

As you stated, our current agreement with Cox Communications includes our broadcast station and two Diginets. I will definitely share your email with our corporate office so they may include this anecdotally when our next window of negotiation is up.  We will continue to work hard to serve you, our viewer.

 

Thank you again for your email. 

Kindest regards,

Kathy Yevak

General Manager, WSKY TV

Admittedly, I didn't know what kind of response I wanted, but in the end, I was satisfied to know they didn't just give me a run-around and explained the situation regarding MeTV Toons and Catchy Comedy (another channel I had been anticipating around these parts). 

I'm sure that's a reason other cable operators around the country are deal with in expanding their diginets to cable lineups. I really hope Kathy and the folks at SKY4 are successful in getting MeTV Toons to the Cox lineup in the future. 

As I said in the mid-year report, nobody said creating and running an all-cartoon broadcast network was easy, but I'm glad to see Weigel continuing to support MeTV Toons and growing the channel's footprint across the country. 

I still feel MeTV Toons has the capacity to become a game-changer. Audiences still need to have a little patience when it comes to the channel and hope it could remain in a position to be able to grow stronger in the future. It's definitely in a higher position than it was at its mid-year status. Have faith, and keep tuning in.

*sighs*

"Tooning" in. Had to say it because I'd lose my cartoon-loving credentials otherwise. I feel so dirty now.