Variety was the first to notice that Warner Bros. Discovery had shut down CartoonNetwork.com.
The company’s Max streaming service will be redirected to users who visit the website immediately. The portal now only displays Cartoon Network’s Max offers rather than free snippets and episodes of its shows. Viewers are now reminded by a pop-up message that in order to enjoy their favorite cartoons, they will require a Max membership.
The linear TV portion of Cartoon Network will carry on as usual.
A representative told Variety, “We are concentrating on the Cartoon Network shows and social media where we find consumers are most engaged and there is a meaningful potential for growth.”
The Cartoon Network website has been a platform for younger viewers and gamers for decades, but Warner Bros. Discovery did not announce that it will shortly shut it down. Though it’s unknown if they will ultimately suffer the same fate, Gizmodo points out that certain overseas versions of the website are still operational for users who wish to take advantage of some of its features.
The shutdown comes after it was announced that Boomerang, the company’s flashback show service, will end on September 30. Warner Bros. Discovery is apparently considering dividing its business in half, which coincides with these significant changes in its cartoon portfolio. The business has also decided to cancel a few initiatives that were quite late in their development during the past two years.
which include the notorious Coyote vs. Acme, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, and DC’s live-action Batgirl movie. Despite being back with Sony to find distribution, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed could possibly meet the same fate when Warner Bros. removed it from its future schedule.
Warner Bros. Games, the company’s gaming branch, is also trying to save expenses through a number of changes that may result in the licensing out of properties including Batman, Games of Thrones, and Harry Potter. Earlier this week, Warner Bros. Discovery announced a $10 billion total net loss.
