Spacetoon facts for kids
Logo used since 2020
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| Country | United Arab Emirates, Syria, Indonesia, South Korea, India, Ukraine, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Arab world Ukraine Indonesia South Korea India Turkey |
| Headquarters | Damascus, Syria (formerly) Dubai, UAE |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Arabic (Arab world) English (Arab world and India) Indonesian (Indonesia) Ukrainian (Ukraine) Korean (South Korea) Hindi (India) Turkish (Turkey) |
| Picture format | 576i (4:3 - 16:9 SDTV) |
| Timeshift service | Malyatko TV (2009–2010) (Formerly Spacetoon Малятко) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Spacetoon International |
| Sister channels | Spacetoon English Spacetoon Radio Space Power (SPTV) |
| History | |
| Launched | 15 March 2000 (Arabic channel) 24 March 2005 (Indonesian channel) 1 April 2005 (English channel) October 2005 (Korean channel) 15 January 2009 (Indian channel) 2009 (Korean channel, revival) 31 December 2009 (Ukrainian channel) 18 May 2013 (Indonesian channel, satellite) 13 January 2025 (Turkish channel) |
| Closed | 4 November 2007 (Korean channel, original) 25 March 2010 (Ukrainian channel) 1 January 2011 (English channel) 15 November 2011 (Korean channel, revival) 2011 (Indian 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) |
| Availability (channel space shared with Space Power in Arabic world only) | |
| Streaming media | |
| Live Stream | Spacetoon Arabic |
Spacetoon (Arabic: سبيستون or سبيس تون) is a TV channel for kids and teens. It shows animated series and other children's programs. Spacetoon started broadcasting on March 15, 2000, in Bahrain. Its main office is now in Dubai.
The channel is for children aged 4 and up. It also has a special block called Space Power for teenagers and young adults. Spacetoon also has a video app called Spacetoon Go. Some people call it Stoon for short.
Spacetoon used to have two other channels in the Arab world: Space Power TV and Spacetoon English.
In Indonesia, the main Spacetoon channel started on March 24, 2005. It later became NET. on regular TV. Spacetoon still broadcasts there on satellite. Today, Indonesia has two Spacetoon channels: Spacetoon and Spacetoon Plus. In India, Spacetoon India is a company that licenses shows, but it is not a TV channel.
Spacetoon also launched in South Korea in 2005 but later closed. In Ukraine, Spacetoon Malyatko started on December 31, 2009. It changed back to Malyatko TV on March 25, 2010. In Turkey, Spacetoon Turkey launched its TV channel on January 13, 2025.
Spacetoon is shown in 23 countries. It has more than 130 million viewers.
Contents
Spacetoon's Story
In 1999, a company in Bahrain signed a deal to broadcast a cartoon channel for kids. Spacetoon began its test broadcasts on March 15, 2000. It was a seven-hour block on Bahrain TV. This continued until January 12, 2002, when the agreement ended.
Later, in 2004, Spacetoon moved its main office to Dubai. It became its own TV channel on Nilesat.
Most shows on Spacetoon in the Arab world are dubbed into modern standard Arabic. Spacetoon works closely with Venus Center. This Syrian company has always provided the Arabic versions of the shows. Their voice actors often announced the shows from 2000 to 2015. Using modern standard Arabic for dubbing helped keep this language alive for children. This was important as other Arabic dialects were becoming more common.
What Spacetoon Shows
Spacetoon organizes its shows into different sections. They call these sections "planets," and each planet is for a different type of show:
- Action Planet (كوكب أکشن) is for action series. An example is Dragon Ball.
- Sport Planet (كوكب رياضة) is for sports series. An example is Beyblade Burst.
- Adventure Planet (كوكب مغامرات) is for adventure series. An example is Future Boy Conan.
- Comedy Planet (كوكب كوميديا) is for funny series. An example is Woody Woodpecker.
- Movies Planet (كوكب أفلام) is for movies. An example is Anastasia.
- Abjad Planet (كوكب أبجد) is for educational programs. An example is Pappyland.
- Bon Bon Planet (كوكب بون بون) is for shows for very young children. An example is Fireman Sam.
- History Planet (كوكب تاريخ) was used from 2000 to 2013 for history series. An example was Liberty's Kids.
- Science Planet (كوكب علوم) is for science shows. An example is Operation Ouch!.
- Zomoroda Planet (كوكب زمردة) means "emerald" in Arabic. This planet is for shows aimed at girls. An example is Little Women II: Jo's Boys.
How Spacetoon Edits Shows
Spacetoon sometimes changes parts of shows from their original versions. This is called censorship. For example, scenes might be cut or shortened to avoid showing too much violence. This has happened in shows like Detective Conan, Romeo's Blue Skies, Hunter × Hunter, and My Hero Academia.
In Hunter × Hunter, parts about certain spiritual practices were changed. The edited version made these powers seem like science or martial arts instead. Spacetoon also crops or edits scenes to hide revealing clothing or remove suggestive parts. For example, in Doraemon and Kiteretsu Daihyakka, some scenes were edited. Religious symbols have also been changed. In My Little Pony, Twilight Sparkle's six-pointed star was changed. One point was cut off because it looked like the Star of David on the Israel flag.
Spacetoon Channels Around the World
| Channel | Country | Launch year | Shutdown year | Replaced by |
| Current Channels | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spacetoon Arabic |  Arab League |
15 March 2000 (test broadcast, block on Bahrain TV) 2 August 2000 (official launch, block on Bahrain TV) 14 January 2002 (independent channel) |
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| Spacetoon Indonesia |  Indonesia |
1 February 2005 (test broadcast) 25 March 2005 (official launch) 18 May 2013 (satellite) |
17 May 2013 (terrestrial) 25 August 2017 (Telkom-1 satellite) |
NET. (terrestrial) |
| Spacetoon Plus | 1 February 2014 2016 (UseeTV, IPTV) August 2020 (Asiasat-9 satellite) |
28 June 2020 (UseeTV, IPTV) | ||
| Spacetoon Turkey |  Turkey |
13 January 2025 (test broadcast) 19 May 2025 (official launch) |
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| Former Channels | ||||
| Spacetoon English | Arab League |
1 April 2005 | 1 January 2011 | Discontinued |
| Spacetoon India |  India |
November 2005 (block on Sahara One) 15 January 2009 (TV channel) |
2011 (TV channel) | Discontinued |
 Pakistan |
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| Spacetoon Korea |  South Korea |
October 2005 2009 (IPTV) |
4 November 2007 15 November 2011 (IPTV) |
Discontinued |
| Spacetoon Malyatko |  Ukraine |
31 December 2009 | 25 March 2010 | Malyatko TV |
| SpaceShopping (Spacetoon 2) | Indonesia |
6 September 2014 | 27 August 2017 | Spacetoon Indonesia (Palapa-D satellite) |
| Spacetoon 3 | May 2016 | October 2016 | Discontinued | |
| Spacedrama (Spacetoon Drama) | May 2017 | November 2017 | Discontinued | |
Spacetoon English Channel
On April 1, 2005, Spacetoon started a second channel for people who speak English in the Arab world. Shows were in English, and some Arabic shows had English subtitles. The channel first broadcast from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Later, it broadcast from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On August 19, 2009, the channel stopped broadcasting for a week. It returned on August 26, 2009. After that, it broadcast from 2 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Spacetoon English closed down on January 1, 2011.
Spacetoon in Indonesia
| Indonesia Stock Exchange Tower 2nd Floor (Jakarta) Banten (until 2013) Indonesia |
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|---|---|
| Branding | Spacetoon Indonesia |
| Programming | |
| Network | KTV (2018–present) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | H. Sukoyo |
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Sister stations
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Spacetoon Plus (2014–present)
Previously:
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| History | |
| Founded | 8 November 2003 |
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First air date
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1 February 2005 (test broadcast) 25 March 2005 (official broadcast) 18 May 2013 (satellite) |
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Last air date
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17 May 2013 (terrestrial) (8 years, 54 days) |
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Former affiliations
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Various |
Spacetoon officially launched in Indonesia on March 25, 2005. H. Sukoyo, who also helped start TV7, founded the network. When it first started, Spacetoon broadcast from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Later, the broadcast hours were longer, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. After shows ended, there was a 10-minute section with animation, songs, or messages for kids. Around mid-2011, Spacetoon started showing some home-shopping and alternative medicine programs because of money problems.
In March 2013, a company called Net Visi Media bought most of Spacetoon's ownership. Spacetoon officially moved to satellite TV on May 18, 2013. This happened because NET. was starting its test broadcast on regular TV.
In September 2014, Spacetoon split into two channels: Spacetoon and Spacetoon 2. Spacetoon 2 showed more cartoons than Spacetoon, but it still had some home-shopping programs. In May 2016, Spacetoon added another channel, Spacetoon 3. It had clearer sound but closed down in October of the same year. In November 2016, Spacetoon 2 was renamed Space Shopping. This was because home shopping programs brought in most of the channel's money.
In 2017, Spacetoon launched Spacedrama, also known as Spacetoon Drama. This channel aimed to show Indonesian drama series. The channel later closed down. On August 25, 2017, the channel stopped broadcasting on the Telkom-1 satellite.
Today, Spacetoon in Indonesia only runs two children's satellite TV channels: Spacetoon and Spacetoon Plus.
Spacetoon in India
Spacetoon India is a company in India that works with media and licensing. It started in 2006. Spacetoon has over 70 licensing deals. These include popular shows like Crayon Shin-chan, Doraemon, and Hello Kitty. The company also creates its own original shows, such as Fafa & Juno.
In November 2005, Spacetoon worked with Sahara One to create "Spacetoon Hour." This was an hour-long broadcast of animated and live-action shows from Spacetoon's library. This broadcast was later stopped. In 2009, Spacetoon launched a free TV channel in India. However, broadcasting was later discontinued. Its website closed down in 2015.
Spacetoon in South Korea
Spacetoon officially launched in South Korea in October 2005. It was available through Sky Life and some local cable TV providers. However, it stopped broadcasting on November 4, 2007. This was because not many people knew about the channel. Some of its shows aired on Alice TV and Magic TV in 2007.
Spacetoon relaunched in the first half of 2009 through IPTV. But it was discontinued again in 2011.
Spacetoon in Ukraine
On December 31, 2009, a Ukrainian kids' channel called Malyatko TV changed its name to Spacetoon Malyatko. This happened at midnight. The channel showed Christmas versions of the 10 planets and their theme songs. The shows were also dubbed into Ukrainian.
On March 25, 2010, Spacetoon Malyatko changed its name back to Malyatko TV. The reason for ending the partnership was that the partners did not meet their agreements.
Spacetoon in Turkey
Spacetoon started its test broadcast in high-definition in Turkey on January 13, 2025. It officially launched on May 19, 2025. You can watch it through Türksat 4A, Turkcell TV, S Sport Plus, and Tivibu.
More About Spacetoon
- Animation International
- Game Power 7, a game company owned by Spacetoon
- Spacetoon Turkey
See also
In Spanish: Spacetoon para niños
