TWX Time Warner Inc. New

By Joe Flint 

Turner and Warner Bros., both owned by Time Warner Inc., are teaming up to launch a direct-to-consumer subscription streaming video service devoted to animation, including vintage Looney Tunes cartoons.

The new service will be called Boomerang, which is the name of Turner's all-animation cable channel. It will consist of content from the Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes and MGM libraries as well as new programs. The commercial-free streaming platform, set to debut in the spring, will cost $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. It will also be available on Amazon, Roku and Apple TV.

Boomerang will debut with 1,000 episodes of cartoons ranging from "Bugs Bunny" to "The Flintstones" and "Scooby-Doo" and ramp up to 5,000 episodes shortly after its launch. Its new cartoons include "Dorothy and the Wizard Oz," inspired by the classic L. Frank Baum book; a reboot of "Wacky Races;" and new episodes of "Tom & Jerry."

Boomerang is entering into an arguably crowded space. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have moved aggressively into kids' content with both original and acquired programming. Viacom Inc., the owner of Nickelodeon, has a commercial-free subscription app called Noggin, which is aimed at preschoolers and costs $5.99 a month.

Despite the competition, Warner Bros. and Turner are betting their catalog of well-known characters will resonate with viewers.

"Market research indicates there is a high affinity for this collection, " said Christina Miller, president of Turner's animation channels Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult Swim. "The volume we can put out at launch puts us in a category of our own."

Warner Bros. Digital Networks President Craig Hunegs said the two divisions will share in costs and profits. "I don't think there are too many companies that have what we have," he said.

Some of the Warner Bros. animation product is available on other streaming services; however, as those contracts expire, "there will be a gravitational pull towards Boomerang," Mr. Hunegs said.

Boomerang is the latest online network or over-the-top network launched by Time Warner in the last few years. In addition to HBO Now, the over-the-top version of the premium pay-TV channel, Turner launched its own subscription streaming service FilmStruck last fall.

The platform for Boomerang was developed by DramaFever, an online video company specializing in Korean soap operas that Warner Bros. acquired last year.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2017 14:14 ET (19:14 GMT)

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