Cartoon Network (abbreviated CN, operated by The Cartoon Network, Inc.) is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992, after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991. It was served as a 24-hour outlet for classic animation properties from the Turner Broadcasting libraries and was all-ages-oriented, but now the channel targets both children and adults (via its Adult Swim programming).

It also broadcasts many shows, ranging from action to animated comedy. Original series started in 1994 with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, along with Cartoon Cartoons original programs like Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, What A Cartoon!, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Mike, Lu & Og and Courage the Cowardly Dog. In 2009, it started airing live-action programming, including movies from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.

In 1986, Ted Turner's cable-TV conglomerate acquired the pre-1986 MGM film and television library (which also included Gilligan's Island and its animated spin-offs, the U.S. rights to a majority of the RKO Radio Pictures library, and the Associated Artists Productions catalog which includes the pre-1950 Warner Bros. feature films, the pre-1950 Warner Bros. short subjects, the Harman and Ising Merrie Melodies except Lady, Play Your Mandolin!, the pre-1950 Warner Bros. cartoons, and the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios Popeye cartoons released by Paramount Pictures). On October 3, 1988, its cable channel Turner Network Television was launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1990, it purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera and acquired its large library as well as most of the Ruby-Spears library.