Boomerang’s Streaming Service Is Closing In September
Warner Bros. Discovery is merging the little unique content it has there with Max beginning September 30
Well, at least it lasted longer than expected. Warner Bros. is shutting down the Boomerang streaming service, its app, and its website on September 30, consolidating it into Max. It marks yet another Warner Bros.-owned niche streamer to be fed into Max, following MotorTrend+ and, in the WarnerMedia HBO Max age, FilmStruck and DC Universe, with Crunchyroll being sold and Rooster Teeth shutting down as well along the way.
Current Boomerang subscribers will not experience any price increase from the $6 they were paying, as their subscriptions will be automatically converted to Max ad-free plans at the same cost. This averts the headache of a near-tripling in price to the $17 it currently is being offered for. Additionally, subscribers’ Boomerang login credentials will become such for Max. The streaming service launched in 2017 as a companion to the cable channel which will not be affected by this move.
Paramount Shutting Down Noggin App; Entire Staff Laid Off
It had only been a couple of weeks since Paramount shut down a majority of their TV Everywhere apps, and now they’re consolidating their preschool streaming service Noggin, shutting it down and moving its original programming to Paramount+. This comes as part of another round of layoffs, of about 800 employees (about 3% of its workforce) just days after
It has been said that only some Boomerang content will be brought over to Max, but there hasn’t been an elaboration. The big stuff like Scooby-Doo, Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, and Looney Tunes are all there, Tubi, and even Hulu, to varying extents, with The Flintstones The Jetsons, and Josie and the Pussycats making their way to the latter (and yes that includes Disney+) at the start of August. The DTV and TV movies and primetime specials for them were all here, as well as for Yogi Bear and The Smurfs, so some of that might come too. Nothing is in danger of writeoffs, though early August 2022 was when the infamous and notorious cullings began. Currently, the programs available on the Boomerang streamer but not Max are two originals, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz and the Wacky Races reboot, and Cartoon Network classics that definitely haven’t been on Max, Camp Lazlo, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, and My Gym Partner's a Monkey, while Codename: Kids Next Door had been on Max for at least a majority of the streamer’s life until the start of 2024. Boomerang laid claim to Wabbit/New Looney Tunes, Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? as originals, and had the 2014 The Tom and Jerry Show as its home from somewhere in season 2 to not quite the end of the series, as well as Bunnicula. They also have Monchhichis and Atom Ant.
To give an idea of how long the Boomerang streaming service was expected to be shuttered, its first defunct day, October 1, will mark three years since Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? moved to what was still then HBO Max for Scoobtober festivities, for the purpose of exclusively releasing its final eleven episodes there. And in all that time the Boomerang listings are still frozen at the last episode before that batch. The shutdown of the Boomerang streamer is considered part of the industry-wide strategic shift that felled Paramount’s Noggin earlier this year. Pokémon TV though? Still works somehow. Here is a look at the Boomerang mobile UI in interest of preservation.
Pokémon TV Will Be Discontinued In March
It wasn’t enough that Nintendo 3DS online services are shuttering in April, or that most of Paramount’s TV Everywhere portfolio is going the same way. But now, Pokémon masters are going to need to fly a little higher to watch the long-running anime for free. The Pokémon Company has announced they are sunsetting the Pokémon TV app and website on March 28.
Source: CordCutters News
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