BronzePlanet

BroznePlanet is an American cable and satellite television network that is owned by BronzePlanet International. It is dedicated to mostly animation and some live action programming. It's primary demographic are children aged 9 through 17. It also has a late night block that airs from Sundays to Thursdays that airs from 11pm to 6am.

It launched on November 6th in 1995 at 7am with it's weekday action lineup of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series), Starcom: The U.S. Space Force, TigerSharks, and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

Development
In 1993, Rutledge Anderson formed the company BronzeAnimation to help produce animated series for syndication. After a year, he only had released a few shows to local channels in the Southeast region, and had a lot of money from ad revenue and loans from banks. He decided to start investing in a television network that focuses on animation, as well as some live action programming.

Anderson contacted Rainbow Media to help develop a channel for multiple providers, and they accepted his proposal. For the next 4-8 months, they applied multiple pitches to the different cable companies and the FCC. After a bunch of unapproved pitches, in January of 1995, they approved the concept of BronzePlanet. Rainbow Media took a 35% stake in the channel to help funding and to keep it running. In the next few months, they started to license programming for syndication, and starting in late June, billboards were mounted, newspaper ads, and local television ads were released for a Winter 1995 release date.

Launch
The channel launched on November 6th, 1995 at 7 AM on cable providers such as Citizens Utilities Company, Blue Ridge Communications, CenturyLink, TDS Telecom, The CableSystem, and GCI. The first programming shown on the network were Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series), Starcom: The U.S. Space Force, TigerSharks, and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light under the block name BronzeAction Mornings. That Saturday, it premiered it's new episodes block titled New Saturday Nights, a two hour block featuring original programming. Original programming included Stuck in the 80s, Warriors of the Realm, ReCall, and Raven. The following Friday, it debuted it's primetime adult animated action block titled Nightfall, it includes mostly Japanese animation.

In the following months, Comcast, CableVision, Charter Communications, and Mediacom started carrying the network. Adelphia and Time Warner Cable started carrying the channel shortly after.

2017
On August 12, it was announced that BP International and Mystical Entertainment were in talks to buy NickFamily Anime from CG66 Studios.

2020
In early 2020, it was announced that Sony Television would be buying out the channel, to rebrand it in the mid-summer as The Animation Station, which was the name of an earlier Sony Television channel that lasted from 1999 to 2014. However, due to the coronavirus, it was announced that the rebranding will be postponed until the fall or winter.

During the fall of 2020, it was announced that the rebrand will happen during the summer of 2021.

On air bumps and logos
When the channel first started, the last thing on the mind of BronzePlanet was the identity of the channel. In December of 1994, when almost everything else was settled, the higher ups of the company, including Anderson, looked around the world for design companies who would design a great logo and bumpers for the channel. They contacted Novocom to produce the first set of bumpers and the first logo for the channel. Novocom produced over 94 minutes of bumps for the network from 1995 to 1998.

On November 6, 1995, the bumps and logos premiered in the morning. The bumps featured 3D worlds of the future, fantasy worlds, and cityscapes. Logo IDs, promos were also produced by the company to air.

On March 2nd, 1998, the look of the channel changed for the first time in more than two years, but the logo stayed the same. Bumps were mostly of future backdrops with typography of the promos being future like. About 78 minutes of footage was produced.

On December 1st, 1999, the look of the channel changed again, with the logo staying mostly throughout the years. The bumps were characters of the shows surfing around in Cyberspace. The look was mainly to promote the website of the channel, bronzeplanet.com. About 102 minutes were produced for the network, with 11 minutes being unused. A new logo was introduced on January 2nd, 2000.

On February 1st, 2001, the look was changed again, with a digital backdrop of a large hotel with characters of shows staying in it. Occasionally, a movie theater is shown to be built inside of the hotel for Movie Nights on Sundays. About 106 minutes were produced, including the extra 15 minutes of footage for Movie Nights.

On January 1st, 2004, with a look preview on December 31st, 2003, the overall look changed again. It resembles the first look, with a fantasy world in 3D CGI. It uses swords, katanas, and sabers to show what's coming up next, promos, IDs, among others. About 49 minutes were produced for the channel.

On February 28, 2005, the channel got a new logo, and a brand new look, focusing on the adventure side of the shows. Troika and Blur Studio produced most of the idents and promos together. Scanline VFX helped with the newer promos from 2007-2008, and helped with the transition between SD and HD. Bumps were fantasy with typography on mountainsides or cliffs, cityscape settings with typography on television screens in a city, or in a future world with lettering across a road or a street, a hotel, or even in cyberspace, paying homage to the earlier eras of the channel. About 145 minutes were produced for the channel.

On January 1st, 2009, the look changed again, with a lounge feel. Promos and IDs were located in a large CG lounge. Shows would appear on stage to promote the franchises, and with characters being somewhere around the lounge as well. About 86 minutes of footage were produced for the channel.

On January 1st, 2011, the look changed once again, but with a Drive In Theatre look. Characters would appear somewhere around the drive in, and promos and IDs were set around the center stage, with typography on the big screen itself. About 106 minutes were produced for the channel.

Between June 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015, the look changed a few times over the months, including a wide open sea, with typography appearing on buoys, docks, and the sea itself. Another one was City, a merger between Adventure, Future, Cyber, and 3D Worlds. Typography mostly came on billboards, theatre signages, and other city like venues. The last one for the temporary age was Motel, an homage to Hotel but with a venue in the sticks. Typography appeared on where the "No Vacancy" sign was, or on license plates, or just in the sky as cars go by. About 305 minutes of footage were produced collectively.

On March 1, 2015, the overall look changed again, but with elements from Future, Cyber, Hotel/Motel, Lounge, and Drive In. It featured characters living in a fictional city where they roam around, interacting with other characters. About 182 minutes of footage were produced for the block.

In July of 2017, it was reported that Future City will be placed as a secondary look from Fall 2017 until possibly Spring 2018 with a new look being produced by different companies coming soon.

Eras and companies

 * 3D Worlds, produced by Novocom and BUF Compagnie (November 6, 1995 to March 1, 1998)
 * Future, produced by Bronze In House 3DCGI, BUF Compagnie, Novocom (logo) (March 2, 1998 to November 30, 1999, primary, December 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000, secondary)
 * Cyber, Brozne In House 3DCGI, BUF Compagnie, Blur Studio, Ring of Fire Studios (end tags), Novocom (logo, 1999-2000), Bronze Design (logo, 2000+) (December 1, 1999 to January 31, 2001)
 * Hotel, Bronze In House 3DCGI, Blur Studio, Scanline VFX, Bronze Design (logo) (February 1, 2001 to December 31, 2003)
 * Saber, Bronze In House 3DCGI, Scanline VFX, Bronze Design (logo) (January 1, 2004 to February 27, 2005)
 * Hotel II, troika, Scanline VFX, Blur Studio, Identity FX (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (February 28, 2005 to December 31, 2008)
 * Lounge, Blur Studio, Troika, Base FX, Identity FX (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (January 1, 2009-December 31, 2010, primary, January 1, 2011-December 30, 2012, secondary)
 * Drive In, Blur Studio, Base FX, Troika, hy*drau"lx (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (January 1, 2011-May 31,2014)
 * Sea, Scanline VFX, hy*drau"lx (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (June 1, 2014-June 30, 2014)
 * City, Stargate Studios, hy*drau"lx (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (July 1, 2014-November 30, 2014, primary, December 1, 2014-February 28, 2015, secondary)
 * Motel, Scanline VFX, Stargate Studios, hy*drau"lx (logo design), Ring of Fire Studios (logo effects) (December 1, 2014-February 28, 2015)
 * Future City, Blur Studio, Troika, Base FX, Stargate Studios, Scanline VFX, Identify FX (logo design and logo effects) (March 1, 2015-October 31, 2017, primary, November 1, 2017-May 31, 2019, secondary)
 * Stadium, Base FX, Blur Studio, Troika, Stargade Studios, Scanline VFC, Identify FX (logo design and logo effects) (November 1, 2017-April 17, 2019, primary)
 * Countryside, Prana Studios, Troika, Storm Studios, Blur Studios, Trace VFX, 4th Creative Party (logo design and logo effects) (April 18, 2019-present, primary)
 * Hotel III, Blur Studio, Troika, Firebasket Animation, Trace VFX, Base FX, 4th Creative Party (logo design and logo effects) (June 1, 2019-future, secondary)
 * Lounge II, Territory Studio, Tau Films, Ghost Robot, Firebasket Animation, Base FX, 4th Creative Party (logo design and logo effects) (June 1, 2019-future, secondary)

Logos
TBA

HD channel
On December 31, 2008, an HD version of the channel was launched.

Programming
Since the networks inception, animation and live action programming has been it's focus since the launch of the network. It's flagship show is Raven, a show about a teenager who roams Europe as a vigilante.

Current programming blocks

 * Late Night BronzePlanet (1995-present)
 * New Friday Nights (2006-present)
 * Action Saturdays (2007-present)

Current special programming

 * BronzePlanet Pop Culture Awards (1996-present)
 * Bronze Planet Media Awards (1996-1999), Bronze Planet Music, TV, & Film Awards (2000-2006), BronzePlanet Film/TV & Music Awards (2007-2013)

Schedule
Note: Previous schedules are on the Previous schedules broadcast by BronzePlanet page. TBA

Gauntlet
Gauntlet was launched in early 2001 to air old BronzePlanet programming. In 2009, the first original program, Valley of the Wind started airing to positive reviews. Since then, Gauntlet have setup a animation studio in the same studio as Bronze Digital. Reruns of Gauntlet's shows have appeared on early mornings on BroznePlanet.

BronzePlanetProductions
Internally nicknamed BPP Studios, BronzePlanetProductions is a dubbing and English language production studio for BronzePlanet. It produces dubs of Foreign animation from Japan, France, etc. It launched in the Spring of 1996. It produced over 70 dubs over it's lifespan, but in 2007, the studio closed.

Bronze In House 3DCGI
Internally nicknamed In House CGI, BIH3DCGI is a animation studio located besides BPP Studios that specializes in 3D computer generated graphics. It was launched in 1997 to help produce 2088 and it's sequel, 2099. It was also used to develop the Future identity package for the channel, as well as Cyber, Hotel, and Saber. The studio closed it's doors in 2005 due to lack of funding and people leaving the studio. The studio was then given to Bronze Digital.

Bronze Digital
Bronze Digital is a graphic design studio that was located in the In House CGI building, it is still active as a pre-production office for BronzePlanet projects.

BronzePlanet Licensing
The studio licenses and produces dubs for anime.

Current products licensed

 * Saint Seiya Omega
 * World Peacekeepers
 * Red Baron
 * Yamato Takeru
 * Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
 * Idolish7
 * Hitohira
 * Lupin the III Part 1 (dub rights)
 * Dancouga Nova – Super God Beast Armor
 * Futakoi Alternative
 * Nanatsuiro Drops
 * The Beast Player
 * Wandering Son
 * Getsumento Heiki Mina
 * Urawa no Usagi-chan
 * To Be Heroine
 * Nana Maru San Batsu
 * Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

Movies

 * Zuori Qing Kong (Crystal Sky of Yesterday)
 * The Wind Guardians
 * Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend

Former products licensed

 * Urusei Yatsura
 * Sold to Firebasket Media (then Sundown Anime Publishing).